Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
What are the 2 explanations for resistance to social influence?
1- social support
2- locus of control (LOC)
What is social support?
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same- these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
Explain how pressure to conform is reduced by one other dissenting peer
- pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people present who are not conforming
- as we saw in Asch’s study, the person not conforming doesn’t have to give the ‘right’ answer
- but simply the fact someone else is not following the majority appears to enable an individual to be free to follow their own conscience- the other person acts a ‘model’
- effect is not long-lasting as Asch’s research showed that if the non-conforming peer starts conforming again, so does the naïve participant
Explain how pressure to obey is reduced by one other dissenting peer (I.e. social support)
- pressure to obey can be reduced if there is another person who is seen to disobey
- as we saw in Milgram’s study, independent behaviour increased in the condition with a disobedient peer
- it increased from 35% in baseline study to 90% with a disobedient peer
- (participant may not follow disobedient peer but the point is the other person’s disobedience frees the participant to act from his own conscience
What is locus of control (loc)?
- concept concerned with internal control versus external control
- refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives
- internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them (internal locus of control) e.g. if you don’t do well on a test it’s because you didn’t study enough or prepared as well
- externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces (external locus of control) e.g if person failed a test they might say they had bad luck because the questions were hard or unrelated to the course
Who first proposed concept of loc?
Rotter
People differ in the way they explain their successes and failures but it isn’t simply a metter of being
Internal or external- there is a continuum with high internal at one end and high internal at the other end of the continuum; low internal and low external lie in between
Explain why people who have an internal loc are more likely to resist social pressures to conform or obey
1- if a person takes personal responsibility for their actions and experiences (good or bad) then they are more likely to base their decision on their own beliefs
2- People with a high loc tend to be more self-confident, more achievement-orientated, have higher intelligence and have less need for social support- these personality traits lead to greater resistance
What are the evaluation points for social support and loc as explanations for resistance to social influence
✅ social support explanation is that there is research evidence that supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting conformity (Allen and Levine)
✅ social support explanation is that there is research evidence that supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience (Gamson et al)
✅ LOC explanation is that there is research evidence that supports the link between LOC and resistance to obedience (Holland)
❌ role of LOC in resisting social influence may have somewhat been exaggerated
✅ social support in the real world: Rosenstrasse protest
Explain how a strength of social support explanation is that there is research evidence that supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting conformity (Allen and Levine)
- independence was increased when there was one dissenter in an Asch-type study
- more importantly, this occurred even if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision (so he was clearly in no position to judge the length of the line)
- this supports the view that resistance is not motivated by following what someone else says, but it enables someone to be free of the pressure from the group
Explain how a strength of social support explanation is that there is research evidence that supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience (Gamson et al)
- Gamson et al found higher levels of rebellion (I.e. independent behaviour) in his study than Milgram
- this is mostly likely due to the fact that the participants in Gamson’s study were in groups (they had to provide evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign)
- in Gamson’s study 88% rebelled
- showing that peer support is linked to greater resistance
Explain how a strength of LOC explanation is that there is research evidence that supports the link between LOC and resistance to obedience (Holland)
- Holland repeated the Milgram study and measured whether participants were internals or externals
- Holland found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level (I.e. they showed some independent behaviour)
- whereas only 23% of externals did not continue- internals showed greater resistance to authority
- these findings increase the validity of LOC explanation and our confidence that it can explain resistance
- however these conclusions are merely correlational and other factors could be involved in production of independent behaviour
Explain how the role of LOC in resisting social influence may have somewhat been exaggerated
- Rotter pointed out that LOC only comes into play in novel situations
- it has very little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important
- this means that people who have conformed or obeyed in specific situations in the past are likely to do so again, even if they have a high internal LOC, solely due to experience
- this a limitation of the explanation as it means that LOC is only helpful in explaining a limited range of novel situations
Explain how a strength of social support is social support in the real world: Rosenstrasse protest
- in 1943 a group of German women protested in the Rosenstrasse in Berlin where the Gestapo were holding 2000 Jewish men (most of whom were married to non-Jewish partners)
- women stood toe-to-toe with Gestapo agents who threatened to open fire if they did not dispense and demanded the release of their husbands
- despite the threats, the women’s courage eventually prevailed and the Jews were set free
- these women defended the authority of the Gestapo together providing historical evidence of social support as an explanation for resistance to obedience = good temporal validity
