Social influence - resistance to social influence

Question 1

Two explanations for resistance to social influence

Answer 1

Social support
Locus of control

Question 2

Social support

Answer 2

The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others do to the same

Question 3

Locus of control

Answer 3

Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives

Question 4

Resistance to social influence

Answer 4

Refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.

This ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors

Question 5

Resisting conformity for social support

Answer 5

• The presence of support from someone else makes it easier to resist social pressure as the individual feels more confident in their own decisions and therefore more confident to reject the majority position
• Having an ally (who shares the individual’s views) breaks the unanimity of the group
• Once the unanimous position of the majority is broken and others are then ‘freed up’ to think, respond or behave in a different way to the majority

Question 6

Resisting obedience in social support

Answer 6

• The presence of other people who disobey (disobedient model) can serve to reduce obedience
• The obedience of others makes even harmful actions appear as acceptable
• Another person disobeying, empowers the observer to also disobey and challenge the legitimacy of authority

Question 7

Internal locus of control

External locus of control

Answer 7

Internal:
- Involves attributing the cause of behaviour to personal factors
- People believe their behaviour is mainly caused by their own personal decisions and efforts
- They are more likely to resist pressures to conform or obey

External:
- Involves attributing the cause of behaviour to factors outside of your control
- People believe their behaviour are caused mainly by luck, fate or other external circumstances
- They are more to conform or obey

Question 8

Continuum

Answer 8

LOC not just being internal or external, a scale from one to the other and people differ in their position on it

High internals/externals and each end, lows lie in between

Question 9

Internals show greater resistance to social influence explain why

Answer 9

More likely to resist pressures to conform or obey

• If someone takes personal responsibility for their actions they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs
• People with high internal LOC are more confident, achievement oriented and have higher intelligence - traits that lead to greater resistance

Question 10

Resistance to social influence - three strengths

Answer 10

Social support explanation
Real world evidence
Supporting evidence

Question 11

EVALUATION: Social support explanation

Answer 11

Allen and Levine found that introducing a dissenter in an Asch style study greatly reduced conformity levels

Only 3% of the participants resisted conformity when there was no supporter. 64% resisted when a dissenter refused to conform
However only 36% resisted when the supporter wore thick glasses and claimed to have poor eyesight, not be relied upon to judge the lines

It is valid because we would expect less resistance when participants believed social support was not helpful

Question 12

EVALUATION: Real world - social support

Answer 12

P - One strength of research showing the importance of social support in resisting social influence is the real world application

EE - Albrecht et al evaluated an 8-week programme meant to help pregnant teenagers in resistingpeer pressure to smoke and discovered that the teens were far less likely to smoke than a control group when social support was given by a slightly older buddy.

L - This demonstrates how, as part of an intervention in the real world, social support can assist young people in resisting social influence.

FURTHERMORE the research highlights the importance of preventing dangerous behaviour among pregnant teens, reducing the risk of health issues, and allowing healthcare providers to focus on patients in need, rather than expanding resources on medical issues.

Question 13

EVALUATION: Supporting evidence

Answer 13

P - Asch observed that having social support helps an individual resist the majority’s urge to conform.

E - This finding provides evidence in favour of the importance of social support in resisting social influence. Asch discovered that having social support enables a person to withstand peer pressure to conform

E - An example of this occurred when one ally confederate gave the correct answer and so resisted the majority, conformity dropped dramatically to 5.5%. This demonstrates that those who have support of another person are more likely to reject conformity, which supports the idea of social support. This is because they are likely to feel ridiculed for going against the majority and more confident in their decisions

L - Thus increases validity of social support as a resistance to conformity

Question 14

Two strengths of LOC

Answer 14

Evidence to support the role of LOC in resisting obedience
Research supporting individual with internal LOC

Question 15

EVALUATION: Evidence to support the role of LOC in resisting obedience

Answer 15

P - One strength is evidence to support the role of LOC in resisting obedience

E - Holland repeated the Milgram study and measured whether participants were internals or externals.

E - 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level (they showed greater resistance). Whereas only 23% of externals did not continue

L - Therefore resistance is partly related to LOC, increases the validity of this explanation of disobedience

Question 16

EVALUATION: Research supporting individuals with internal locus of control

Answer 16

P -The idea that those who have an internal locus of control are less prone to conform is further supported by studies.

E - To determine if locus of control is connected to conformity, Spector (1983) employed Rotter’s locus of control scale.

E - Spector studied 157 students and discovered that those with a strong external locus of control were more likely to conform than those with a high internal locus of control, but only in circumstances where people conform to fit in and be accepted. The two groups did not differ in terms of informational social influence.

L - This shows that, when locus of control is taken into account, normative social influence—the want to fit in—has more strength than informational social influence—the desire to be correct.

Question 17

What is a limitation of LOC

Answer 17

Not all research supports the role of LOC in resistance

Question 18

EVALUATION: Not all research supports the role of LOC in resistance

Answer 18

P - However despite such supporting evidence for the role of LOC in resisting social influence, Rotter himself has suggested that it can generally only explain resistance in novel situations

E - When people are in situations in which they have conformed or obeyed in the past, they are more likely to repeat this behaviour the next time the situation comes around

E - This means that the LOC may only come into effect when the situation is unknown, and therefore the correct course of action is unclear, making the LOC only a limited explanation for resistance

L - However this does not mean that it is worthless as an explanation, as we have seen that it can explain individual instances of resistance in research. It simply means that we have to be open and aware to the influences of other factors alongside a person’s LOC