Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
What are the two factors of social support?
- Resisting conformity
- Resisting obedience
How can conformity be resisted?
The presence of a dissenter, with someone else not following majority social support is provided. Enabling naive participant to follow their own conscience. Confederate acts as a “model” of independent behaviour their dissent increases other dissent and the majority is no longer unanimous.
How is obedience resisted?
When another is seen to disobey obedience drops
- Milgram’s variation where this occurred obedience dropped from 65%-10%
- The other person acts as a model for dissent for participant to follow, allowing P to act for own conscience
- Disobedient model challenges legitimacy of authority
What is Locus of control?
Rotter (1966)- Locus of control is a concept showing internal control vs external. Those with internal believe things that happen to them are controlled by themselves. External LOC believe things that happen are outside their control.
What is the LOC continuum?
It shows people are not just ether one or the other it acts as a scale and people vary in their position on it.
Which LOC is able to resist from social influence?
Internal, they take personality responsibility for their own actions so they do not depend on others. Another reason, is they tend to be more self confident and have higher intelligence these lead to greater resistance to SI and provide for great leader with less need for social approval.
Evaluation for social support?
- Research evidence for positive effects: Albrecht et al evaluated eight week programme aiding pregnant adolescents in resisting peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided through an older mentor. Those with the mentor were less likely to smoke then control group without. Social support helps resist social influence in real world.
- Support from Gamson et al for dissenting peers in resisting obedience. P’s told to produced evidence for an oil company to run a smear campaign. Higher levels of resistance as P’s were in groups so could discuss (88%) rebelled. Supports as peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining legitimacy of authority.
Evaluation of LOC?
- Support from Holland- link between LOC and resistance to obedience. Repeated Milgrams study and measured whether P’s were internal or externals. 37% of internals didn’t continue to highest shock, 23% of externals did not. Increases validity of LOC as an explanation
- Limitation from Twenge challenging link between LOC and resistance, analysed data from LOC studies over 40 years and found that people became more resistant and more external. This decreases the validity of a link between internal locus of control and resistance. LOC not valid explanation for how people resist social influence.
