Resistance to Social influence Flashcards
How does social support help to resist conformity and obedience?
The pressure to conform or obey is reduced when another person gives an answer, even if their answer isn’t correct. They act as a model but if they begin conforming, the participant does too.
What is locus of control?
Rotter proposed the concept of internal vs external control. Internals believe that things that have happened to them are controlled by themselves whereas externals believe things happen without their control. There is a continuum with people inbetween externals and internals.
How does LOC affect social influence?
People with internal LOC are more likely to resist pressures to conform or obey as they take responsibility for their actions and trust their own views Also they are more self confident and intelligent so have less need for social approval.
What research supports social support?
Allen and Levine (1971) found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in a study that used the Asch paradigm. More importantly, this occurred even if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision, so they acted as a model. Also Gamson et al (1982) asked groups to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign. They found higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram as 29 out of 33 participants (88%) rebelled so people are more likely to rebel if they are in bigger groups with more people who don’t want to conform
What is a limitation of social support?
Asch showed that if non conforming people conform again in an experiment, the naive also conforms again.
What research supports LOC?
Holland 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 whereas only 23% of externals did not continue so internals are likely to resist pressure from others.Oliner & Oliner (1998) interviewed non-Jewish survivors of WWII and compared those who had resisted orders and protected Jewish people from the Nazi’s, in comparison to those who had not. Oliner and Oliner found that the 406 ‘rescuers’, who had resisted orders, were more likely to have a high internal locus of control, in comparison to the 126 people who had simply followed orders.
What is a limitation of LOC?
Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from American locus of control studies over a 40-year period. The data showed that, over this time span, people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external. Also, Rotter points out that LOC only comes into play in novel situations. In familiar situations, our previous experiences will always be more important and LOC will have little influence.
