resisting social influence

Question 1

What situational and dispositional factors can affect whether someone resists social influence or not?

Answer 1

Social support (situational)
Locus of control (dispositional)

Question 2

Why can people resist social influence?

Answer 2

-They can withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or obey an authority figure.

Question 3

Identify social support that can make an individual resist conformity

Answer 3

• Resisting conformity is more likely going to occur when there is a dissenter from the majority and there are other people present not conforming.
• The dissenter acts as an ally and also a model, it allows someone to follow their own conscience
• A dissenter provides a form of social support to an individual

Question 4

Identify social support that can make an individual resist obedience

Answer 4

-the pressure to obey can be reduced if there is someone present that disobeys. The person that disobeys can be seen as a model and allows a person to know resisting social influence is an option and that they do not have to obey.

Question 5

What study supports social support for resisting obedience?

Answer 5

-Millgram’s variation where there was another confederate who disobeyed the experimenter and did not administer electric shocks to Mr Wallace which led to obedience rates falling to 10% from the original 65%

Question 6

What study supports social support for resisting conformity?

Answer 6

-Asch’s variation where the confederates were not unanimous and the conformity rates would decrease from the 32% from the original study to 5.5%

Question 7

What is locus of control?

Answer 7

A personality dimension identified by Rotter and it refers to the extent to which people believe they are in control of their lives.

Question 8

what to personality types does locus of control highlight

Answer 8

-internal locus of control and external locus of control

Question 9

Describe someone with an internal locus of control

Answer 9

Someone with an internal locus of control is more likely going to resist social influence.

• they believe they are in control of their lives and the outcome of situations as well as they believe they are in control of their actions.
• They tend to take personal responsibility for their actions and tend to be more intelligent, achievement orientated and have less need for social approval.

Question 10

Describe someone with an external locus of control

Answer 10

• Someone with an external locus of control is less likely going to resist social influence.
• They believe they are not in control of their actions or lives and that the outcome is not determined by them therefore the way they behave does not matter to them and they are more likely going to conform or obey.

Question 11

identify evaluation points for locus of control

Answer 11

• Millgram found that people who did not obey had high internal locus of control
• It is measured using a questionnaire (self report)
• Situational factors (Asch dissenter 5.5%, Millgram confederate who disobeyed 10%)