Explanations of resistance to social influence

Question 1

What are the two ain things that resistance to social influence involves

Answer 1

Disobedience
Non-conformity

Question 1

What is resistance to social influence

Answer 1

Resistance to social influence refers to the ways in which individuals attempt to withstand perceived attempts to threaten freedom of choice. Individuals may withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority.

Question 2

what is disobedience

Answer 2

challenging the authority figure and going against instructions given.

Question 3

what is non -conformity

Answer 3

not yielding to group pressure and going against the behaviour of the group.

Question 4

what are the two ways non-conformity can occur

Answer 4

Independence
Anti-conformity

Question 5

what is Independence

Answer 5

involving a lack of consistent movement either towards or away from social expectancy (i.e. doing your own thing).

Question 6

what is Anti-conformity

Answer 6

involving a consistent movement away from social conformity, for instance, adopting the behaviour and norms of a minority group.

Question 7

There are two explanations that have been put forward to explain resistance to social influence:

Answer 7

Social Support – this is a situational explanation

Locus of Control – this is a dispositional explanation

Question 8

what does research suggest about social support

Answer 8

Research suggests that when there are others in social situations who defy attempts to make them conform and/or obey, then it becomes much easier for an individual to also resist such forms of social influence.

Question 9

There are different forms of social support depending on the type of social influence:

Answer 9

Dissenters (conformity) who break the agreement (unanimity) of the majority and act as allies.
Disobedient role models (obedience) who challenge the legitimacy of the authority figure.

Question 10

who did research into social support

Answer 10

Asch’s investigated the effect of social support in variations of his study - the naïve participant saw a dissenter (confederate) disagreeing with the majority wrong answer on critical trials, by providing either the correct answer or the alternative incorrect answer.

Question 11

what were the findings of Asch’s study into social support

Answer 11

When the ally (dissenter) gave the correct answer, conformity dropped from 32% down to 5.5%.
When the dissenter (‘rebel’) went against both the other confederates and the real participant, providing the alternative incorrect answer, conformity dropped to 9%.

Question 12

what does dissenters provide the participant with

Answer 12

Dissenters provide the participant with moral support, breaking the unanimity of the majority and raising the possibility that there are other, equally legitimate, ways of thinking or responding.

Question 13

what does the presence of an ally do

Answer 13

The presence of an ally provide the naïve participant with an independent assessment of reality that makes them feel more confident in their decision (validating their perception/ judgement) and better able to stand up to the majority (there will be a reduced pressure to fit in).

Question 14

The timing of social support (i.e. at what point it is received) also seems to affect levels of resistance as early social support has been found to be more influential
Give examples using Asch’s study

Answer 14

Asch found that if there is a dissenter who answers correctly from the start of the study, conformity drops from 32% (original variation) to 5.5%.

If the confederate only starts to dissent later in the study, conformity only drops to 8.5%.

Question 15

With obedience, the presence of a disobedient model has been shown to be a powerful source of social support, making it easier for individuals to act independently.

Answer 15

Such people seem to demonstrate that disobedience is actually possible, as well as how to do it.
Research has shown that individuals are generally more confident in their ability to resist the temptation to obey if they can find an ally who is willing to join them in opposing the authority figure.
Disobedient peers therefore act as role models on which the individual can model their behaviour.

Question 16

What is locus of control

Answer 16

It concerns the extent to which people perceive themselves as being in control of their own lives.

Question 17

who identified locus of control

Answer 17

Rotter (1966)

Question 18

How is locus of control measure

Answer 18

It is measured along a dimension of ‘high internal’ to ‘high external’, although most of us would be somewhere between the two extremes.

Question 19

What is a high internal locus of control

Answer 19

A high internal locus of control is associated with the belief that we can control events in our life.
Individuals with an internal LoC believe that what happens to them is largely a consequence of their own ability and effort.
Things happen as a result of their choices and decisions.

Question 20

What is a high external locus of control

Answer 20

A high external locus of control is associated with the belief that what happens to us is determined by external factors, such as the influence of luck and fate or other uncontrollable external forces.
Individuals with high external LoC believe things turn out a certain way regardless of their actions, that things ‘just happen to them’.

Question 21

What is an example of external locus of control

Answer 21

For example, if you do well in an exam you might say it was because you used an excellent revision book; if you failed you might blame it on the book or bad luck because the questions were hard.

Question 22

What is an example of internal locus of control

Answer 22

For example, if you do well in an exam it is because you worked hard; if you don’t do well it is because you didn’t work hard.

Question 23

what did Rotter believe about internal LoC

Answer 23

Rotter believed that having an internal LoC makes individuals more resistant to social pressure.

Question 24

What are people with high internal locus of control more likely to be

Answer 24

Show independence in thought and behaviour, basing their decisions on their own beliefs

Perceive themselves as having a free choice to conform or obey

Take personal responsibility for their actions and experiences (good or bad)

Have less need for social approval, relying less on the opinions of others

Be self-confident and achievement-oriented and of high intelligence

Question 25

What are people with high external LoC likely to be

Answer 25

People with a high external LoC are less likely to display independent behaviour because they tend to approach events with a more passive and fatalistic attitude, taking less personal responsibility for their actions, which makes them more likely to accept the influence of others.

Question 26

What did Shute (1975) do

Answer 26

Exposed undergraduates to peers who expressed either conservative or liberal attitudes to drug taking.
He found that those with internal LoC conformed less to others expressing pro-drug attitudes.
This supports the idea that having an internal LoC increases resistance to conformity.

Question 27

What did Moghaddam (1988) find

Answer 27

Found that Japanese people conform more easily than Americans and have more of an external LoC.
This suggests that differences in resistance to social influence across cultures can be explained by differences in LoC.

Question 28

What did Holland(1967) test the link between

Answer 28

Holland (1967) tested for a link between LoC and obedience, but found no relationship between the two.

Question 29

:(The role of LoC in resisting social influence may have been somewhat exaggerated.

Answer 29

Rotter (1982) points out that LoC only comes into play in novel situations. It has very little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important.
This means that people who have conformed or obeyed in specific situations in the past are likely to do so again, even if they have a high internal LoC

Question 30

what are the other factors affecting resistance to social influence

Answer 30

Reactance
Morality
Personality