Resistance to social infuence Flashcards
what is a situational explanation of resistance to social influence?
the social support theory:
- when one person refuses to conform/obey = more likely others will also refuse + resist social influence
- ppl less likely to conform when having an ally = breaks unanimity of group = less influential
- unanimity of group broken –> ppl think there are other legitimate ways of thinking/responding + independent assessment of reality + more confident in decisions = stand up to majority
- more likely to defy auth figure if they see a disobedient role model refusing to obey = challenges the authority figure’s legitimate authority
what are some ads/+ves of the social support theory?
- Milgram (1974) asked participants to give shocks to Wallace when he got q wrong = shocks not real but participants believed they were –> 65% shocked up to 450V BUT when a confederate acted as a DISOBEDIENT ROLE MODEL and refused, only 10% shocked up to 450V
- Asch (1951), which three ‘test lines’ was same as ‘standard line’ = confederates purposefully gave wrong answer even tho correct was obvious = 33% of trials, participants conformed + gave wrong answer (1% chance of making a mistake) BUT when a confederate acted as an ALLY (gave right answer), conformity dropped to 50%
what is a disad/-ve of the social support theory?
both o.g. versions of studies, some were able to resist social influence even tho they had no social support = social support theory is not complete explanation for resistance to social influence e.g. other factors such as personality traits also have an impact whether ppl obey/conform
What is a dispositional explanation of resistance to social influence?
locus of control:
- Rotter (1966) = person’s personality determines whether they will obey/conform or resist social influence
- refers to extent to which they believe they have control over their own behaviour
- measured on a dimension from internal to external
what does it mean if someone has an internal locus of control?
- what occurs in their life is a result of their own behaviour and actions = can alter what happens to them
what does it mean if someone has an external locus of control?
- believe that what occurs in their life is out of their control = determined by chance/luck or other ppl –> no ability to alter it
what does it mean if someone has a high internal locus of control?
ppl w/ high internal locus of control = less likely to conform/obey cus:
- more likely to be leaders rather than followers
- less concerned w/ social approval
- more self confident
- believe they control own circumstances
what are some ads/+ves of locus of control?
- Oliner and Oliner (1988) = 406 German ppl had internal locus control as they disobeyed Nazis and sheltered Jewish ppl
- Milgram (1974) = 65% participants obeyed up to 450V –> then gave participants questionnaire (measure locus of control) = 35% who had disobeyed were more likely to have internal locus of control than those who obeyed
what is a disad/-ve of locus of control?
- Williams and Warchal (1981) = conformers were less assertive than non-confromers BUT didn’t score differently on locus of control tes = assertiveness is more important than locus of control
What is minority influence?
- Moscovici (1985) persuasive small groups/individuals change the way majority behaves/thinks –> lead to conversion (change private beliefs + views cus of minority influence)
when are minority groups most likely to be convincing?
1) committed: show dedication to belief, make sacrifices (augmentation principle), take risks, be inconvenienced some way = shows no acting out of self interest
2) consistent: minority repeatedly give same msg over time = majority reassess their belief + consider issue more carefully
3) flexible: non/dogmatic = minority show willingness to listen to other viewpoints –> majority then listen to minority + take argument more srsly
what is the snowball effect?
minority influence initally has a small effect –> then spreads + more ppl conside issue –> converted to minority viewpoint –> reaches tipping point eventiually (minority becomes majority)
what is social crypto-amnesia?
minority influence = slow process + maybe unconscious as sometimes individual isn’t aware where new idea originated from
what are some ads/+ves of minority influence?
- Moscovici (1969) = 172 female (naïve) participants took part in colour perception tasks –> split into groups of 6 w/ 36 slides of shades of blue (2 confederates) = state out loud colour of slide
- consistent condition: confederates said slide was green in ALL 36 slides –> participants swayed by minority 8.2% of the time
- inconsistent condition: 24 green, 12 blue –> participants swayed by minority 1.25% of the time
= consistent minority is more effective than inconsistent minority
what are some disads/-ves of minority influence?
- gender bias (172 female participants) = can’t generalise to men + research shows females more likely to conform than men
- cultural bias = all from America = can’t be generalised to other cultures/populations
- ecological validity = experiments conduction in laboratories –> collection of students who will never meet again
- deceived participants (told taking part in colour perception test) + lack of informed consent –> prevent demand characteristics
