Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
What is resistance to social influence
The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority
What is locus of control
A person’s perception of their personal control over their own behaviour, is a dispositional factor
What is an internal locus of control
An individual who believes their life is determined by their own decisions and effort
What is an external locus of control
An individual who believes their life is determined by fate, luck and external factors
Is internal or external locus of control more likely to conform and obey
External more likely to conform and obey
Why is internal locus of control less likely to conform
As they actively seek out information which will help them personally and less likely to rely on others
Why are external locus of control more likely to conform
More likely to be influenced by others as they don’t believe they exercise personal control over their lives, go along with group
Why does social support reduce social influence
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform can help others to do the same as they act as models to show that resistance is possible, the dissententer’s disobedience frees the ppt to act from their own conscience
Evidence for social support from Asch
-conformity reduces to 5.5% when one confederate gave a different answer to rest of group
-social support breaks the unanimous position of the majority
Evidence for social support from milgram
-obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when one of the genuine ppts was joined by a disobedient confederate
-people are more confident to resist obedience if they can find an ally who is willing to join them
Expand on strength that there is research support for social support in resistance to conformity
-research evidence supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting conformity eg Allen and Levine found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision (so in no position to judge the length of the lines)
-supports the view that resistance is not just motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free of the pressure from the group
Expand on strength of social support that there is research support for resistance to obedience
-research evidence that supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience. Gamson et al found higher levels of resistance in their study than milgram as the ppts were in groups(had to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign), shows peer support is linked to greater resistance
Expand on limitation that there is limited role of LOC
-role of LOC in resisting social influence may have been somewhat exaggerated
-Rotter points out that LOC only comes into play in novel situations, it has very little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important
-means people who have conformed/obeyed in specific situations in the past are likely to do so again even if they have a high internal LOC
Expand on strength that there is research supporting the link between LOC and resistance to obedience
-Holland repeated milgrams baseline study and measured whether ppts were internals/externals
-found 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level(showed some resistance)whereas only 23% of externals did not continue=internals showed greater resistance to authority
-increases validity of LOC explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance
Expand on limitation of LOC that not all research supports the link between LOC and resistance and however point
-Twenge et al analysed data from American locus of control studies over a 40 year period and found people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external
-if resistance were linked to ILOC we would expect people to become more internal
-challenges link between internal LOC and increasing resistant behaviour
H: possible that the results are due to a changing society where many things are out of personal control
