Resistance to social influence Flashcards
resisting conformity - social support
the pressure to conform can be resisted if there is other people present who are not conforming, as seen in Asch’s study. Someone else not following the majority is social support and acts as a model of independent behaviour. Their dissent gives rise to more dissent because it shows the majority is no longer unanimous
resisting obedience - social support
the pressure to obey can be resisted if there is another person who is seen to disobey. The other person’s disobedience acts as a model of dissent for the participant to copy and frees him to act from his conscience. The disobedient challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure, making it easier for others to disobey
locus of control
Some people have an internal LOC, they believe that the things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves.
Some people have an external LOC, they believe the things that happen are outside of their control.
the LOC is a continuum
LOC is a scale and individual’s vary in their position on it.
Resistance to social influence: LOC
People with a high internal LOC are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey. They tend to base their decisions on their own beliefs rather than depending on the opinion of other’s. People with high internal LOC tend to be more self-confident and more achievement-orientated. These traits lead to greater resistance to social influence.
Evaluation of resistance to social influence (brief)
strength - real world support, Albrecht et al
strength - research support, Holland
weakness - contradictory evidence, Twenge et al
strengths of resistance to social influence
there is real-world research support for the positive effects of social support. For example, Albrecht et al evaluated Teen Fresh Start USA, a programme to help pregnant adolescents resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided by a slightly older buddy. At the end of the programme, adolescents with a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group of participants who didn’t have a buddy. Therefore, this shows that social support can help young people resist social influence as part of an intervention in the real world.
there is research evidence to support the link between LOC and resistance to obedience. Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals. He found 37% of internals didn’t continue to highest shock level, whereas only 23% of externals didn’t continue. Internal LOC’s showed greater resistance to authority in a Milgram-type situation. Therefore, this shows that resistance is partly related to LOC, which increases the validity of LOC as an explanation of disobedience.
weakness of resistance to social influence
there is contradictory evidence challenging the link between LOC and resistance. For example, Twenge et al analysed date from American LOC studies over 40 years and found that people became more resistant to obedience but also more external. This is a surprising outcome as we would expect people to become more internal if resistance is linked to an internal locus of control. Therefore, this suggests that locus of control is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence
