SOCIAL INFLUENCE: Resistance to Social Influence

Question 1

Individuals throughout history who have resisted pressures to conform or obey?

Answer 1

Rosa Parks
MLK
Nelson Mandela

Question 2

What is Resistance to social influence

Answer 2

The ability of ppl to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability is influenced by situation & dispositional factors

Question 3

What is Locus of control

Answer 3

Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them. Externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces

The idea is that ppl who feel theyre generally in control of what happens in their life are more likely to resist - this is a DISPOSITIONAL explanation for resistance

Question 4

Who is Wesley Autrey

Answer 4

A New York builder who rescued a man from the subway tracks where he had fallen following a seizure.

With 75 other ppl standing by watching, Wesley handed his 2 daughters to a stranger, jumped onto the tracks and held the man down between the train tracks as a train ran over them

Question 5

Social support linked to resisting conformity

Answer 5

Social support enabled ppl to resist conformity as previously shown in Asch’s study: introduction of an ally caused conformity levels to drop sharply from 33% to 5.5%

EXPLANATION: an ally raises the possibility that there are other legitimate ways of thinking & makes the person feel more confident resisting the majority

Question 6

Social support linked to resisting obedience

Answer 6

Previously, in Milgram’s variation study, 3 individuals testing the learner w 2 confederates who resisted, resulted in only 10% continuing to the full shock level

EXPLANATION: Individuals are more confident in their ability to resist when they have an ally who is willing to oppose the authority figure. Someone else’s disobedience acts as a ‘model’ to copy, freeing their own conscience

Question 7

Who carried out the Locus of control test

Answer 7

Rotter developed a questionnaire to measure locus of control

Question 8

When was Rotter’s Locus of control test

Answer 8

1966

Question 9

‘High internal’ person characteristics according to Rotter

Answer 9

• Internal LOC are more likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey
• Self-confident, more achievement-oriented, higher intelligence
• Tend to be leaders
• More likely to blame themselves if something goes wrong

Question 10

‘High external’ person characteristics according to Rotter

Answer 10

• More likely to conform or obey
• A critical mind
• Better interpersonal skills

Question 11

Resistance to conformity research (Allen & levine, dissenter)

Answer 11

Allen & Levine (1971) - conformity decreased when there was a dissenter in an Asch-like study (lines).
This also happened if the dissenter wore thick glasses & said he had difficulty w his vision

Question 12

Allen & Levine: response order

Answer 12

The order of responses is an important factor
- In Allen & Levine’s study, all participants went last. Ppl were more likely to conform when the confederate w the right answer went first as they make a social commitment to the answer
- Less likely when confederate went 4th, did not have enough time to socially commit

Question 13

Resistance to obedience research

Answer 13

Gamson et al. (1983) found higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram
- (unjust authority) Manager was sacked bc his lifestyle was offensive to the local community
- Participants were in groups & had to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
- If they agreed w the manager they signed a consent form for their discussion to be shown in the ‘trial’
- 29/33 (88%) rebelled. This shows social support is linked to greater resistance

Question 14

Research support for LOC (holland research into milgram participants)

Answer 14

Holland (1967) measured whether participants in Milgram’s experiments were internal or external
- 37% of internals did not continue to highest shock level, compared to 23% of externals
- increasing validity of LOC

Question 15

Evaluation against LOC (loc in situations)

Answer 15

LOC and its role in resisting obedience is exaggerated. Rotter (1982) only comes into play in novel situations. Argued that LOC has little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important. Ppl more likely to obey in situations new to them

Question 16

Social support for resistance to conformity

Answer 16

• Women protested in the Rosenstrasse protest against the holding of 2000 Jewish men & demanding their release
• Directly illustrates the idea that social support enables ppl to resist conformity

Question 17

EXAM Q: 2 explanations of resistance to social influence

Answer 17

• Locus of control is one explanation of resistance to social influence. Ppl with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist the pressure to conform & are less likely to obey, than ppl who have an external locus of control
• Social support is another explanation of resistance to social influence. When another person is not conforming, we are more likely to resist social influence, bc seeing others not obey or conform gives us confidence to do the same

Question 18

Meaning of an internal locus of control

Answer 18

This is categorised by a belief that what happens in your life results from your own behaviour or actions

eg. if you did well in a test, you might put it down to how much work you did for it

Question 19

Meaning of external locus of control

Answer 19

This is a belief that events are caused by external factors, like luck or the actions of OTHERS

eg. if you did well in a test, you might put it down to good questions coming up or a lenient examiner