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 authority
What four things are involved in resisting conformity?
Social support, knowledge of how to act, culture and locus of control
How does social support help people resist conformity?
The presence of another person who does not conform acts as a model and provides social support. This gives the individual more confidence helping them to reject the views of the majority
What study supports social support?
In Aschs variation when one confederate was instructed to give the correct answer then conformity dropped to from 32% to 5.5%
How does knowledge on how to act help people resist conformity?
You are less likely to conform when you know what the right way to behave is
What study supports knowledge on how to act?
Perrin and spencer used maths, he is try and engineering students who had specific skills in accuracy and measurement. They were less likely to conform and conformity dropped from 32% to 0.25%
How does culture help people resist conformity?
Individualist cultures are less likely to conform due to their social behaviour being largely determined by personal goals. It is considered acceptable for the individual to place personal goals ahead of collective goals
What study supports culture?
Smith and Bond did a meta analysis of aschs research across cultures with individualist societies. The conformity in Belgium was 14%
What are two limitations of the study on culture?
The meta analysis is oversimplified and the task may be interpreted in different ways
How does locus of control help to resist conformity?
Those with a high internal locus of control seek out information that is useful and so rely less on other people’s opinions. Therefore they are less likely to obey and they remain independent
