Explanations For Resistence To Social Influece

Question 1

What is social support

Answer 1

• The presence of other people who resist conformity or obedience helps others and gives them the confidence to do the same
• social support is associated with the diffusion of responsibility, people feel like the consequences will be less severe

Question 2

What research variations support the idea of social support

Answer 2

Asch
- When one Confederate gave the right response conformity dropped to 5.5%
- When one Confederate gave a different but wrong response conformity dropped 9%

Milgram
- When the teacher was joined by another 2 Confederate teachers who are disobedient obedience levels dropped to 10%

Question 3

What is locus of control

Answer 3

A persons sense of personal control over events and experiences in their life

Question 4

What are the characteristics of an internal locus of control

Answer 4

• They have control over their actions and take responsibility for them
• Believe hard work and skill shapes their experiences
• Confident in their ability
• more likely to resist social influence

Question 5

What are the characteristics of an external locus of control

Answer 5

• Believe their experiences are out of their control
• Believe in luck or chance
• They are uncertain in their abilities and seek reassurance
• They are less likely to resist social influence

Question 6

How does research support from Holland support the idea of locus of control

Answer 6

• Replicated milligrams study
• Assessed participants locus of control
• internal participants showed 37% disobedience
• Where is the externals showed 23% Disobedience
• This shows that people with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence

Question 7

What is Contradictory research that goes against the idea of locus of control

Answer 7

• Twenge (2004) Conducted a meta-analysis showing the number of externals is increasing within the population but so is authority which goes against locus of control

Question 8

A03 Evaluation of resistance to social influence

Answer 8

SOCIAL SUPPORT
+ Significant number of people are able to resist social influence seen across all studies
25% showed no conformity in Asch’s study
35% Didn’t obey to the full 450 V in Milgrams study
- Locus of control and social support don’t allow everyone to resist social influence as there is always a small percentage of people who still conform or obey
LOCUS OF CONTROL
+ holland found that 37% of ‘internals’ refused to obey to the maximum shock level in a Milgram-type study, compared to 23% of ‘externals’, showing a link between locus of control and resistance to obedience
- HOWEVER twenge found that over time Americans have become more resistant to social influence but the number on ‘externals’ is increasing. this negative correlation opposes Rotters suggestion.