resistance to SI and minority influence

Question 1

What is resistance to social influence?

Answer 1

The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority

Question 2

What is the ability to resist to social influence influenced by?

Answer 2

Situational and dispositional factors

Question 3

What is the locus of control and what are the two types of people within it?

Answer 3

It refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our life
- Internals believe they’re mostly responsible for what happens to them
- Externals believe it’s mainly a matter of luck or outside forces

Question 4

What is an ally and what are the statistics for it in Asch’s experiment?

Answer 4

An ally raises the possibility that there are other legitimate ways of thinking and makes them more confident in resisting the majority
Asch’s experiment states conformity levels drop from 33% to 5.5% with an ally

Question 5

What are the statistics for Milgrim’s experiment in terms of an ally

Answer 5

• 3 individuals, 2 of which were confederates who resisted, 10% of people continued to the shock level
• more confident in resisting when there is an ally who resits the authority figure

Question 6

Are internal LOC’s likely to resist or not?

Answer 6

Internal LOC are more likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey
They’re more self-confident, more achievement-orientated and have a higher intelligence

Question 7

What did Allen and Levigne find and when was their experiment?

Answer 7

1971
- found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in an Asch-type study
- this supports the view that resistance is not just motivated by following what someone else says but it enables them or someone to be free of the pressure of the group

Question 8

What is a dissenter?

Answer 8

Someone who disagrees with the majority option

Question 9

Why is the response order an important factor?

Answer 9

In Adam and Levigne’s experiment, all participants went last and people were more likely to conform when the confederate with the right answer went first as they make a social commitment to the answer
They were less likely to conform when the confederate went 4th as there wasn’t enough time to socially commit

Question 10

What is the Gamson et al experiment, when was it and what does it provide extra evaluation for?

Answer 10

It was in 1983 and it is an extra evaluation for resistance to obedience
- unjust authority - manager was sacked because his lifestyle was offensive to the local community
- participants were in groups and had to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
- if they agreed with the manager, they signed a consent form for their discussion to be shown in the ‘trial’
- 29 out of 33 rebelled

Question 11

Give some extra evaluation research support for LOC

Answer 11

Holland (1967) - Milgrim’s baseline study
- Measured with participants were internal or external
- 37% of internals didn’t continue to the highest shock level compared to 23% of externals
HOWEVER
Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from American LOC studies over a 40-year period
- Over time people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external

Question 12

Give extra evaluation for the limited use of LOC

Answer 12

• LOC and the role in resisting obedience are exaggerated
• Rotter (1982) - has little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important
  (People are more likely to obey in a situation which is new to them)

Question 13

Define minority influence

Answer 13

A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours (leads to internalisation or conversion in which private and public attitudes are changed)

Question 14

What is consistency

Answer 14

If the minority take a consistent approach people start to consider the issue more carefully

Question 15

Describe synchronic consistency

Answer 15

When they’re all saying the same thing

Question 16

Describe diachronic consistency

Answer 16

When they’ve been saying the same thing for some time

Question 17

What is commitment in terms of minority influence

Answer 17

• when a minority adopts a committed approach to its position it may become difficult to ignore
• because joining a minority has a greater cost for the individual, they need to know the serious nature of the campaign or issue
• augmentation principle - majority pays attention

Question 18

What is flexibility in terms of minority influence

Answer 18

• they must negate their position with the majority (have some compromise to make changes and a balance between consistency and flexibility

Question 19

What is the process of change in terms of minority influence

Answer 19

• consistent and passionate about something new
• deeper processing is important in the process of conversion to a different minority viewpoint
• over time people are converted - the more it happens, the faster the rate of conversion

Question 20

Describe the Nemeth (1974) experiment and what is it research support for?

Answer 20

• a repeat of Moscovici’s experiment but instructed them to state all the colours they see, not just one
• there were three variations (for the example of green-blue) which were they said all of the sides were ‘green’, they said the sides were ‘green’ or ‘blue’ at random or they said the brighter sides were blue-green and the duller sides were green
• inconsistency had no effect on the participants
• varied response - slightly affected participants
• consistent but flexible

It is research support for flexibility

Question 21

Give some research support for consistency?

Answer 21

• Wood et al (1994) - meta-analysis of 97 similar studies
• consistent minorities were the most influential

Question 22

Give some research support for a depth of thought

Answer 22

• Change to the minority position does involve the processing of ideas
• Martin et al (2003)
• Participants were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to a minority group (based on their original attitude score) than a majority
• suggested that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect

Question 23

Give some research against minority influence

Answer 23

• Tasks involved are artificial and not generalisable to real life
• lacking external validity (not applied to real life)
• extra real-world application (majorities normally have a lot of power and status compared to minorities, minorities are committed to their cause and face hostile opposition)