social influence - explanations for resistance to SI Flashcards
What are the two explanations of resistance to social influence?
- Social support
- Locus of control
What is meant by social support?
- having an ally gives us confidence and support
- remain independent in our behaviour
- giving us confidence to resist pressures to conform/obey
- individuals with S.S no longer fear being ridiculed
- avoiding NSI
Research to support - social support (AO3)
Asch’s study
P - research to support comes from Asch
E - original study = all confederates gave same wrong answer
- conformity was 37%
E - Asch varied his study where one confederate gave correct answers
- conformity dropped to 5.5%
L - supports S.S as an explanation of conformity
- suggests confederate provided ppt with S.S
- giving them confidence to remain independent
- and resist pressures to conform
Research to support - social support (AO3)
Milgram’s study
P - research to support comes from Milgram
E - in one variation, ppts were placed with two additional confederates (also played role of teachers)
- confederates refused to go on and withdrew early
E - ppts who proceeded to 450V dropped to 10% from 65%
L - supports S.S as explanation of resistance of obedience
- when ppt has support more likely to resist obedience to authority figure
Define locus of control
- personality trait
- refers to a persons perception of personal control over their behaviour
- scale of L.O.C - internal at one end and external at the other
Internal locus of control - AO1
- people with internal L.O.C control what happens to them
- behaviour caused by their own personal decisions and effort
- strong internal LOC = more likely to remain independent
- rely less on others opinions
- more able to resist social influence
External locus of control - AO1
- believe that what happens to them determined by external factors
- e.g. luck, fate, influence of others
- take less personal responsibility for their actions
- less likely to remain independent
- less able to resist social influence
Research to support - Locus of control (AO3)
Milgram and Elms
P - research to support carried out by Milgram and Elms
E - interviewed Milgram’s original ppts
- those with internal LOC = more likely to resist giving shocks
- those with external LOC = more likely to be in 65% that gave full 450V
E - those will internal LOC more likely to resist obedience and remain independent in their behaviour
L - supporting existence of LOC
Research to support - Locus of control (AO3)
Spector
P - research to support carried out by Spector
E - he measured LOC and predisposition to NSI and ISI in students
E - students with external LOC more likely to conform to NSI than those with internal LOC
- no difference between two groups of situations of ISI
L - supports idea that individuals with internal LOC more likely to resist social influence in certain situations
