resistance to social influence Flashcards
social support keywords
Resisting conformity
Resisting obedience
Resistance
Resisting conformity
Conformity is less likely when a dissenter breaks the unanimity of the majority.
in more depth:
Pressure to conform can be resisted: other people present who are not conforming.
Someone else not following the majority is social support.
Enables ppt to be free to follow their own conscience.
Resisting obedience
Obedience is less likely when a disobedient role model challenges the legitimacy of authority
more in depth
The pressure to obey can be resisted: another person who is seen to disobey.
The other person’s disobedience acts as a model for the ppt to do the same.
The disobedience model challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure making it easier for others to disobey.
Resistance
Both cases show other people that resistance is possible.
eva- real world research support
One strength is research evidence for the positive effect of social support. There was an eight-week programme to help pregnant teens resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided by a slightly older mentor or buddy. At the end of the programme, the teens who had a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group of ppt who didn’t have a buddy. This shows that social support can help young people resist social influences as part of an intervention in the real world.
Social support explanation
64% of participants refused to conform in an Asch-type task when one other person dissented. Only 3% resisted when there was no supporter. most people will resist if they believe another person agrees with them in the face of a majority group (i.e. social support is effective).
the number of people prepared to resist dropped significantly to 36% when the supporter was someone with poor eyesight. This result also matches a prediction of the explanation (i.e. social support is ineffective).
This shows that social support is a valid explanation of resistance. Levels of resistance are high when the support is reliable. But resistance drops when people believe that the support offered by a dissenter is not helpful because it cannot be relied upon.
Locus of control in short
LOC Internals believe they are in control of what happens. Externals believe what happens is due to chance or luck.
LOC continuum LOC is a scale and people vary in their position on it. High internal at one end, high external at the other.
Resisting influence internals is more able to resist pressure to conform or obey than externals. May have more self-confidence and less need for social approval from others.
Externals are vulnerable to the opinions and behaviours of others, with no point in resisting.
internal vs external loc
Internal loc- things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves.
External loc- things that happen are outside of their control.
Another explanation for resistance to social influence is that people with a high internal loc tend to be more self-confident more achievement-oriented and have higher intelligence. Leading to greater resistance to social influence.
eva list
research support
contradictory research
limited role of loc
research support
A replicate of milgrams baseline study and measured whether ppt were internal or external. Found 37% of internals didn’t continue to the highest shock level. 23% of external didn’t continue. Internal had greater resistance.
Contradictory research
One limitation is evidence that challenges the link between loc and resistance. Analyzed data from American locus of control studies over 40 years and the data showed that people become more resistant to obedience but more external. If resistance is linked to internal loc we would expect people to become more internal. This suggests that loc is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence.
Limited role of loc
Research studies show that being able to resist social influence is closely linked to having a high internal LOC (e.g. Holland). But according to Rotter this link only exists in new situations. LOC is irrelevant in situations that are familiar because it doesn’t really affect our behaviour.
In such situations, your previous responses have more influence on your current behaviour than your LOC. For example, if you have refused to conform with friends in the past in specific situations, you probably will continue to do so in these situations even if you have a high external LOC.
Therefore LOC is a valid explanation because it is linked to resistance. But its validity is limited because it does not predict resistance in new social situations.
