Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
What is resistance to social influence?
The ability of people to withstand the social pressures to conform/obey authority or threats to freedom of choice
What is independent behaviour?
Resistance to social influence which is due to disobedience and non-conformity
Examples studies where people don’t conform
Asch- 26%
Milgram- 35%
Hofling- 1/22
What is a dissenter
Someone who resists social influence like harry styles wearing a dress
Characteristics of a dissenter
- high self esteem
- low anxiety in social situations
- willingness to stand out + be individuated
- strong need for self expression
What are the 2 explanations for resistance to social influence?
- Social support
- Loctus of control
What is social support?
Presence of people who resist social pressure can help others do the same. They act as models to show others that resistance is possible.
Example of social support
In Milgrams study where the teacher had support from disobedient confederates obedience by naive participants dropped by 10%
What is locus of control?
The extent to which people perceive themselves to be in control of their own lives. It’s on a continuum- aren’t internal/external indefinitely- different situations will be explained in different ways
What is an internal locus of control?
Where people believe that things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves. Good grades is because of hard work put in
What is external locus of control?
Things that happen are out of our control, if you fail a test its because of a bad teacher
Which locus of control are more resistant to social pressure and why?
Internals- see themselves in control of situation as more likely to perceive themselves as having free choice to conform or obey
Evaluation points:
S: research evidence Teen Fresh Start
S: research support Gamson
S: research support to link LOC and resistance Holland
L: evidence challenges link between LOC and resistance Twenge
social support a03
how does Teen Fresh Start support?
- research evidence for positive effects of social support
- Teen Fresh Start= progamme help resit peer pressure to smoke. end of programme teens who had ‘buddy’ sig less likely to smoke
- showing social support can help young resist social influence as part of intervention in world
increases validity
resistance a03
what research support is there for dissenting peers for resisting obedience?
Gamson
- p’s told to produce evidence that would be used to help oil company run smear campaign
- higher levels of resistance than Milgrams - bc in groups so can discuss
- peer support lead to disobedience by undermining legitimacy of authority
lab experiment- low eco validity
locus of control a03
what research support is there for loctus of control?
- Holland repeated Milgram and measured if internal or external
- 37% internals didnt continue to highest shock= greatest resistance
- 23% externals didn’t continue
- increases validity of LOC as an explanation
natural experiment= replicable
loctus of control a03
what evidence is there to challenge the link between LOC and resistance?
Twenge
- analysed data from American locus of control studies over 40 year period
- overtime people became more resistant to obedience but more external
- LOC is not valid of how ppl resist social influence
