Resistance To Social Influence Content

Question 1

What is resistance to social influence?

Answer 1

The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority

Question 2

What 2 types of factors does our resistance to social influence depend on?

Answer 2

Situational factors (things around us in the moment)
Dispositional factors (how we are, our personality)

Question 3

What is social support?

Answer 3

The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. These people act as role models to show resistance to social influence is possible

Question 4

What did Asch find in 1956 around social support helping resist conformity?

Answer 4

The presence of social support enables an individual to resist conformity pressure from the majority

Question 5

What research supports Asch’s finding that social supports helps resist conformity?

Answer 5

Asch’s variations on unanimity (when confederates gave some correct answers)

Question 6

What did Asch’s variation on unanimity show about social support?

Answer 6

Conformity is reduced with increased social support

Question 7

Why does conformity reduce with increased social support?

Answer 7

The social pressure of social support allow the individual to make an independent decision and better resist social influence

Question 8

Apart from Asch’s variations, what research supports social support in decreasing conformity?

Answer 8

Allen and Levine (1971)

Question 9

What did Allen and Levine (1971) do and what were the findings?

Answer 9

. Replicated Asch’s line study

Findings:
. Conformity decreased with one dissenter
. Conformity still decreased even when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said they had difficulty with their vision

Question 10

What can be concluded from Allen and Levine (1971)?

Answer 10

. Resisting conformity is about increased social support, no matter how reliable the support is (person who couldn’t see properly with glasses was still trusted as valid social support)
. Resistance enables someone to be free of the group pressure they conformed to

Question 11

Why does pressure to obey decrease when someone else is also disobeying and what does this mean for disobedient peers?

Answer 11

The individual is more confident in their ability to resist temptations to obey
This means disobedient peers act as role models on which an individual can model their behaviour

Question 12

How does Milgram’s variation show increased social support from disobedient peers helps resist obedience?

Answer 12

. Obedience rate dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a confederate who withdrew and refused to reach the 450V shock level

the participant may not directly follow the confederates behaviour, but the fact they are disobeying is enough for the participant to act with their own free will, whether this is to obey or not

Question 13

What is locus of control (LOC)?

Answer 13

A person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour (internal vs external control)

Question 14

How is LOC measured?

Answer 14

On a continuum, not simply internal or external, there are varying levels of each

Question 15

Who proposed the idea of LOC and when?

Answer 15

Julian Rotter (1966)

Question 16

What did Julian Rotter say internals were?

Answer 16

People who believe the things happening to them are mostly controlled by themselves
E.g if you did well in an exam, it was because YOU worked hard

Question 17

What did Julian Rotter say externals were?

Answer 17

People who believed things that happen to them are out of their control
- they often tend to blame other things for their failures

Question 18

How does high internality relate to social influence?

Answer 18

Rely less on other opinions so you are better resistant to social influence as you have internalised your views (deep belief)

Question 19

How does high externality relate to social influence?

Answer 19

You take less social responsibility so make less independent decision and are therefore more likely to be influenced by others

Question 20

What are characteristic of high internals that help resist social influence?

Answer 20

1. Active seekers of useful information - less likely to rely on opinions of others
2. More achievement-oriented - more likely I become leaders than follow others
3. Better able to resist coercion from others
4. Self-confident
5. Less need for social approval

Question 21

What did Spector (1882) find?

Answer 21

Found a relationship between LOC and leadership style, with internals being more persuasive and goal-orientated

Question 22

What did Hutchins and Estey (1978) do and find?

Answer 22

. Simulated a prisoner-of-war camp situation
Findings: internals were better able to resist the attempts of an interrogator to get information
- more intense pressure from interrogator = greater difference between internals performance and that of externals

Question 23

What research supports LOC?

Answer 23

Holland (1967) - increases validity of LOC

Question 24

What did Holland (1967) do and find?

Answer 24

. Repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants are internals/externals
Findings:
. 37% internals didn’t continue to the highest shock
. Only 23% of externals didn’t continue to the highest level

Question 25

What research contradicts the existence of LOC?

Answer 25

Twenge et al (2004)

Question 26

What did Twenge et al do and find?

Answer 26

. Analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40-year period
Findings: the data showed people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external

According to LOC, surely if we are resisting more we become more internal?