resistance to social influence

Question 1

what is resistance to social influence

Answer 1

refers to resisting pressures to conform (non-conformity) and resisting pressures to obey (disobedience)

Question 2

what is anti conformity (or counter conformity)

Answer 2

when the individual acts in opposition to group norms
behaviour is group dependent as the individuals actions are determined by those of the group
the individual does the opposite to the others in group
it involved consistent movement away from social conformity

Question 3

what is resistance to social influence(and therefore true independent behaviour)

Answer 3

is when the individual is not influenced by the actions or decisions of others
it involved a lack of consistent movement either towards or away from social expectancy

Question 4

how can research demonstartaing confomrity be used to demonstrate resistance to pressures to conform

Answer 4

asch- not everyone confirmed
those that did conform didn’t all of the time

Question 5

why must dispositional factors be considered when explaining resistance to social influence

Answer 5

altho situational factors played a significant role, some individuals still failed to conform (Asch) and obey (Milgram) whilst others will-despite being in the same situation
indicated that dispositional (internal) factors must be considered

Question 6

what is a situational factor in resistance to social influence

Answer 6

social supprt

Question 7

what is social support

Answer 7

it’s easier to ignore orders or break rules as a group
increase the individuals confidence that their position/viewpoint is correct
can also represent an alternative way to respond to a situation

Question 8

how can Aschs research be used as evidence to support social support

Answer 8

presence of a dissenter- participant more likely to resist the group pressure to conform
conformity levels dropped from 27% of critical trials to 5.5%
participants received social support from an ally

Question 9

what is the most important aspect of social support and why

Answer 9

breaks the unanimity
presence of a dissenter was equally effective in reducing conformity when giving either a correct or a different incorrect response
breaking unanimous position of majority indicated there are alternative, legitimate ways of thinking/ responding

Question 10

who investigated the role of timing in social support

Answer 10

Allen and Levine 1969

Question 11

how did Allen and Levine investigate timing of social support

Answer 11

condition 1- confederate who answered first gave correct answer, 3 confederates all gave the same wrong answer
(dissenter answered first)
condition 2- the confederate giving the correct response answered 4th following the other 3 confederates who had given the same wrong answer
(dissenter answered last)

Question 12

what were the findings of Allen and Levines study into the role of timing in social support

Answer 12

condition 1 (1st confederate gave correct answer)- less conformity to the incorrect response of the majority than condition 2

Question 13

what was the conclusion made about timing of social support by Allen and Levine

Answer 13

by the confederate giving correct answer first confirms the real participants own judgement and leads to an early commitment to the correct answer that endures despite exposure to group pressure
so when participant receives support (timing of support) is important in resisting pressure to conform

Question 14

who investigated resisting pressure to obey which supported social support

Answer 14

milgram rebel peers: disobedient models

Question 15

what was the procedure in milgrams rebel peers: disobedient models

Answer 15

teachers paired with two other ‘teachers’ who were confederates
at 150V the first confederate teacher refused to continue
at 210V the second confederate teacher refused to continue
experimenter ordered real teacher to continue

Question 16

what were the findings of Milgram rebel peers: disobedient models

Answer 16

complete obediance (number of participants going up to 450V) lowered from 65% in original study to 10% in this variation
disobedient peers can act as role models on which the individual can model their own behaviour
in contrast presence of a two obedient confederates raised the level of complete obedience to 92.5%

Question 17

what is a dispositional factor in resistance to social influence

Answer 17

locus of control

Question 18

what is a dispositional factor in resistance to social influence

Answer 18

locus of control

Question 19

what is locus of control

Answer 19

people differ in their beliefs about whether the outcomes of their actions aare dependent on what they do (internal locus of control) or on events outside of their personal control (external locus of control)

Question 20

in terms of internal/external locus of control, who is more/less likely to resist social influence

Answer 20

people with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence
people with an external locus of control are less likely to resist social influence as they have a greater desire to want to be liked

Question 21

what did Atvgis (1998) do to carry out research into locus of control and resistance to social influence

Answer 21

-carried out meta analysis of studies considering locus of control and conformity

Question 22

what were the findings of Atvig’s rseaecrh

Answer 22

-those who scored higher on external locus of control were more easily persuaded and likely to conform than those with a low score
-average correlation was 0.37 = statistically significant
- supports theory that internal locus of control leads to resistance

Question 23

what did Spector (1983) research in terms of locus of control and resistance to social influence

Answer 23

-measured locus of control and predisposition to normative and informational social influence in 157 undergraduate students

Question 24

what were the findings of Spectors research

Answer 24

-found a correlation between locus of control and predisposition to normative social influence
-those with an external locus of control are more likely to show normative social influence than those with internal locus of control
-no correlation between locus of control and informational social influence
-(partial support- depends on nature of the social influence)

Question 25

what did Williams and Warchal (1981) research in terms of locus of control and conformity

Answer 25

-studied 30 uni students
-were given a range of conformity tasks based on Asch’s experiment
-each student assessed using Rotters locus of control

Question 26

what were the findings of the William and Warchal study

Answer 26

-found those who conformed the most were significantly less assertive but did not score differently on the locus of control scale
-doesnt support relationship between locus and resistance to social influence
-evidence is mixed for relationship between internal loc and resistance to conformity