Resistance to social influence Flashcards
how can conformity be resisted
if there are other people present who are not conforming
e.g., in asch’s research, the confederate who is not conforming may not be giving the ‘right’ answer
the fact that someone else is not following the majority is social support
enables naive ppts to follow their own conscience
dissent gives rise to more dissent, removes unanimity
how can obedience be resisted
if there is another person who is seen to disobey
e.g., in one of milgram’s variations, obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine ppts was joined by a disobedient confederate
another person’s disobedience acts as a model for the ppts to copy
challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure, making it easy for others to disobey
what is locus of control
rotter (1966) proposed LOC, a concepted concerned with internal control vs external control
internal LOC - people believe that the things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves
external LOC - people believe that the things that happen are outside of their control
LOC is a continuum - it is a scale and individuals vary in their position on it, e.g., high internal LOC is at one end of the continuum and high external at the other.
apply locus of control to resistance to social influence
people with a high internal LOC are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey
they base their decisions on their own beliefs rather than depending on the opinions of others
these people tend to be more self-confident, achievement orientated and have higher intelligence
characteristics of leaders, who have much less need for social approval than followers
what is the research evidence for the positive effects of social support (strength)
albrecht et al. (2006) evaluated an american eight-week programme to aid pregnant adolescents in resisting peer pressure to smoke
social support was provided by a mentor
found that adolescents who had a mentor were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group who did not have a mentor
shows that social support can help resist social influence in important real world contexts
what is the research evidence to support the role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience (strength)
gamson et al.’s (1982) ppts were told to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
researchers found higher levels of resistance than milgram
likely due to ppts being in groups so could discuss what they were told to do
88% rebelled against their orders
shows that peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure
what is the research evidence to support the link between LOC and resistance to obedience (strength)
holland (1967) repeated milgram’s baseline study and measured whether ppts were internals or externals
found 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only 23% of externals did not continue
shows that resistance is at least partly related to LOC, increasing the validity of LOC
what is the evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance (limitation)
twenge et al. (2004) analysed data from american LOC studies conducted over 40 years
data showed that people became more resistant to obedience but also more external
if resistance is linked to an internal LOC, we would expect people to have become more internal
suggests that LOC is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence
