resistance to social influence Flashcards

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1
Q

what are the two main reasons for resistance to social influence?

A

•social support
•locus of control

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2
Q

what is social support?

A

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

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3
Q

what are the two aspects of social support?

A

•conformity
•obedience

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4
Q

how does conformity relate to social support?

A

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

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5
Q

how does obedience relate to social support?

A

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

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6
Q

how did unanimity contribute to resisting social influence? (Asch example)

A

•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

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7
Q

what did conformity drop to in Asch’s study when the unanimity of the group was broken?

A

5.5%

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8
Q

when a confederate in Milgram’s study refused to obey the experimenter what did obedience drop to?

A

from 65% to 10%

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9
Q

keywords to include in responses referring to resistance to social influence

A

•model
•social support
•locus of control
•unanimity

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10
Q

what is the research support for the resistance to conformity aspect of social support?

A

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

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11
Q

what is the research support for the resistance to obedience aspect of social support?

A

•in one of Milgram’s variations, when a confederate refused to obey the experimenter the obedience rates went from 65% to 10%

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12
Q

what is a locus of control?

A

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)

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13
Q

who proposed the concept of locus of control?

A

Rotter

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14
Q

is there a continuum for locus of control?

A

yes, you’re not always just one or the other and can be a moderate of weak version of one

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15
Q

how does locus of control relate to resistance to social influence?

A

•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

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16
Q

evaluation points of the locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence

A

strength: research support
limitation: contradictory research

17
Q

strength of the locus of control explanation

A

•research support, Holland
•Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals
•he found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock levels whereas only 23% of externals did not continue
•in other words internals showed a greater resistance to authority
•research support of this nature increases the validity of the LOC explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance

18
Q

what do people believe with an internal locus of control?

A

that things happen as a result of our own choices and decisions. people with an internal locus of control tend to resist pressure to conform and obey

19
Q

what does someone with an external locus of control think?

A

they believe that things happen because of luck, fate or other external forces. people with an external locus of control are more likely to conform and obey

20
Q

what is research support for the locus of control explanation from Oliner and Oliner?

A

•they looked at 406 people who protected jews in WW2 and 126 people who did not
•the study found that the people who protected the Jewish were more likely to have an internal locus of control
•the explanation has real world application and research support like this increases the validity

21
Q

what is a limitation of the locus of control explanation?

A

contradictory research, Twenge
•Twenge analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period. The data shows that, over this time period, people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external.
•if resistance was linked to an internal locus of control, we would expect people to have become more internal
•this challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistant behaviour, however it is possibly that the results are due to a changing society where many things are out of personal control