Resistance To Social Influence (new)

Question 1

What is resistance to social influence?

Answer 1

The ability to oppose the pressure to conform to a majority group or obey an authority figure by maintaining personal autonomy and integrity in thoughts, decisions and actions

Question 2

How many participants resisted the pressure to conform on every critical trial in Aschs study?

Answer 2

25%

Question 3

How many participants resisted pressure to obey to give the full 450v in Milgrams experiment?

Answer 3

35%

Question 4

What is social support?

Answer 4

The presence of others who defy authority figures or go against majority opinion

Question 5

What does social support allow someone to do?

Answer 5

Have the confidence to stand against majority pressure or authoritarian commands

Question 6

What is social support associated with?

Answer 6

The diffusion of responsibility

Question 7

What is the diffusion of responsibility?

Answer 7

The more people who disobey or dissent the less severe the consequences are likely to be

Question 8

What does social support counter? And what does this reinforce?

Answer 8

Feelings of isolation and vulnerability from dissent or defiance which reinforces the individuals resolve and legitimising resistance

Question 9

Who is more likely to resist conformity and why?

Answer 9

Individuals with a non-conformist ally because the ally breaks the groups unanimity and creates an alternate group to belong to

Question 10

Who is ore likely to resist obedience and why?

Answer 10

Individuals with a disobedient role model because the role model challenges the ‘legitimacy of authority’

Question 11

Social support evaluation: helps individuals resist pressures to obey

Answer 11

In milgrams variation which included a participant who received social support obedience dropped from 65% to 10%.
Mil gram says this was because the defiant action of peers reduced the experimenters legitimacy of authority

Question 12

Social support evaluation: helps individuals resist pressures to conform

Answer 12

In one of Asch’s variations one confederate breaks unanimity by providing the correct response which caused the conformity rate to drop from 32% to 5.5%.

Question 13

Social support evaluation: individuals still obey and conform

Answer 13

10% of participants in Milgrams variation and 5.5% of the critical trials in Asch’s variation.
Social support isn’t a complete explanation for resistance and there are other important factors such as locus of control

Question 14

How is locus of control measured?

Answer 14

Scale from internal to external

Question 15

Who developed locus of control?

Answer 15

Rotter

Question 16

What does locus of control refer to?

Answer 16

A personality trait/ belief system regarding what people consider to be the causes of their experiences and the factors that influence their successes or failures

Question 17

What does the locus of control perspective influence?

Answer 17

How people perceive and interact with the environment

Question 18

What do individuals with an internal locus of control believe?

Answer 18

They have personal control over their life and outcomes of their actions

Question 19

What are people with a strong internal locus of control more likely to do about their actions?

Answer 19

Take responsibility and generally are more proactive in seeking info and making decisions

Question 20

What do individuals with an external locus of control believe?

Answer 20

External factors such as fate, luck or powerful others control their lives

Question 21

What do people with an external locus of control tend to attribute outcomes to?

Answer 21

Outside forces rather than their own actions

Question 22

What locus of control is more likely to resist conformity?

Answer 22

Internal locus of control because they believe in their ability to make independent judgments and decisions

Question 23

What encourages someone with an internal locus of control to stand by convictions even under social pressure?

Answer 23

Their sense of personal urgency

Question 24

What type of locus of control is more likely to resist obedience and why?

Answer 24

Individuals with an internal locus of control because of their sense of independence, self-confidence and personal responsibility for their actions

Question 25

Evaluation point: locus of control

Answer 25

Holland repeated milgrams study and participants were assessed for their internal and external locus of control. 37% internal refused to go to the highest voltage compared to 23% external. Suggests high internal locus of control are more able to resist pressures to obey

Question 26

Locus of control Evaluation point: incomplete explanation

Answer 26

Spector - 157 participants completed a questionnaire measuring their locus of control and tendency to conform to nsi and isi. Correlation with internal LOC and participants being more able to resist nsi however just as likely to conform to ISI so externals and internals look to others for correct info and so locus of control isn’t a complete explanation

Question 27

Evaluation point locus of control: relationship between LOC and resistance to social influence is only correlational

Answer 27

Other factors have been suggested as being involved in resistance to social influence e.g. level of social anxiety