SI7. Explanations Of Resistance To Social Influence (Support, Locus)

Question 1

Locus of Control

Answer 1

• individuals sense of agency; ‘personal control’ vs ‘external forces’
• internal: behaviour caused by own decisions and effort (conform/obey less)(‘leaders’)
• external: behaviour caused by luck or fate (conform/obey more)(act as agent/on behalf of others)

Question 2

+ Eval: Link between LoC and Obedience

Answer 2

• Atgis’ meta-analysis (studies linking LoC and Obedience)
• found: external LoC increases likelihood to obey
• therefore higher LoC leads to greater obedience

Question 3

• Eval: lacks eco-validity

Answer 3

• Rutter
• previous experience ALWAYS more influential than Loc when individual decides how to act
• therefore, LoC is limited as an explanation

Question 4

Social Support

Answer 4

• Asch
• when ‘rogue confederate’ introduced, conformity levels dropped to 25% of what they were when group was unanimous
• due to fact that answer supports P’s true answer, and gave P confidence in own perception through providing small amount of confirmation for answer (often enough for P to reject majority)

Question 5

+ Eval: Supported by Milgram Variation

Answer 5

• 2 ‘rogue’ confederates disobeyed experimenter in front of P
• led to obedience dropping to 10%
• supports influence of social support in rejecting authority