L9 - situational explanationns of resistance to social influence

Question 1

what is social support

Answer 1

situational explanation
when one person refuses to conform, it makes it more likely that others will also resist social influence and refuse to conform

Question 2

why does social support theory work

Answer 2

people are more likely to not conform if they have an ally who resist social influence
break unanimity of group
so people start to think that there are other other equally legitimate ways of thinking/responding
presence of ally allows them to feel more confident in their decision

Question 3

strength of social support theory

Answer 3

research to support
asch asked pps which of 3 line was the same as standard line
pps with confederates who gave wrong answer when right answer was obvious
33% of pps conformed
when a confederate acted as an ally conformity dropped to 5%

Question 4

weakness of social support theory

Answer 4

in real world
group sizes are in the 100s and one dissenter in a big group has less effect on majority
social support theory is restricted to small group sizes
not representative of the real world