Paper 1 - Social influence

Question 1

What is Internalisation:

Answer 1

The deepest level of conformity. A person changes both their public behavior and their private beliefs. This is usually a long term change as a result of - Informational social influence (The need to be right)

E.g. Becoming a vegetarian due to living with one at university

Question 2

What is Compliance:

Answer 2

The lowest level of conformity. A person changes their public behaviour but not their private beliefs. This is usually a short term change as a result of - Normative social influence (The need to be liked)

E.g. If you are going out with your friends and you want to wear a dress and everyone else is wearing jeans you would change even if you don’t wan to and think the dress looked nicer

Question 3

What is Identification:

Answer 3

The middle level of conformity. (Expectation to the social role) there does not have to be a change in private beliefs - Only exists when someone is in a social role.

E.g. A teacher tells of students when they are wearing PE kit even if the teacher doesn’t mind if the students wear it as this is meant to be their role

Question 4

Weakness: Asch’s explanations for conformity

Answer 4

Asch’s research may be a ‘child of its time’. His research took place in a period of history when conformity was high. US was in McCarthyism; anti-communist period so were more likely to conform. Perrin + Spencer repeated the study with engineering students from the UK. They found only one student conformed. This questions the validity of Asch’s explanation of conformity because it is arguable that Asch’s study cannot be applied to a contempary society, therefore lacking temporal validity.

Question 5

Weakness: Asch’s explanations for conformity

Answer 5

Asch’s research may have a culture bias. All the ppts were from America. America is an individualistic culture(where people are more concerned about themselves than the social group). China collectivist culture (where they value the group more than the individual). Bond + Smith conducted on Chinese ppts conformity rates are much higher than Asch found. This means that Asch’s explanation lacks population validity because they are all Western ppts therefore, you are unable to generalise the findings to other countries.

Question 6

A01: Asch’s research into. minority influence

Answer 6

• Line study was conducted and Asch asked volunteers to take part in a “vision test” all but one of the ppts were confederates

Question 7

Asch’s sample:

Answer 7

• 123 Male American undergraduates

Question 8

Procedure of Asch’s study:

Answer 8

• Asked to look at 3 lines of different lengths - Questions asked “Which of the 3 lines is the same length as the standard line”
• Confederates were promoted to give the same incorrect answers on 12 of the 18 trails
• 32% real ppts conformed incorrect decision 75% conformed at least once 25% never conform

Question 9

What are the variables affecting conformity within Asch’s study:

Answer 9

1) Group size
2) Unanimity
3) Difficulty of task

Question 10

Weakness of Asch’s study:

Answer 10

Asch’s research may be a ‘child of its time’. His research took place in a period of history when conformity was high. US was in McCarthyism; anti-communist period so were more likely to conform. Perrin + Spencer repeated the study with engineering students from the UK. They found only one student conformed. This questions the validity of Asch’s explanation of conformity because it is arguable that Asch’s study cannot be applied to a contempary society, therefore lacking temporal validity.

Question 11

Weakness of Asch’s study:

Answer 11

Asch’s research may have a culture bias. All the ppts were from America. America is an individualistic culture (where people are more concerned about themselves than the social group). China collectivist culture (where they value the group more than the individual). Bond + Smith conducted on Chinese ppts conformity rates are much higher than Asch found. This means that Asch’s explanation lacks population validity because they are all Western ppts therefore, you are unable to generalise the findings to other countries.

Question 12

Weakness of Asch’s study:

Answer 12

Asch’s study also lacks ecological validity. As Asch used an artificial task it is not something that people do in everyday life therefore, the ppts behaviour will be unnatural. Demand characteristics also may play a role as if the ppts try to guess the true aim of the research this could lead them to a “please you or a screw you” mindset decreasing the internal validity. This decreases the validity because we can’t be certain that the IV had a direct effect on the DV which then the researcher won’t be measuring the behaviour they intended to study.

