Resistance To Social Influence + Social Change

Question 1

Resisting obedience

Answer 1

• Dissenter models independent behaviour -> shows it can be done
• Enables people to follow their own conscience
• Breaks unanimity (powerful binding factor)
• Challenges legitimacy of authority figure

Question 2

Resisting conformity

Answer 2

• Confederates not conforming
• Someone else is not following majority -> social support
• Enables participant to follow own conscience - shows majority is no longer unanimous

Question 3

Locus of control

Answer 3

• Internal control vs external control
• A continuum ( on a scale )

Question 4

High internal LOC

Answer 4

• Believe thing that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves
• More able to resist pressures to conform or obey
• More self confident, achievement orientated, leaders with less need for social approval

Question 5

High external LOC

Answer 5

Believe things that happen are outside of their control

Question 6

Strength for social support

Answer 6

• Susan Albrecht evaluated programme to stop teens smoking
• Social support provided by older mentor ‘buddy’
• P’s with a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group who didn’t have a buddy
• Shows having social support can help people resist social influence

Question 7

Research for dissenting peers

Answer 7

• Gamson participants told to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company smear campaign
• Researchers found high levels of resistance study -> p’s were in groups so could discuss what they were told to do 29/33 groups rebelled against orders

Question 8

Research support for LOC

Answer 8

• Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals
• Found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level
• 23% of externals did
• Internals show greater resistance to authority

Question 9

Limitation for LOC and resistance

Answer 9

• Twenge analysed data from American locusts of control studies over 40 year period
• People became more resistant to obedience but also more external
• Is resistance is linked to an internal locus of control, we would expect people to have become more internal

Question 10

Minority influence

Answer 10

A minority of people persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
This leads to internalisation - private attitudes changed as well as public

Question 11

Synchronic consistency

Answer 11

All saying the same thing

Question 12

Diachronic consistency

Answer 12

They’ve been saying the same thing for some time now

Question 13

Minority influence - consistency

Answer 13

If the minority is consistent (synchronic or diachronic) this attracts the attention of the majority over time

Question 14

Research support for consistency

Answer 14

Moscovici blue green slide study showed that a consistent minority opinion had a greater affect on changing the views of other people
Six participants, state whether slides were green or blue
2 confederates consistently gave wrong answers - gave the same wrong answer 8% of the trials

Question 15

Commitment

Answer 15

Personal sacrifices show commitment, attract attention, reinforce message

Question 16

Augmentation principale

Answer 16

If a person performs an action when there is know constraint their motive for acting must be stronger

Question 17

Flexibility

Answer 17

Minority more convincing if they accept some counter arguments
Strike balance between consistency and flexibility

Question 18

Explanation for the process of change

Answer 18

Three factors make majority think more deeply about an issue

Question 19

Snowball effect

Answer 19

Minority view gathers force and becomes majority influence

Question 20

Research support for deeper processing

Answer 20

• Martin presented message support view
• One group of p’s heard minority group agreeing with initial view
• Another group heard majority group agree
• Less willing to change opinions if they’d listened to minority group

Question 21

Artificial tasks limitation

Answer 21

Tasks involved are often artificial -> lacking external validity
E.g. Moscovici study

Question 22

Steps in how minority social influence creates social change

Answer 22

1. Drawing attention
2. Consistency
3. Deeper processing
4. Augmentation principle
5. Snowball effect
6. Social cryptomnesia

Question 23

Social cryptomnesia

Answer 23

People have a memory that change has occurred but don’t remember how it happened

Question 24

Lessons from conformity

Answer 24

• Environmental + health campaigns which exploit conformity processes by appealing to normative social influence
• Provide information about what other people are doing e.g. most other young people do not smoke
• Drawing attention to what the majority are doing

Question 25

Research support for normative social influences

Answer 25

• Nolan aimed to see if they could change peoples energy use habits
• Hung messages that most most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage
• Some residents had a different message that just asked them ti save energy
• Significant decreases in energy usage in the first group compared to second

Question 26

Lessons from obedience research

Answer 26

Milgram - importance of disobedient role models
Zimbardo - suggests how obedience can be used to/create social change through the process of gradual commitment

Question 27

Limitation of deeper processing

Answer 27

Mackie - argued majority influence that may create deeper processing, like to believe that other people share our views

Question 28

Minority influence explains change

Answer 28

Nemeth- when people consider minority arguments they engage in divergent thinking
Dissenting minorities stimulate new ideas and open minds in a way majorities can’t