RESISTANCE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Question 1

resisting conformity
dissentering peers

Answer 1

• (situational) can help people resist conformity if there are other people present who aren’t
  conforming.
• This person acts as a model and shows other people that it is possible to resist social influence
• asch research showed that the dissenter doesnt have to give the right answer

Question 1

resisting obedience

Answer 1

• Milgram also found in one of his variations that obedience dropped 65%- 10%, when the genuine participants were joined by disobedient confederate.

Question 2

• internals place control with themselves
• extrenals place control outside themselves

Answer 2

• Rotter described interal vs external LOC
• internals believe things that happen to them are largley controlled by themsleves (e.g doing bad or well in an exam depends on how hard you work.)
• externals believe things happen outside of their control e.g (if they fail an exam they will say it was bc of a bad teacher or hard questions)

Question 3

there is a continuum

Answer 3

• LOC is not just being about internal or external - there is a scale from one to the other and people differ in their position on it
• high internals at one end and high externals at the other, low internal/externals lie in-between.

Question 4

internals show greater resistance to social influence

Answer 4

• ppl with internal loc are more likely to resist pressures to conform or obey

Question 5

one strength is the role of support in resisting conformity

Answer 5

• One strength of social support is that there is supporting research.
• For example, Allen and Levine repeated Asch’s study and found that conformity decreased when there was one non conforming confederate in the group– even if the confederate wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision.
• This shows that even if there is another dissenter in the group who looks as if he’s blind it helps others to think with their conscience and reduces pressure.
• advantage increases validity of the theory.
• However, lacks MR and so cannot generalise the findings to real life behaviour

Question 6

One strength of the locus of control explanation is that there is supporting evidence.

Answer 6

• For example, Holland repeated Milgram’s study and found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level (they showed resistance) whereas only 23% of externals didnt continue.
• This shows that those who had high control of themselves were able to resist more easily. advantage as these results ICOT.
• However the difference is only 14%which shows there’s not much of a difference.

Question 7

One limitation of the locus of control explanation is that there is opposing research.

Answer 7

• For example, Twenge analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period and found that over time,people have become more resistant to obedience, but also more external.
• This shows that the theory is contradicted by real results which casts doubt onto the theory.
• This is a disadvantage as it decreases the validity of the theory.
• Yet, the use of only american studies means there’s limited generalisability.

Question 8

Another limitation of the locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence is that its influence is over exaggerated.

Answer 8

• For example, Rotter argues that the LOC only comes into play in unfamiliar situations.
• In familiar situations people’s previous experiences will be more important in governing their behaviour.
• This is a disadvantage as it’s a limited explanation and cannot explain all instances of resistance to social influence