Social Influence: Resistance to Social Influence (L9-12)

Question 1

% which did not conform in Milgram’s (1963) and Asch’s (1951) experiments

Answer 1

• M, 35% refused to obey
• A, 25% did not conform on a single trial

Question 2

What is the social support theory?

Answer 2

• situational explanation of resistance to social influence
• argues that when one person refuses to obey/conform it makes it far more likely that other people will also resist social influence and refuse to conform/obey

Question 3

SST, people are more likely to not conform… because…

Answer 3

• if they have an ally who resists social influence and refuses to conform
• as the ally refusing to conforms breaks the unanimity of the group and groups are more influential if they are unanimous
• when unanimity is broken people begin to think that there are other, equally legitimate, ways of thinking or responding
• presence of an 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

Question 4

SST, people are more likely to defy an authority figure… because…

Answer 4

• if they see a disobedient role model refusing to obey
• as when a person rejects the instructions of an authority figure it challenges that authority figures’ legitimate authority

Question 5

Evaluation of social support theory +ve

Answer 5

• 1. Milgram (1974) asked participants to deliver electric shocks to a confederate, MW, when he got a question wrong
• shocks were not real but participants believed they were
• 65% of p shocked MW up to 450V
• however, when there was another confederate who acted as a disobedient role model and refused to shock MW only 10% of p delivered shocks up to 450V
• 2. Asch (1951) asked p to say which of 3 test lines was the same as the standard line
• p we’re in a group with confederates who purposefully gave the wrong answer even though the correct one was obvious
• in 33% of trials p conformed to the group and gave the wrong answer (chance of making a mistake was 1%)
• conformity dropped to 5% when one confederate acted as an ally to the participant and gave the right answer

Question 6

Evaluation of social support theory -ve

Answer 6

• in both original versions of the Asch and Milgram studies some participants were able to resist social influence and refused to conform/obey even though they had no social support
• means that social support is not a complete explanation of resistance to social influence
• other factors, such as personality factors, also play a part in allowing people to refuse to conform/obey

Question 7

What did Rotter (1966) argue?

Answer 7

• Rotter (1966) argued that a persons personality determines whether they will conform/obey or resist social influence
• making it a dispositional explanation of resistance to SI

Question 8

What is a persons locus of control?

Answer 8

• refers to the extent to which they believe they have control over their own behaviour
• locus of control is measured on a dimension from internal to external

Question 9

What are the beliefs of a person with an internal locus of control?

Answer 9

• believe that what occurs in their life is the result of their own behaviour and actions
• they can therefore alter what happens to them
• for example, if they do bad on a test they consider it to be a result of their own inadequate revision
• they will agree with statements such as ‘misfortune is usually brought about by people’s own actions’

Question 10

People with a high internal locus of control are less likely to conform/obey because they: (4)

Answer 10

• are more likely to be leaders rather than followers
• are less concerned with social approval
• are more self confident
• believe that they control their own circumstances

Question 11

What are the beliefs of a person with an external locus of control?

Answer 11

• believe strongly that what happens in their lives is outside of their control
• they think what occurs in their lives is determined by chance or other people so they have no ability to alter it
• for example, if they do badly on a test they will blame it on bad luck or inadequate teachers
• they will agree with statements such as ‘things that make us unhappy are largely due to bad luck’

Question 12

Evaluation of locus of control +ve:

Answer 12

• Oliner and Oliner (1988) interviewed 406 German people who had sheltered Jewish people from the Nazis during 1930s and 40s
• these German people had an internal locus of control which allowed them to disobey the Nazis
  = Milgram (1974) asked participants to deliver electric shocks to a confederate, MW, when he go a question wrong
  = the shocks were not real but the participants believed they were
  = 65% of participants obeyed and shocked MW up to 450 volts
  = Milgram (1974) gave the participants a questionnaire to measure their locus of control
  = he found that the 35% who disobeyed were far more likely to have an internal loc than those who had obeyed

Question 13

Evaluation of locus of control -ve:

Answer 13

• Williams and Warchal (1981) found that conformers were less assertive than non conformers
• but that the 2 groups did not score differently on a test to determine their loc
• this suggests that assertiveness is more important than loc in determining whether or not a person will refuse to conform/obey

Question 14

What is minority influence + Moscovici (1985)?

