Obedience :Resistance to social influence Flashcards
Pressure to conform can be resisted if
other people present that arent conforming
simply the fact someone not following the majority is
social support
social support enables naive pt to
be free to follow their own conscience
what does the confederate that doesnt conform act like
a model of independent behaviour
the confederates dissent gives rise to
more dissent
why does confederate dissent give rise to more dissent - in tems of conformity
shows majority is no longer unanimous
pressure to obey can be resisted if there is
another person whos seen to disobey
in one of M variation obedience rate dropped from 65% to 10% when
genuine pt joined by disobedient confederate
pt may not follow disobedient persons behaviour but the point is
other persons disobedience acts as a model of dissent
for the pt to copy
and this frees him to act from his own conscience
what does dissenter do to the authority figure
challenges legitimacy of authority
challengeing the legitimacy of authority easier makes it easier for
others to disobey
rotter proposed LOC as a concept concerned w
internal contorl v external control
what do people with an internal LOC believe
things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves
give example of I LOC
Doing well in an exam is becasue you worked hard
people with external LOC believe
things that happen to tehm happen outside of their control
give example of external LOC
If did well they used an excellent textbook
disclaimer about LOC
people arent either external or interla LOC
Considering the LOC its what type of measurement
- and relate this to individuals
scale and indi vary in their position on it
where is high internal and external LOC
one end of the continuum
where do low internal and external lie
inbetween continuum of high external and internal
people with high internal LOC are more able to
resist pressures to conform r obey
if person takes personal responsibility for actions as internals do what do they tend to base their decsisions on
their own beleiefs rather than depending on opinions of others
another expl for resitance to social influence is that those with a high internal LOC have what 3 charcateristics that lead to higher resitance to SI
self ocnfident
achievement orientated
have higher intelligence
The three characteristics of those that have higher resostance are synoymous with …
who…
leaders , who have much less need for social approval than followers
resistance to social infleunce is
ability of people to withstand the social presure to confrom to majority or obey authority
this ablity to withstand social pressure influenced by dispositional and situational factord
social support is
prescence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same
these people act as models to show otehrs that resitance to SI is possible
LOC definitino
refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives
internals believe mostly responsible for what happens to them
external beleie mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces
STRENGTH - LOC RESEARCH SUPPORT- spector
research also supports the idea that individuals with an internal locus of control are less likely to conform.
Spector (1983) used Rotter’s locus of control scale to determine whether locus of control is associated with conformity.
From 157 students, Spector found that individuals with a high internal locus of control were less likely to conform than those with a high external locus of control,
but only in situations of normative social influence, where individuals conform to be accepted.
There was no difference between the two groups for informational social influence.
This suggests that normative social influence, the desire to fit in, is more powerful than informational social influence, the desire to be right,
when considering locus of control.
STRENGTH - REAL WORLD APPLICATINO - SOCIAL SUPPORT
One strenght of research showing the importance of social support in resisting social influence is real world application
researcehrs evaluated 8 week programme designed to help pregnant teens resistg peer pressure to smoke
and found when social support was provided by a slighlty older buddy teens were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group
showing social support can help young people resist social influence as a part of intervention in teh real world
furthermore this research has important implications on other areas of society . stopping preggo tens from engagin and damagin behaviour during pregn menas likelihood of givign birth ot baby with with health problems also reduced
meaning healthcare workers already stretched to capacity wont have to expend resources on medical issues that couldve been prevented in advance and will be able to focus attention on people in need of care for reasons beyond their contrl
STRENGHT - RESEARCH SUPPORT - SOCIAL SUPPORT
evidence to support role of dissenting peers in resisting social infleunce
gamson et al asked pt to work in groups to gather evidence to run a smear campaign for oil company
found higher levels of resistance in study than milgram as people working in groups so could discuss what they were told to do
found 88% of people rebelled against orders
showing peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining legiticimacy of authority figure
STRENGTH - RESEARCH SUPPORT LOC
RESEARCH EVIDENCE supports link between LOC and resistance to obedience
holland repeated milgram baseline study and measured whether pt were internals /externals
found 37% of internals didnt continue to highest shock levels - showed resistance
whereas only 23% of externals didnt continue
internals showed greater resistance to authority
this shows resistance is at least partly related to LOC whihc increases validity of LOC as explanation of disobedience
COUNTERPOINT TO LOC SUPPORTING RESEARCH
despote supporting evidence rotter himself suggestsed it can only explain resistance in novel situations
when peeps in situations where they’ve conformed or obeyed in the apst
likely ot repeat this behaviour next time situation comes around
meaning LOC may only come into effect when situation is unknown, and therefore correct course of action is unclear
making LOC only a ltd explanation for resistance
however doesnt mean its worthless expl as it can xplain individual instances of resistance in research, simply means we have to be open and aware to teh influences of other factors alongside a perosns LOC
