resistance to social influence

Question 1

A03: research lacks internal validity

Answer 1

• it is not possible to say internal locus of control causes resistance to social influence.
• There may be another factor that is associated with locus of control that causes independence.
• certain parental styles lead to high internal locus of control and high levels of independent behaviour.
• research lacks reliability as not all studies support view that locus of control is associated with resistance to social influence.

Question 2

A03: Research findings from studies of conformity and obedience support view that social support increases likelihood that aperson will resist social influence

Answer 2

• Milgram found when there were two
  disobedient confederates present in procedure, obedience in real pt dropped dramatically to 10%.
• when there were two obedient confederates, obedience rose to 92.5%. (demonstrates the power of social support in obedient behaviour.)
• Asch concluded that the important factor was the pt had support for deviating from the group, not support for his answer
  -supporting the view that any deviation from the majority will act as social support for non-conformity.
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Question 3

A03: support the role of internal locus of control in resistance to social influence.

Answer 3

• Elms and Milgram investigated background of some of disobedient participants from Milgram’s first4 obedience experiments.
• found that disobedient participants had high internal locus of control, scored higher on a scale that measured sense of social responsibility.
• Oliner & Oliner interviewed 2 groups of non-Jewish people who lived through Holocaust in Germany.
• Oliner & Oliner found ‘rescuers’ were more likely to have scores showing high internal locus of control than non-rescuers, scored more high on measures of social responsibility.
• suggesting that having internal locus of control is likely to lead to independent behaviour.