Resistance to Social Influence Flashcards
What is the dispositional factor that may cause us to disobey?
Locus of control.
Locus of Control
A person’s perception of their personal control over their own behaviour.
Internal Locus of Control
An individual who believes their life is determined by their own decisions and efforts.
External Locus of Control
An individual who feels that their life is determined by fate, luck, and external factors.
How does the internal locus of control relate to social influence?
Internals will actively seek out information to help themselves, meaning they are less reliant on others. They are more achievement-orientated, and can resist pressure from others.
How does the external locus of control relate to social influence?
Externals are more likely to be influenced by others as they don’t believe they exercise personal control over their lives.
Which psychologist proposed the locus of control?
Rotter (1966).
Locus of Control - Strengths
- Supporting evidence from Holland (1967) - internals in Milgram’s procedure were 37% disobedient, externals were 23%.
- Usefulness - Shute (1975) found people with internal are less likely to be influenced by other’s attitudes to drugs. Suggests that developing an internal locus of control may be useful socially.
- Avtgis (1998) found a correlation between externals and conforming behaviour - supporting evidence.
Locus of Control - Limitations
- Contradictory evidence from Twenge et al (2004) - found Americans are becoming increasingly external. This is negative, as it is correlated with poor school achievement, depression, and less self-control.
- Some studies have found no correlation between locus of control and conforming behaviour.
- Rotter (1982) said that our locus of control only come into play in novel situations. It has little influence over familiar situations; previous experiences will be more important than locus of control.
Social Support
The prescence 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 do social factors say about individual differences?
They play little to no role in resistance to social influence.
How does Asch provide support for the social support theory?
With all confederates aswering incorrectly, conformity was 32%. When a dissenter was there, conformity was only 9%. This dissenter gave the participant confidence to resist.
How does Milgram provide support for the social support theory?
In the original experiment, 65% of participants obeyed, continuing to 450v. with two disobedient confederates, stopping at 150v and 210v rates of obedience dropped to 10%.
How do the London Riots (2011) support the social support theory?
Many people joined in the riots who, in interviews, confessed that they only joined in due to the people around them joining in - normative social influence.
Social Support - Strengths
- Supporting evidence from Allen and Levine (1971) - found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in a study similar to Asch. This occured even when the dissenter wore thick glasses and stated that they had bad vision.
- Supporting evidence from Gamson et al. (1982) - participants were in groups. 88% rebelled against authority. Said that participants were more likely to disobey than in Milgram’s study, as there was social support.
