Social influence

Question 1

two explanations of resistance to social influence

Answer 1

social support
locus of control

Question 2

what is resistance to social influence

Answer 2

the ability to withstand the social pressure to conform/ obey

Question 3

how does social support affect conformity/ obedience

Answer 3

pressure to conform can be resisted if another person is present, who isn’t conforming/ obeying - someone else who isn’t following the majority

Question 4

who proved the importance of social support when resisting conformity

Answer 4

Asch - the participant proved less likely to conform in the presence of a dissenter

Question 5

who proved the pressure to obey can be resisted by social support

Answer 5

Milgram

Question 6

in milgrams experiment, how much did obedience rates drop by after adding in social support

Answer 6

from 65% to 10%

Question 7

what is locus on control

Answer 7

a concept concerned with internal virus external control

Question 8

two types of people according to locus of control

Answer 8

internal LOC
external LOC
but LOC is a scale so there are highs and lows of both externals and internals

Question 9

what do internal LOC and external LOC believe

Answer 9

internal = things that happen to them are controlled by themselves
external = things that happen to them are out of their control

Question 10

locus of control in relation to resistance to social influence

Answer 10

people with high internal local of control are more likely tp resist pressures to conform/ obey. can be because they take responsibility for their actions/ experiences.
can also be as they are more likely to have a higher intelligence and be more self confident - traits which lead to grater resistance

Question 11

what is minority influence

Answer 11

refers to situations where one person or a small group influences the beliefs and behaviour of people

Question 12

how is minority influence different to conformity

Answer 12

conformity is where the majority is doing the influencing however in both the people being influenced can be any number of people
minority influence is more likely to lead to internalisation

Question 13

what is internalisation

Answer 13

both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed by the process

Question 14

what are the three behaviours minorities should show when trying to influence others

Answer 14

consistency
flexibility
commitment

Question 15

commitment for minority influence

Answer 15

minority should demonstrate commitment to their cause/ views
sometimes minority engage in quite extreme activities to gain attention
augmentation principle

Question 16

flexibility for minority influence

Answer 16

someone who is extremely consistent who repeats the same argument sea behaviours again and again may be seen as rigid
members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their view and accept reasonable counterarguments
balance between consistency and flexibility

Question 17

consistency for minority influence

Answer 17

must be consistent with views
consistency increases interest in the group over time

Question 18

example of an experiment on minority influence

Answer 18

Moscovici - blue/ green slide study
showed that a consistent minority had a greater effect in changing the views of other people than an inconsistent opinion

Question 19

limitation of minority influence research

Answer 19

tasks involved are often artificial and therefore not very reliable as it is far removed from how minorities attempt to change behaviours in real life
they are lacking in ecological validity

Question 20

in Moscovici’s experiment what percentage of participants agreed with the minority and what does this suggest

Answer 20

8%
suggests that minority influence is quite rare and not a useful concept