resistance to aocial influence

Question 1

what is resistance to social influence

Answer 1

• the ability of people to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority.
• this ability is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.

Question 2

what are the two parts of resistance to social influence

Answer 2

Social support
- resisting conformity
- resisting obedience

Locus of control
- the LOC continuum
- resistance to social influence

Question 3

explain social support

Answer 3

resisting conformity
- can be resisted if there are other people present who are not conforming. As seen in solomon asch research.
- the fact that someone is not following the majority is social support. it enables the naive participant to be free to follow their own conscience. The confederate acts as the model of independent behaviour. Their dissent gives rise to more dissent because it shows that the majority is no longer unanimous.

Resisting obedience
- pressure to obey can be resisted if there is another person who is seen to disobey. In one of milgrams variations the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate. The disobedience acts as a model of dissent for participant to cope. Frees him from his own conscience. Challenges legitimacy if the authority figure making it easier for others to disobey.

Question 4

who looked into locus of controls

Answer 4

Rotter (1966)

Question 5

what are the two different locus of controls. Explain them

Answer 5

internal
- believe they control what happens to them.

external
- believe things that happen to them are outside of their control.

Question 6

what is the LOC continuum

Answer 6

people are not just either internal or external. LOC is a scale and individuals vary in their position of it. Can have a high or low LOC.

Question 7

how does the LOC contribute to resistance to social influence

Answer 7

• people with high internal LOC are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey. They base their decisions on their own beliefs not depend on the opinions of others.
• people with a high internal LOC tend to be more self confident, more achievement orientated and have higher intelligence. this leads to greater resistance to social influence. These are also characteristics of leaders who has less need for social approval than followers.