Question 13

Weakness of Asch’s study:

Answer 13

Asch’s research may also be viewed as unethical. Ppts were lied to about the true aim of the experiment, they were told that the experiment was a vision test when really it was a test on conformity. They were also unaware that the other “ppts” were really confederates therefore, it is said to involve deception, and as a result the ppts didn’t give fully informed consent. Also some argue that Asch caused psychological harm to the ppts, as they were put under pressure when faced with a majority influence that was incorrect. This means that Asch’s study goes against some ethical guidelines, however the research gained outweighed the ethical issues regarding the ppts.

Question 14

Group size: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 14

If 3 people disagree with you this will increase conformity levels
(If you add more than 3 this won’t increase the level of conformity anymore)
- Increases the level of conformity within the group

Question 15

Unanimity: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 15

One confederate gives the wrong answer (social support) this decreases the level of conformity
- if confederates agree it will decrease the conformity levels but if they disagree it will increase conformity

Question 16

Difficulty of task: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 16

Made line A, B, C look very similar so more people would conform
- the harder the task the more likely it is for more people to conform due to them not wanting to get the answer wrong and feel embarrassed.

Question 17

Weakness: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 17

Asch’s research may be a ‘child of its time’. His research took place in a period of history when conformity was high. US was in McCarthyism; anti-communist period so were more likely to conform. Perrin + Spencer repeated the study with engineering students from the UK. They found only one student conformed. This questions the validity of Asch’s explanation of conformity because it is arguable that Asch’s study cannot be applied to a contempary society, therefore lacking temporal validity

Question 18

Weakness: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 18

Asch’s research may have a culture bias. All the ppts were from America. America is an individualistic culture (where people are more concerned about themselves than the social group). China collectivist culture (where they value the group more than the individual). Bond + Smith conducted on Chinese ppts conformity rates are much higher than Asch found. This means that Asch’s explanation lacks population validity because they are all Western ppts therefore, you are unable to generalise the findings to other countries.

Question 19

Weakness: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 19

Asch’s study also lacks ecological validity. As Asch used an artificial task it is not something that people do in everyday life therefore, the ppts behaviour will be unnatural. Demand characteristics also may play a role as if the ppts try to guess the true aim of the research this could lead them to a “please you or a screw you” mindset decreasing the internal validity. This decreases the validity because we can’t be certain that the IV had a direct effect on the DV which then the researcher won’t be measuring the behaviour they intended to study.

Question 20

Weakness: Asch’s variables affecting conformity

Answer 20

Asch’s research may also be viewed as unethical. Ppts were lied to about the true aim of the experiment, they were told that the experiment was a vision test when really it was a test on conformity. They were also unaware that the other “ppts” were really confederates therefore, it is said to involve deception, and as a result the ppts didn’t give fully informed consent. Also some argue that Asch caused psychological harm to the ppts, as they were put under pressure when faced with a majority influence that was incorrect. This means that Asch’s study goes against some ethical guidelines, however the research gained outweighed the ethical issues regarding the ppts.

Question 21

A01:

Question 22

What are social roles:

Answer 22

• The roles that people play as members of social groups E.g. being a parent, a teacher, a police officer

Question 23

A01: Zimbardo’s research AIM

Answer 23

• To investigate water the prison guards and the inmates confirm to their social roles

Question 24

A01: Zimbardo’s research METHOD

Answer 24

• They advertised for people willing + people deemed ‘emotionally stable’
• students where randomly allocated - the ppts were also arrested in their homes to increase realism
• They had heavily regulated routines which included 16 rules (1 rule names where never used only numbers)

Question 25

A01: Zimbardo’s research FINDINGS

Answer 25

• One of the prison guards took on his role so much that he asked to fo and see the doctor even though they were able to leave
• The study was stopped after the 6th day instead of the 14th day due to the psychological + physical health

