Resistance to social influence Flashcards
Define ‘resistance to social influence’
The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey the authority.
What is the resistance to social influence influenced by?
- Situational factors - an external influence which can impact a child or young person’s life.
- Dispositional factors - the individual or personal characteristics of a person that may affect how they behave or conform.
What are the two reasons that people resist?
Social support and Locus of control.
Define ‘social support’
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others do the same.
Give an example where social support decreased obedience
In one of Milgram’s variations, the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate.
Give 2 strengths of social support
Research evidence - Allen and Levine (1971) found independence increased in an Asch-type study. This occured even if the dissenter - a confederate - wore thick glasses and said he “couldn’t judge the line lengths”
* Even though he claimed he couldn’t see, and may have said the wrong answer, it still gave the participant the confidence to say their real answer
Research evidence 2 - Albrecht et al. (2006)
set up an 8 week programme to help pregnant teens resist peer pressure to smoke. 1/2 the participants paired up with a slightly older mentor ‘buddy’ to help resist peer pressure. Smoking adolescents who had a ‘buddy’ were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group of participants who didn’t have a ‘buddy’. This supports the idea that resistance to conformity can be achieved via social support
Describe the Locus of control
Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our life.
Who developed the concept of the Locus of Control?
Rotter, 1966
What is the internal LOC?
The belief that things are happening because you are controlling them.
e.g. “I’m in control. I have the ability to influence my life outcome”
“My good results are due to the hard work I put into studying”
What is the external LOC?
The belief that things are happening outside of their control.
e.g. “Life is unpredictable and much of it is pure luck”
“My good results are due to my teacher”
LOC is a what?
A spectrum
Give an example of what somebody with an external LOC might say
“I’m just an unlucky person - I never win raffles”
Give an example of what somebody with an internal LOC might say
“No, I’m not a killjoy, I just don’t want another drink, I’ve had plenty already”
Give a strength and a weakness of LOC
Strength - Research support. Charles Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals. He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level (ie. they showed some resistance), whereas only 23% of externals did not continue. In other words, internals showed greater resistance to authority in a Milgram-type situation. This shows that resistance is at least partly related to LOC, which increases the validity of LOC as an explanation of disobedience.
Limitation - A person’s LOC only significantly affects their behaviour in new situations. If you have conformed or obeyed in a specific situation in the past, the chances are you will do so again in that situation regardless of whether you have a high internal or high external LOC.