Answer 14

• occurs when very persuasive small groups, or even individuals, can change the way the majority behaves and thinks
• Moscovici (1985) considered minority influence to lead to conversion

Question 15

What is conversion, MI?

Answer 15

• when individuals change their private beliefs and views because of minority influence

Question 16

What is the snowball effect, MI?

Answer 16

• MI initially has a small effect but then spreads as more people consider the issue being raised and are converted to the minority viewpoint
• eventually it reaches a tipping point, where the minority becomes the majority
• this is known as the snowball effect

Question 17

What is social crypto-amnesia, MI?

Answer 17

• MI is a slow process and may even be unconscious
• sometimes the individual is not even aware of where the new idea originated from
• this is called social crypto-amnesia

Question 18

Minority groups are most likely to be convincing when they are:

Answer 18

= committed
- commitment is shown when members of the minority demonstrate their dedication to their beliefs perhaps by making sacrifices (augmentation principle)
- or by taking risks
- or being inconvenienced in some way
- this shows that the minority is not acting out of self interest
= consistent
- consistency occurs when a minority repeatedly gives the same message over time
- this makes a majority reassess their belief and consider the issue more carefully
= flexible
- flexibility/being non-dogmatic is when a minority shows they are willing to listen to other viewpoints
- the majority will then listen to the minority point of view/take their argument more seriously

Question 19

Evaluation of minority influence +ve:

Answer 19

• Moscovici (1969) told 172 female ps that they were taking part in a colour perception task
• naive ps were placed in groups of 6 and were shown 36 slides, which were varying shades of blue
• 2 of the 6 p were confederates
• ps had to state out loud the colour of each slide
• in the consistent condition the confederates said the slide was green in all 36 trials
• in the inconsistent condition the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue
• in the consistent condition ps were swayed by the minority 8.2% of the time
• in the inconsistent condition ps were swayed by the minority 1.25% of the time
• shows that a consistent minority is more effective than an inconsistent minority

Question 20

Evaluation of minority influence -ve:

Answer 20

• samples of studies into MI are gender biased
• Moscovici (1959) only used women
• we cannot conclude that male participants would respond to MI in the same way
• research also often suggests that women are more likely to conform than men so further research is needed to determine the effect of MI on male ps
  = samples of studies in MI are also culturally biased
  = all ps were from America so results can’t be generalised to other populations
  = cannot conclude that ps from other cultures would respond to MI in the same way
• most the studies into MI are based on experiments conducted in laboratories
• raises the question of ecological validity
• ps in lab experiments are usually a collection of students who do not know each letter and will probably never meet again
  = studies into MI have been criticised for deceiving ps
  = in M(1969) ps were told that they were taking part in a colour perception test
  = M did not gain ps informed consent
  = (despite unethical aspect of deception, M experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results as if p were aware of the true aim they might have displayed demand characteristics and behaved differently)

Question 21

What is social change?

Answer 21

• it refers to the change that occurs in a society and not at an individual level
• e.g. equal right for homosexual couples, increases in recycling rates + women gaining the vote
• social change occurs when the minority view challenges the majority view and is eventually accepted by the majority

Question 22

Once the majority has accepted the minority viewpoint people may conform due to…

Answer 22

• normative social influence (compliance)
• informational social influence (internalisation)

Question 23

How can governments/lawmakers bring about social change?

Answer 23

• through power + the process of obedience
• e.g. changing the law to allow gay marriage could mean that people may be more accepting of homosexual rights
• as changes in the law make a behaviour a social norm which others then adopt

Question 24

How can dictators bring about social change?

Answer 24

• through obedience
• leads to groups of people changing their behaviour because of the fear of punishment/consequences of not obeying