social influence - resistance to social influence Flashcards
what is resistance to social influence
the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority
what is social support
the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey who help others to do the same
how does aschs study show evidence for social support in conformity
conformity reduced to 5.5% when one of the confederates gave a different answer to the rest of the group. this was true even when the confederates answer was a different wrong answer in the group. this shows that social support breaks the unanimous position of the majority
how does milgrams study show evidence for social support in obedience
obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the participants were joined with a disobedient confederate. independent behaviour increased from 35% to 90% in the disobedient peer condition. this shows people are more confident to resist if theres an ally willing to join them
what is gamsons supporting research of social support in obedience
he found higher levels of resistance in his study than milgram because the participants were grouped. they had to produce evidence to help an oil company run a smear campaign. 29/33 groups rebelled showing that peer support is linked to greater resistant
what is allen and levines supporting research of social support in conformity
they found independence increased with one dissenter in an asch type study, even when the confederate wore thick glasses and said he had problems with his vision. this shows that resistance is not motivated by following what someone says but enables someone to be free from the pressure of the group
what is internal locus of control
when people believe that they are mostly responsible for what happens to us - they are more likely able to resist pressure to conform and obey and typically have:
- higher self confidence
- are achievement orientated
- higher intelligence
what is locus of control
the sense we have about direct events in our lives - rotter proposed the concepts of locus of control: internal and external
what is external locus of control
believes that things happen without their own control
what are the strengths of locus of control as an explanation for resistance to social influence
holland repeated milgrams study and measured if participants were internals or externals:
- 37% showed independence ( no shock )
- 23% of externals did not continue
- because internals showed greater resistance this support increases the validity of LOC as an explanation
what are the weaknesses of locus of control as an explanation for resistance to social influence
- twenge at al analysed data from american obedience studies over a 40 year period which showed people have become more resistant to obedience but more external. if resistance was linked to an internal LOC than we would expect people to be more internal
- rotter found LOC is important in new situations and that it has little influence in familiar situations where previous experiences are always more important suggesting that LOC can explain only a limited range of situations in which people might resist social influence