Question 26

A01: Zimbardo’s research CONCLUSION

Answer 26

• Everyone conformed to their roles - the power of a situation to influence people’s behaviour

Question 27

Strength: Zimbardo’s research

Answer 27

Zimbardo’s study has high internal validity. Zimbardo’s study was a lab experiment and therefore had tight control over extraneous variables due to the study being in a controlled setting. E.g., The volunteers had to complete a psychological exam prior to ensure any mental instability would not affect the end results of the study. This means that other factors cannot affect the results such as participant variables. Therefore, having high internal validity means that a more established cause and effect relationship between the Iv and Dv can be formed then the findings were representative of what was being studied.

Question 28

Weakness: Zimbardo’s research

Answer 28

Zimbardo’s experiment has been regarded as unethical. Ppts were put in a situation which caused a great deal of stress. The experiment had to be aborted after just 6 days due to the harm as some had mental breakdowns. This questioned the validity of Zimbardo’s research because the researcher didn’t protect the ppts from physical and psychological harm as Zimbardo didn’t inform the ppts in what they can and can’t do leading to mistreatment ppts were constantly being dehumanised E.g., blindfolded. This decreases the validity which is deemed unexpectable.

Question 29

Weakness: Zimbardo’s research

Answer 29

Zimbardo’s research lacks ecological validity. Zimbardo’s Stanford prison study is an example of an artificial task. None of the participants were police officers or prisoners in real life, and playing those social roles is not something that people do in everyday life. Therefore, the participant’s behaviour will be unnatural. This questions the validity of Zimbardo’s research because this role/ task would be unnatural to all the ppts therefore, they may change their behaviour accordingly which would decrease the internal validity of the research.

Question 30

Weakness: Zimbardo’s research

Answer 30

Zimbardo’s Stanford prison study is a “child of it’s time”. Reicher and Haslam partially replicated the Stanford prison experiment for the BBC. Their findings were very different from Zimbardo’s. In the BBC study the prisoners took control of the mock prison and subjected the guards to campaign of harassment. The researchers used social identity theory to explain this outcome. This questions the reliability of Zimbardo’s research because the research cannot be applied to a contempary society lacking temporal validity.

Question 31

Ethical issues involved in Zimbardo’s research: NO informed consent

Answer 31

• Because they were arrested outside their own home (done without their prior knowledge) The ppts would have been unable to give their full informed consent and they were unaware of the true aim of the study

Question 32

A01: Milgram’s Original study PARTICIPANTS

Answer 32

• Sample consisted of 40 males between the ages of 20-50

Question 33

A01: Milgram’s Original study LOCATION

Answer 33

• Study took place at Yale university in the psychology department

Question 34

A01: Milgram’s Original study OBTAIN SAMPLE

Answer 34

• Milgram obtained his sample through advertising (volunteer sampling) and the ppts that took part received $4.50

Question 35

A01: Milgram’s Original study PROCEDURE

Answer 35

• There were 3 people involved in the study
• teacher: real ppt
• learner: Confederate
• Experimenter: White lab coat
• The learner was asked to learn ‘word pairs’ and if an incorrect answer was given the teacher would have to give the ppt an electric shock

Question 36

A01: Milgram’s Original study RESULTS

Answer 36

• 100% of ppts went up to 300 volts
• 45% of ppts went up to the maximum 450 volts

Question 37

Weakness: Milgram’s Original study

Answer 37

Milgram’s research may be viewed as unethical. Because ppts were given cues to continue to shock the learner. This means that there was a lack of the right to withdraw from the study, there was also a lack of protection from psychological and physical harm E.g., one man had a seizure from the stress. There is also a lack of informed consent because the ppts were not told the true aim of the study. Therefore, this questions whether Milgram’s research should have taken place because it broke many ethical guidelines, so it’s questioned if the research was important enough to cause the ppts psychological and physical harm.

