resistance to social influence Flashcards
what are the two main reasons for resistance to social influence?
•social support
•locus of control
what is social support?
the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
what are the two aspects of social support?
•conformity
•obedience
how does conformity relate to social support?
social support can help people to resist conformity. the pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people present who aren’t conforming.
•the person not conforming doesn’t have to be giving the ‘right’ answer but just following their own conscience, they act as a ‘model’ for the participant to do the same
•however the dissent is not long lasting as if this model begins conforming again so does the participant
how does obedience relate to social support?
social support can also help people resist obedience. the pressure to obey is reduced if there is seen to be someone else disobey.
•in one of Milgram’s variations the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate
•the disobedient behaviour acts as a ‘model’ and allows the participant to act from their own conscience
how did unanimity contribute to resisting social influence? (Asch example)
•Asch’s research showed that the person not conforming doesn’t have to be giving the ‘right’ answer, but simply deviating from the majority view, this person acts like a ‘model’ and shows the participant that they can act of their own conscience
•Asch’s experiment also showed that conformity dropped to 5.5% when a confederate didn’t conform and broke the unanimity of the group, however the effect of the dissent isn’t long lasting
what did conformity drop to in Asch’s study when the unanimity of the group was broken?
5.5%
when a confederate in Milgram’s study refused to obey the experimenter what did obedience drop to?
from 65% to 10%
keywords to include in responses referring to resistance to social influence
•model
•social support
•locus of control
•unanimity
what is the research support for the resistance to conformity aspect of social support?
In Asch’s study when there was one dissenter conformity went down to 5.5%, they didn’t even have to be giving the ‘right’ answer just rejecting the majority view
what is the research support for the resistance to obedience aspect of social support?
•in one of Milgram’s variations, when a confederate refused to obey the experimenter the obedience rates went from 65% to 10%
what is a locus of control?
this refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them ( internal locus of control). externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces (external locus of control)
who proposed the concept of locus of control?
Rotter
is there a continuum for locus of control?
yes, you’re not always just one or the other and can be a moderate of weak version of one
how does locus of control relate to resistance to social influence?
•people who have an internal locus of control are more likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey as they base their decisions on their own beliefs and take responsibility when things go wrong
•people with an internal locus of control tend to be more self-confident and have a higher intelligence so have less of a need for social approval, leading to greater resistance to social influence