Resistance to Social Influence + Minority Influence (SOCIAL INFLUENCE 3/3) Flashcards
resistance to social influence
refers to the ability of an individual to withstand social pressures e.g. conformity and obedience
influenced by both situational and dispositional factors
social support
individuals are more likely to resist social influence if they witness others around them also resisting
- gives the observer confidence as it informs them that they are not alone in your view to resist, allowing an individual to act independently
explains that upstanding is important - witnessing someone standing up gives others the confidence to also stand up
social support + Asch’s unanimity variation
when confederates gave the correct answer, conformity decreased from 32% to 5%
when confederates gave a different incorrect answer, conformity decreased to 9%
social support + Milgram’s variation
participant was paired with two additional confederates, who also played the role of teacher
they refused to continue and withdrew early
percentage of participants who reached 450 volts reduced from 65% to 10%
locus of control
refers to how much a person believes that they have control over events that happen in their lives
measured along a scale from internal to external
internal locus of control
believe they have a high amount of control over own behaviour and therefore take responsibility of own actions
less likely to go with majority, less concerned with social approval, especially if disagree
external locus of control
less likely to resist social influence
believe behaviour is heavily influenced by external factors and so attribute it to situational factors and obey/conform
go with majority, want to fit in and be accepted
social support research evidence
Asch’s unanimity variation
Milgram variation (two additional confederates as teachers)
locus of control research evidence
Spector
individuals with high internal LOC were less likely to conform but only in cases of normative social influence
no difference for informational social influence
- contradicts ISI
+ supports NSI
Holland
replicated Milgram and measured participants’ LOC
internal - 37% did not reach 450v
external - 23% did not reach 450v
internal less likely to conform
contradicts as percentages still low - must be other explanations
Twenge
analysed data over 40 years
people have become more resistant to influence and more external LOC
lacks temporal validity - changed significantly
invalid, suggests opposite
strengths
social support
supporting evidence
Asch / Milgram
limitations
social support
lacks mundane realism / task validity
Asch / Milgram - lab setting, unnatural task
impacts validity
ignores dispositional factors
Holland regarding LOC
reductionist, reduces validity
strengths
locus of control
supporting evidence
Holland / Spector
Holland contradiction - other explanations
limitations
locus of control
contrasting evidence
Twenge
cannot establish cause and effect for LOC’s impact on resistance to social influence
correlational research - only looking at a relationship between two co-variables
do not consider cause and effect, ignores other potential factors, reductionist, reduces validity
minority influence
minority group rejects beliefs and behaviours of majority and seek to establish social change
social change
when society adopts new behaviour or belief which becomes widely accepted by majority which it was not before
achieved through minority influence
Moscovici 3 key processes
consistency
commitment
flexibility
consistency
staying true to beliefs and not deviating when faced with social pressure
diachronic - over time
synchronic - between members
commitment
risk and sacrifice minority group willing to carry out in order to instigate social change
AUGMENTATION PRINCIPLE - more extreme the risk, more attention paid
symbolises commitment and not acting out of self-interest
flexibility
Nemeth
relentless consistency can be counter-productive
perceived as dogmatic, rigid, uncompromised and so majority less likely to listen
should be reasonable, cooperative and willing to accept reasonable counterarguments
adapt / accept compromise to gain receptive support while holding true to beliefs
conversion
over time majority viewpoint switches towards minority
tend to forget original views
snowball effect
small actions causing bigger and bigger actions resulting in social change
social cryptomnesia
origins of social change forgotten by majority
minority influence strengths
supporting research evidence
Moscovici (consistency)
female ppts in colour perception task
groups of 6, shown 36 slides of varying shades of blue and had to state the colour
2/6 were confederates
- consistent condition, said all 46 were green
- inconsistent condition, said 24 were green
- control, blue
as consistency increased, minority influence increased
minority influence strengths
supporting research evidence
Nemeth (flexibility)
1/4 confederates deciding on amount of compensation given to victim of ski-lift accident
minority argued for low rate and refused to change - had little effect on majority
minority argued for low rate but compromised - majority more likely to change view
minority influence weaknesses
Moscovici research evidence lacks ecological validity and mundane realism
lab setting, judging colour of slides
does not reflect how minority influence operates in the real world
setting unnatural, unnatural behaviour unrepresentative
minority influence strengths
high applicability
e.g. suffragettes
showed great commitment and sacrifice (Emily Davison and King’s horse) and were consistent over a long time
strengthens ideas proposed as have been practiced by real groups in history and have resulted in conversion and snowball effect
minority influence weaknesses
lacks generalisability
Moscovici used all female students
lacks population validity, not representative to all
Jenness found that females considered to be more conformist than males, suggesting a gender difference in response
social change values
consistency
commitment
flexibility
snowball effect
social cryptomnesia
internal locus of control
drawing attention
deeper processing
internal locus of control (social change)
well-suited to instigating change
believe can make a difference and take responsibility for lack of action
drawing attention (social change)
provide proof of problem needing attention
deeper processing (social change)
want majority to consider views rather than simply accepting
more likely to change opinions if heard from another majority group since have larger influence
social change strengths
supporting research evidence (consistency)
Moscovici found that when confederates were consistent in declaration of wrong answers, ppts accepted minority influence much easier
consistency creates larger impact and more effective
- lacks population validity
all-female sample, unrepresentative
social change strengths
supporting research evidence (snowball effect/social support)
Clarke conducted study on paradigm of 12 Angry Men
when minority able to get one member of majority to defect, rest were more likely to also defect
ceiling effect reached at 3 defectors (cannot increase any more)
expressing desire for social change can result in others also, bigger movement, change more likely
- no. of defector does not increase past 3
individual differences and personal opinions
social change weaknesses
fails to account for different groups
Bashir found that people resist social change even when believe necessary because they want to avoid being associated with negative stereotypes of minority group
reputation influential to success
can be barrier
social change weaknesses
fails to account for role of majority
Maass found that heterosexual individuals are more successful at convincing members of majority to support gay rights that when homosexuals campaigned
identification with minority means majority are more likely to support social change
relatability important and diversity can affect reception and reach of influence
