social influence: resistance to social influence Flashcards
What does resistance to social support refer to?
The ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
What factors influence the ability to withstand social pressure?
Both situational and dispositional factors.
explain social support
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help other people to do the same.
These people act as models to show others that resistance of
social influence is possible
What effect does the presence of non-conforming individuals have on conformity pressure?
they reduce the pressure to conform
What was the conformity rate when the group was not unanimous according to Asch’s variations?
Conformity dropped from 36.8% to 25%.
How do participants demonstrate resistance to dissenters in Asch’s study?
Individuals would not conform to the dissenter’s answer if the dissenter sometimes gave a different answer that was still wrong.
What does the presence of dissenters indicate about the majority?
It shows that the majority is no longer unanimous. > this gave participants confidence to go against the majority
What was the obedience rate in Milgram’s variations when disobedient models were present?
Obedience rates dropped from 65% to 10%.
GET CLARITY ON THIS
What role does the disobedient model play in the context of authority?
It challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure.
Fill in the blank: The disobedient model makes it easier for others to _______.
disobey.
AO3: research to support > social support
One strength is research evidence for the positive effects of social support
Albrecht et al evaluated Teen Fresh Start USA, an eight-week programme to help pregnant adolescents aged 14-19 resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided by a slightly older mentor or ‘buddy’ Those who had a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than the control group who did not have a buddy
STRENGTH as this shows that social support **can help young people resists social influence **
AO3: research to support > dissenter
There is more evidence to support social support in resistance to social influence
Allen and Levine found in an Asch-type task, when the dissenter was someone with apparently good eyesight, 64% of genuine participants refused to conform. Where there was no supporter at all only 3% of participants resisted.
STRENGTH as this showed that social support can help individuals to resist the influence of a group.
COUNTER: HOWEVER, the study also found that when the dissenter had obviously poor eyesight (thick glasses) resistance was only 36%.
WEAKNESS as this showed that social support does not always help and may rely on their faith in the dissenters ability to give the
correct answer. This questions the validity of the explanation