Question 38

Weakness: Milgram’s Original study

Answer 38

Milgram’s study lacked internal validity. Research argued that that ppts behaved the way that they did because they didn’t really believe in the set up – they guessed the real electric shocks weren’t being given. This means Milgram wasn’t testing what he intended to test. Recent research conformed this as the tapes of Milgram’s ppts and reported that many of them expressed their doubts about the shocks. Therefore, this lack in internal validity means it is difficult to establish cause and effect because the ppts may have behaved in a specific ay as they could have figures out the true aim of the study.

Question 39

Strength: Milgram’s Original study

Answer 39

Milgram’s research may be high in external ecological validity. Milgram’s study appeared to lack ecological validity because Milgram’s study used an artificial task in an artificial setting therefore, it won’t represent obedient behaviour in real life settings. However, other research studied nurses on a hospital ward and found that 21 out of 22 nurses obeyed unjustified demands made by doctors. This means that we can generalise Milgram’s findings to real world situations.

Question 40

Strength: Milgram’s Original study

Answer 40

There is evidence to support legitimate authority as an explanation for obedience. Bickman conducted a field experiment where he had a confederate dressed in either casual jacket, milkman uniform, or a security jacket. They asked real ppts in a park to pick up litter. They found that there was more obedience when the confederate was wearing a security jacket than not. This supports the fact that uniforms encourage obedience as they are recognised as symbols for authority, we accept someone in a uniform is entitled to obedience because their authority is legitimate.

Question 41

What is the autonomous state:

Answer 41

• Where we are aware of the consequences of our actions and so take personal responsibility of out actions

Question 42

What is the Agentic state:

Answer 42

• Where we fail to take personal responsibility because we believe we are acting on behalf on an authority figure

Question 43

What is an Agentic shift:

Answer 43

• When an authority figure present, we experience an agent shift which is the shift from being in the autonomous state to being in the magnetic state because we perceive someone else to be an authority figure entitled to expect obedience

Question 44

A01: Milgram’s Variation study PROXIMITY

Answer 44

• Teacher and learner were in the same room

1) Touch proximity - the teacher forced the learners hand on a shock plate (obedience rate 30%)

2) Remote instructions - Experimenter left the room gave the teacher instruction by phone (obedience rate 20.5%)

• Decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves (increase proximity decreases obedience)

Question 45

A01: Milgram’s Variation study LOCTATION

Answer 45

• Variation was conducted inside a run-down office block instead of Yale university (obedience fell to 47.5%)
• decrease setting legitimacy decreases obedience

Question 46

A01: Milgram’s Variation study UNIFROM

Answer 46

• A grey lab coat was worn by the experimenter to show authority

1) Experimenter called away by a phone call at the start

2) Role of the experimenter was taken over by an ‘ordinary member of public’ (obedience dropped 20%)

• Decrease in uniform causes a decrease in obedience

Question 47

Weakness: Milgram’s Variation study

Answer 47

Milgram’s research may be viewed as unethical. Because ppts were given cues to continue to shock the learner. This means that there was a lack of the right to withdraw from the study, there was also a lack of protection from psychological and physical harm E.g., one man had a seizure from the stress. There is also a lack of informed consent because the ppts were not told the true aim of the study. Therefore, this questions whether Milgram’s research should have taken place because it broke many ethical guidelines, so it’s questioned if the research was important enough to cause the ppts psychological and physical harm.

Question 48

Weakness: Milgram’s Variation study

Answer 48

Milgram’s study lacked internal validity. Research argued that that ppts behaved the way that they did because they didn’t really believe in the set up – they guessed the real electric shocks weren’t being given. This means Milgram wasn’t testing what he intended to test. Recent research conformed this as the tapes of Milgram’s ppts and reported that many of them expressed their doubts about the shocks. Therefore, this lack in internal validity means it is difficult to establish cause and effect because the ppts may have behaved in a specific ay as they could have figures out the true aim of the study.

