Situational Explanations of Resistance to Social Influence Flashcards
Outline the social support theory
Situational explanation of resistance to social influence.
It states that when one person refuses to conform / obey , it makes it far more likely that other people will also resist social influence and refuse to conform / obey
Explain the psychology behind the social support theory
The ally refusing to conform breaks the unanimity of the group and groups are more influential if they are unanimous.
When unanimity us broken people start to think that there are other, equally legitimate, ways of thinking or responding.
The ally gives them an independent assessment of reality and makes them feel more confident in their decision and better able to stand up to the majority.
Link social support and authority figures
People are more likely to defy an authority figure if they see a disobedient role model refusing to obey.
This is because when a person rejects the instructions of an authority figure it challenges that authority figure’s legitimate authority.
What are the advantages to the theory?
- in the Milgram experiment, when there was another confederate who acted as a disobedient role model and refused to shock mr Wallace, obedience dropped from 65% to 10%!
- in the Asch experiment, conformity dropped from 37% to 5% when one confederate acted as an ally to the participant and gave a different answer to the rest of the group
What are the disadvantages to this theory?
In neither the Milgram or Asch experiment did social support manage to completely eradicate social influence. This implies that other factors, such as an individuals personality, also plays a role in deciding if a person will conform / obey or show independent behaviour. 35% of people in Milgram’s experiment and 25% of people in Aschs experiment refused to yield to social influence, even though they didn’t have social support.
