Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
What is the locus of control?
This concept refers to how much people believe they are in control of their own lives. It is measured on a scale with internal at one end and external at the other end.
What is an internal locus referring to obedience?
A person with an internal locus of control believes they are always responsible for their behaviour. Because of this, they more likely to seek more information before following orders. If they were to harm someone like in the Milgram study they would blame themselves; this motivates them to act independently.
What is an external locus in terms of obedience?
A person with an external locus of control sees their life as being controlled by luck, chance or by others - especially others with more power. They are thus more likely to obey an authority figure.
How does social support help resist conformity?
If there are other people in the group who also don’t follow the group people are more likely to resist conformity and act independently. This is because other non conformers act as allies and help people to be more confident and realise that it is OK to stand out from the group.
How does Asch’s study support the idea that social support helps in resisting conformity?
Asch found that the presence of social support enables an individual to resist conformity pressure. In a variation of his study, the introduction of an ally who gave the right answer and so appeared to resist the majority causes conformity levels to drop sharply.
How does social support assist in resisting obedience?
It is often difficult to take a stand against authority because the obedient behaviour of others makes even a harmful action appear acceptable. Research has shown that individuals are generally more confident in their ability to resist the temptation to obey if they find an ally who is willing to join them in opposing the authority figure. Disobedient peers therefore act as role models in which the individual can model their own behaviour
What is the research to support the importance of social support in resisting pressures to conform?
Allen and Levine studied whether the response position or the person provided the social support made any different to a participant resisting the majority. In one condition, a confederate answered first, giving the right answer while all the other confederates gave the wrong answer. The real participant always answered last. In the second condition, the confederate answered fourth, i.e after other confederates. Support was significantly more effective in position 1 than in position 4. This could be due to the correct first answer confirming the participants own judgement, preventing the participant from conforming with the majority. This different in conformity therefore demonstrates the significance of social support when resisting pressures to conform
What is the research to support the importance of social support when resisting pressures to obey?
Gamson et al carried out a study asking participants to complete a specific request but in groups. It was found that 29 out of 33 groups of participants rebelled and did not complete the request of the authority figure. This shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance and perhaps the presence of other people agreeing prevents people from completing a task merely because an authority figure commands it
What is the research to support the role of locus of control when resisting social influence?
Avtgis carried out a meta-analysis of studies of the relationship between locus of control and different forms of social influence, including conformity. This showed a significant positive correlation between scores of internality/ externality and scores on measures of persuasion, social influence and conformity. The analysis showed that people with an external locus of control tended to be more easily persuaded than those with an internal locus of control. This positive correlation demonstrates the influence the locus of control of a person has on their resistance to social influence
How is an internal locus of control linked to culture?
Smith and Bond did a meta analysis of 133 studies from 17 countries found that there was more conformity from people who live in collectivist cultures (Japan) and less conformity in individualist cultures (UK, USA). This is because individualist cultures favour the individual and their achievements compared to those of the group. As a result they encourage people to act more independently. Therefore just because some acts independently and has an internal LOC, it may not be that they are acting independently because of their LOC; they may have been taught to have an internal LOC and act independently from living in an individualist culture. This suggests that other factors must be taken into consideration when investigating the reasons why people may resist social influence