Question 49

Strength: Milgram’s Variation study

Answer 49

Milgram’s research may be high in external ecological validity. Milgram’s study appeared to lack ecological validity because Milgram’s study used an artificial task in an artificial setting therefore, it won’t represent obedient behaviour in real life settings. However, other research studied nurses on a hospital ward and found that 21 out of 22 nurses obeyed unjustified demands made by doctors. This means that we can generalise Milgram’s findings to real world situations.

Question 50

Strength: Milgram’s Variation study

Answer 50

There is evidence to support legitimate authority as an explanation for obedience. Bickman conducted a field experiment where he had a confederate dressed in either casual jacket, milkman uniform, or a security jacket. They asked real ppts in a park to pick up litter. They found that there was more obedience when the confederate was wearing a security jacket than not. This supports the fact that uniforms encourage obedience as they are recognised as symbols for authority, we accept someone in a uniform is entitled to obedience because their authority is legitimate.

Question 51

What is legitimate authority:

Answer 51

• If someone is to be obedient orders have to be given by soon who appears to be legitimate authority figure and holds and demonstrates Social power (achieved through uniform)

Question 52

What is authoritarian personality:

Answer 52

• A type of personality Adorno believes are more likely to obey people in authority
• Believed to be formed in childhood from children who have strict parents E.g. Strict discipline, absolute loyalty, High standards and conditional love

Question 53

3 characteristics of authoritarian personality:

Answer 53

1) Being obedient to authority
2) Looking down to those with a lower status
3) Having traditional values and beliefs

Question 54

A01: Adorno’s study SAMPLE + METHOD

Answer 54

• Adorno examined over 2000 white, middle class Americans
• He gave the ppts the F-scale (questionnaire to measure authoritarian personality)

Question 55

A01: Adorno’s study FINDINGS

Answer 55

• People who scored highly (have authoritarian personality) showed greater respect for those with the same or higher status (making them more obedient) + contemptuous towards those of a lesser status

Question 56

Weakness: Authoritarian personality study

Answer 56

The explanation of authoritarian personality is measured through the use of questionnaires. The questionnaire used to measure authoritarian personality is the F-scale. The problem with questionnaires is that people may lie to make themselves look better, suffering from social desirability. E.g. they may lie on the F-scale because they don’t want to be judged by the researcher or other ppts involved. Therefore, the internal validity will be low because the questions asked might not match the response given.

Question 57

Weakness: Authoritarian personality study

Answer 57

Research into authoritarian personality is based on correlations. Adorno’s research has allowed us to see a relationship between authoritarian personality and obedience, however it does not allow us to see a Cause-and-Effect relationship. This is because there is little control over extraneous variables that could affect obedience such as cultural differences because of the difference in obedience in each culture. Therefore, decreasing the temporal validity of the research.

Question 58

Weakness: Authoritarian personality study

Answer 58

The authoritarian personality explanation is reductionist. This means that it takes something complex like obedience and reduces it down to just one explanation, that being personality. It can be beneficial as one component can be studied in great detail E.g. measuring someone’s personality through a questionnaire such as the F-scale then physically see if they obey an authority figure. However reducing obedience down to one explanation, it ignores other factors such as environment + culture. Therefore, the authoritarian personality would be more likely to obey.

Question 59

Weakness: Authoritarian personality study

Answer 59

The authoritarian personality is deterministic. Suggesting behaviour is pre-determined. Beneficial because we are able to predict a child’s future obedience by looking at their up brining, E.g. children who were brought up with strict parents who presented them with conditional love are more likely to have an authoritarian personality. However, a problem is that it says everyone with strict parents will grow up to be obedient towards those with a higher status but ignores free will and the fact we choose how to behave and that isn’t pre-determined by our upbringing. Also ignores individual differences therefore, we cannot generalise the findings to all children with a strict upbringing.

