Explanation of resistance to social influence Flashcards
What are the two explanations or resistance to social influence?
1) Social support
2) Locus of control
AO1: Social support
People can resist pressures to conform or obey when they receive social support. When resisting conformity the individual must identify with the ally and see them as a role model of independent behaviour. Furthermore, individuals who have support for their point of view no longer fear being ridiculed, giving them confidence to avoid normative social influence. When resisting obedience the ally acts as a model of independent behaviour, which frees the person to resist obedience and be more confident to act from their own conscience. Furthermore, in certain situations having other allies leads to diffusion of responsibility – the individual will feel less responsible for their actions if there are others who are acting the same way, so the consequence of resisting is shared.
What are the evaluations for social support?
- PEEL + discussion
- PEEL
1) RTS - Albrecht - smoking in pregnant adolescents
2) Discussion - Credibility of ally
3) RTS - Milgram’s variation
AO3: RTS pregnant adolescents (SS)
Research to support social support as an explanation of resistance to social influence comes from Albrecht, who evaluated an eight-week programme to help pregnant adolescents resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided by a slightly older mentor or ‘buddy’. It was found those who had a ‘buddy’ were significantly less likely to smoke than a those without a ‘buddy’. This supports social support as the ‘buddy’ acted as an ally which gave the pregnant adolescents the confidence to resist the pressures to smoke. Therefore increasing the validity of social support as an explanation for resisting social influence.
AO3: Discussion credibility (SS)
However, critics may argue other factors may affect the likelihood of resisting social influence through social support such as the credibility of the ally. If the model is not seen as credible, the individual will not identify with them and therefore will be less likely to join them in resisting social influence, for example when the dissenter in Asch’s variations clearly had poor eyesight, resistance levels dropped significantly. This suggests that social support is a more complex explanation of resistance than first thought, and therefore lowers the validity of the explanation.
AO3: RTS - Milgram (SS)
Research to support resisting the pressure to obey comes from Milgram. In one of the variations of Milgram’s study, the real participant was paired with two additional confederates (who also played the role of teachers). The two additional confederates refused to go on and withdrew from the experiment early. In this variation, the participants who proceeded to the full 450V dropped to 10% (from 65% in the original). This support social support because it shows that if the real participant has an ally, they are more likely to resist obedience to the authority figure. Therefore, increasing the validity of social support as an explanation for resisting social influence.
Definition of locus of control
Locus of control is a personality trait which refers to a person’s perception of personal control over their behaviour. There is a scale of locus of control, with internal at one end and external at the other.
AO1: Locus of control
Those with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence, as they believe they control what happens to them and their behaviour. Their behaviour is due to their own personal decisions and effort and trust their own judgement more than others. Individuals with a strong internal locus of control are more likely to remain independent in their behaviour and rely less on the opinions of others so they are more able to resist social influence. Whereas those with an external locus of control are less likely to resist social influence as they believe that what happens to them is determined by external factors such luck or fate and put more trust into the judgement / decisions of authority figures. Individuals with an external locus take less personal responsibility for their actions and are less likely to remain independent so they are less able to resist social influence.
What are the evaluations for locus of control? (2)
1) RTS - Milgram and Elms
2) RTS - Twenge - meta analysis
AO3: MIlgram and Elms (LoC)
Research to support locus of control was conducted by Milgram & Elms. They interviewed Milgram’s original participants and found that those who had an internal locus of control were significantly more likely to refuse to continue giving shocks, whereas those with an external locus of control were more likely to be within the 65% that gave the full 450v. This supports locus of control because those with an internal locus of control were more likely to resist obedience and remain independent in their behaviour. Therefore, increasing the validity of locus of control as an explanation of resisting social influence.
AO3: RTS - Meta analysis
Research to contradict locus of control as an explanation of resistance to social influence comes from Twenge, who analysed data from studies investigating locus of control over a 40-year period. The data showed that over this time span, people became more resistant to social influence but also more external. This contradicts locus of control because if resistance was linked to locus of control, we would expect people to become more internal, suggesting that locus of control is not a valid explanation of resistance to social influence.
