Resistance to social influence — Social support and locus of control

Question 1

What makes independent behaviour occur?

Answer 1

When a person is able to resist feeling the pressure to conform and obey

Question 2

What is a powerful method in resisting conformity?

Answer 2

By having social support (an ally)

Question 3

How does social support make it easier to resist the pressure to conform?

Answer 3

It breaks the overall unanimity of the majority

Question 4

What were the results Asch found in the original study? ( independent rate, conforming rate, conforming at least once rate and never conforming rate)

Answer 4

Independent rate - 63%
Conforming rate - 36.8% (37%)
Conforming at east once - 75%
never conforming rate - 25%

Question 5

What did Albrecht et al. (2006) investigate?

Answer 5

An anti-smoking campaign, part of the Teen Fresh Start USA programme for pregnant 14-19 year olds.

Question 6

What was the result from Albrecht et al.’s investigation and what does this suggest?

Answer 6

Ppts are significantly more likely to resist peer pressure to smoke when having a ‘buddy.’
This suggests the important role social support has in resisting conformity.

Question 7

How did asch change his study to investigate moral considerations when resisting social influence?

Answer 7

Instead of a line judgment, ppts were asked a moral judgment (what would you do if?) and found that conformity dropped

Question 8

What does the finding from Asch’s ‘moral consideration’ condition suggest ?

Answer 8

Suggests we are more likely to resist the pressure to conform when we are deciding something we feel strongly feel or when we feel it would be morally wrong to conform.

Question 9

Who was Michael Bernhardt?

Answer 9

A sergeant in the Mai Lai Massacre who refused to take part in the killings and was court-martialled for disobeying

Question 10

How did Michael Bernhardt resist the pressure to obey (regarding moral consideration) ?

Answer 10

He had discussed willingness to kill innocents with wife and decided he wouldn’t kill innocent women and children
This shows the importance of considering morals when resisting social pressure

Question 11

How did Michael Bernhardt display an internal locus of control?

Answer 11

He could resist the order to obey due to already thinking bout how he’d respond to this demand prior and felt able to say no.

Question 12

What did Griskevicius et al. (2006) find out regarding gender differences and conformity?

Answer 12

Found that there are gender differences in non conformity ( independent behaviour)
Males are more likely to resist conformity whereas females aren’t.

Question 13

What did griskevicius et al. (2006) find out regarding gender behaviour when it comes to finding a partner?

Answer 13

Males show independent behaviour when looking for a girlfriend, while females show more conformity when looking for a boyfriend

Question 14

What did Milgram find out as a percentage of ppts who didn’t obey and what does this suggest?

Answer 14

Found 35% of ppts didn’t obey and that they didn’t continue to 450V
Suggests many people are willing to disobey an authority figure.

Question 15

What was the result from Milgram’s ally condition and what does this suggest?

Answer 15

Obedience dropped to 10% when ppts had social support, suggesting having an ally helps an individual show disobedience to an authority figure

Question 16

What did Kohlberg do regarding Milgram’s ppts and what did he find out?

Answer 16

Interviewed several of his ppts to see why they disobeyed or obeyed
Found that those ppts who had previously considered their moral code (right/wrong) were more likely to disobey

Question 17

What does Kohlberg’s findings suggest about moral considerations?

Answer 17

They are an important part to disobeying unjust authority figures.

Question 18

What is a real world example of moral considerations being acknowledged to disobey unjust authority figures?

Answer 18

Michael Bernhardt refused to take part in the Mai Lai massacre as her morally considering killing and had previously decided he would not kill innocent women and children — unlike the rest of the platoon.

Question 19

What does locus (location) of control involve?

Answer 19

If an individual ha an internal locus of control, they’re more likely to show independent behaviour
If an individual has an external locus of control, they’re more likely to conform/ obey as they lack faith in their own ability in decision making

Question 20

Define internal locus of control

Answer 20

This is when you feel in control of yourself and feel more confident to make decisions.
You are more likely to show independent behaviour

Question 21

Define external locus of control

Answer 21

You don’t feel in control of your life and lack confidence in making decisions.
You’d be more likely to conform/ obey as you believe luck/fate are influential in your life.

Question 22

What did rotter create to measure locus of control?

Answer 22

He created a two-choice statement questionnaire to measure if you have an internal/external locus of control

Question 23

Give two example questions where ppts would choose the state they agree most with in Rotter’s questionnaire to measure locus of control

Answer 23

A. Many of the unhappy things in peoples lives are due to bad luck
B. People’s misfortunes result from the mistakes they have made

Question 24

How do you work out the level of internal/ external locus of control in a person?

Answer 24

Counting up the number of internal / external statements that the person has agreed with

Question 25

What did Rotter (1966) claim regarding internal LOC?

Answer 25

Claimed that high internal LOC individuals are more successful and independent.

Question 26

What did Rotter do in 1982 that supports his original preposition in 1966?

Answer 26

He refied his theory to suggest LOC is most influential in new situations and is influenced by the amount of resistance to social influence you have shown in the past to similar situations.

Question 27

What did Holland (1967) recreate and why?

Answer 27

He replicated Milgram’s original study to measure whether the ppts were internal or external LOC individuals.

Question 28

What were the two results from Holland’s (1967)replication?

Answer 28

37% of internal LOC individuals didn’t continue to the highest voltage level.
Only 23% of the external LOC individuals didn’t continue to the end.

Question 29

What do the results from Holland’s (1967) replication suggest?

Answer 29

Suggests ppts with internal LOC are most likely to resist social influence

Question 30

What did Trenge et al. (2004) find out regarding levels of internals?

Answer 30

Found the number of internal LOC individuals had decrease over time in younger people in the US

Question 31

Why is a decreasing amount of internal LOC individuals bad? (Trenge et al. 2004)

Answer 31

Having an external locus of control is linked to lower school achievement and depression

Question 32

Why may younger people become an external LOC individual? — give 2 examples

Answer 32

They may feel more out of control due to changes in society, e.g a significant rise in the divorce rate and increases in suicide rates

Question 33

What did Spector (1983) do in support of Rotter’s questionnaire?

Answer 33

In a follow-up study, he gave Rotter’s questionnaire to 157 university students.

Question 34

What was the result from Spector’s (1983) follow-up study?

Answer 34

Students with high external LOC conformed more than internal LOC students in situations of normative social pressure.

Question 35

What did Anderson (1977) find out and why is this happening?

Answer 35

Found that LOC types can change over time and that people tend to become more internal LOC as they gain more expertise

Question 36

What did Avrtgis (1998) do and find out from this?

Answer 36

He conducted a meta analysis of LOC + Conformity.
Found that individuals with internal LOC were less easily persuaded + less likely to conform.

Question 37

What does the findings from Avrtgis’ meta analysis suggest (1998)?

Answer 37

Suggests that due to being a meta-analysis containing several studies that likely show a trend/pattern if there is one, there is good evidence for LOC affecting likelihood of resisting social influence.

Question 38

What did Linz + Semykina (2005) find out?

Answer 38

They found there was a gender difference in employees.
Males were more likely to show an internal locus, whereas females were more likely to show an eternal locus.

Question 39

What did Linz + Semykina (2005) find out regarding female LOC’s?

Answer 39

The females who did show an internal LOC tended to earn more money than those who showed an external LOC.