Question 60

What is minority social influence:

Answer 60

• A type of social influence that motivates people to reject the establish majority view and is more likely to happen when there is Consistency, Commitment and flexibility

Question 61

A01: Minority social influence CONSISTENCY

Answer 61

• If the minority sticks to their viewpoint/ opinion over time, it makes others reassess the situation and consider the issue more carefully (more likely to then change their behaviour)

Question 62

A01: Minority social influence COMMITMENT

Answer 62

• If the minority are dedicated to their view/opinion makes others consider changing their behaviour. As it shows other confidence and certainty

Question 63

A01: Minority social influence FLEXIBILITY

Answer 63

• Where the minority are not too strict and rigid in their opinion and can change people’s behaviour as they believe the minority is willing to compromise

Question 64

A01: Minority social influence SNOWBALL EFFECT

Answer 64

• For social change to occur it should start as a minority prospective then gradually more and more people adopt the viewpoint until widely accepted by the majority

Question 65

Strength: Minority social influence

Answer 65

There is evidence to support Moscovici’s findings. Wood carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 studies similar to Moscovici’s and found that minorities who were seen as more consistent were most influential. This adds to the validity of Moscovici’s explanation of minority influence because wood shows that consistency is a crucial part to play which is similar to Moscovici’s research.

Question 66

Strength: Minority social influence

Answer 66

Evidence suggests that a change to a minority position does involve deeper processing of ideas. Martin gave ppts a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured their support
* Heard a minority group agree with the initial view
* Heard from a majority group
Then attitudes were measured again. Martin found people were less willing to change their mind if they had listened to a minority group rather than majority. This adds to the validity to the explanation of minority influence because it shows us that minority influence has a more permanent change of behaviour

Question 67

Weakness: Minority social influence

Answer 67

Research into minority influence had limited real world applications. Research studies often make a clear distinction between the minority and the majority however, real life social influence situations are more complicated than that. There is more involved in the difference between the minority and majority than just numbers – e.g. majorities normally have more power than minorities. Minorities are very committed to their cause because they may have to be as they may face hostile opposition. To conclude this would question the validity of the research because minority influence have a lot of factors to consider

Question 68

Weakness: Minority social influence

Answer 68

Research into minority influence lacks ecological validity. The task involved – e.g. identifying the colour of a slide – are artificial. Research is therefore far removed from how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of the majorities in real life. This means it is difficult to generalise the findings outside the lab environment because the task lacks mundane realism

Question 69

A01: Social change - DRAWING ATTENTION

Answer 69

1) Drawing attention: Done through social proof (make a poster, video, do an assembly)

Question 70

A01: Social change - CONSISTENCY

Answer 70

• When many people join in to extend a message (have to continually do this not a one time post/thing)

Question 71

A01: Social change - DEEPER PROCESSING

Answer 71

• By thinking about the issue many people realize the extent of the issue

Question 72

A01: Social change - ARGUMENTATION PRINCIPLE

Answer 72

• Individuals could do something to risk their lives to show the importance

Question 73

A01: Social change - SNOWBALL EFFECT

Answer 73

• One person presses for changes and gradually get the attention of others (minority - majority)

Question 74

A01: Social change - SOCIAL CRYPTO AMNESIA

Answer 74

• People have the memory where change happened but can’t remember time before the change

Question 75

Strength: Role of social influence Processes in social change

Answer 75

There is evidence to support the explanation that conformity can lead to social change. Nolan investigated whether social influence processes led to a reduction in energy consumption in a community. They hung messages on front doors.
* Residence trying to reduce energy usage
* Save energy (no reference to other residences)
Significant decrease in the first group. This is an example of compliance because group one feel more obliged to follow what other residences were doing beforehand (follow the majority)

Question 76

Weakness: Role of social influence Processes in social change

Answer 76

Contradictory evidence by Nemeth. Social changes happen slowly if when they happen. He argues that the effects of minority influence are likely to be mostly indirect and delayed. Indirect because the majority is influenced only on the matter at hand, not the central issue. Delayed because the effects may not be seen for some time. This questions the validity of the explanation of social change because majority will only be influences by the minority if they are directly affected by the issue.

Question 77

Weakness: Role of social influence Processes in social change

Answer 77

Research into social change draws heavily on the experiments of Moscovici, Asch and Milgram. All psychologists used lab experiments. These tasks lack ecological validity e.g. identifying the colour of the slide. Research therefore doesn’t show how people behave in everyday life because the tasks all lack mundane realism. This questions the validity of the explanation of social change because all tasks can’t be applied to when social change does occur in real life

Question 78

Weakness: Role of social influence Processes in social change

Answer 78

There are practical applications of research into social change. Bashir investigated why people resist social change even when they think it is necessary. Ppts were less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways because they didn’t want to be associated with stereotypical and minority ‘environmentalists’. They rated environmentalists and feminists in a negative way. To conclude minorities wanting to bring social change should avoid behaving in stereotypical ways that reinforce the stereotype because this will put off the majority they want to influence

Question 79

Outline the Authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation for obedience: SOCIAL SUPPORT

Answer 79

Resisting pressure to conform:
- When there is an ally (other people in a group who resist pressure to conform by behaving their own way known as a dissenter) it makes others less likely to conform

• This is because it breaks the unanimous decision leaving the ppts with social support so they feel less pressure from the majority to conform and are more able to resist social influence

Question 80

Outline the Authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation for obedience: SOCIAL SUPPORT

Answer 80

Resisting pressure to obey:
- The presence of a disobedient peer can lead to others also resisting the pressure to obey

• This is because it is difficult to stand up to an authority figure, and having others who are disobedient makes the person feel more confident in their own behaviour

Question 81

Outline the Authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation for obedience: LOCUS OF CONTROL

Answer 81

• Locus of control is an aspect of personality that differs from person to person
• A person can either have an INTERNAL or EXTERNAL locus of control

Question 82

What is an INTERNAL locus of control:

Answer 82

• An INTERNAL LOC is when an individual believes that they are in control of their life due to their own efforts and decisions E.g. I failed my exam because I did not put enough effort into my revision

Question 83

What is an EXTERNAL locus of control:

Answer 83

• An EXTERNAL LOC is when an individual beliefs that their life is determined by external factors such as luck and fate and they do not have any control over their life E.g. I failed my exam because I have a rubbish teacher

Question 84

Strength: Resistance to social influence

Answer 84

There is research to support by Asch in his original experiment all confederates had given the same wrong answer on a line test which caused 32% of ppts to conform and 75% of ppts conformed at least once. In one of his variation when he introduced a dissenter and had one confederate give the wrong answer, conformity rates dropped significantly. This suggests that with social support there is less pressure to conform

Question 85

Strength: Resistance to social influence

Answer 85

There is research to support by Milgram. Milgram introduced 2 dissenters who refused to obey the authority figure, one dissenter refused to obey at 150 volts, and the second dissenter refused to obey at 210 volts this led to 9/10 ppts refuse to obey to shock the learner at 450 volts. This suggests that having others who are disobedient makes the person fell more confident in their own behaviour

Question 86

Weakness: Resistance to social influence

Answer 86

It is a reductionist theory as it reduces complex human behaviour of conforming and obedience into simple basic units of social support and locus of control this neglects a holist approach which takes Ito account an individual’s social and cultural context affects their obedience and conformity levels. This lowers the validity as it does not allow us to understand behavior in context

Question 87

Weakness: Resistance to social influence

Answer 87

The role of the LOC in resistance may be exaggerated as the LOC may only be important to consider when an individual is in a new situation - familiar situations are influenced by previous experiences as people who have obeyed in the past are more likely to obey again in similar situations, even if they have high internal LOC. Therefore more information than LOC is needed to explain resistance