social influence - social resistance & change

Question 1

define social resistance:

Answer 1

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

Question 2

what is two factors is the ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by?

Answer 2

situational and dispositional factors

Question 3

two explanations for resistance to social influence:

Answer 3

-social support
-locus of control (LOC)

Question 4

define social support:

Answer 4

the perception that a person has assistance available from other people

Question 5

how is resistance from conformity shown?

Answer 5

conformity is less likely when a dissenter breaks the unanimity of the majority

Question 6

how is resistance from obedience shown?

Answer 6

obedience is less likely when a disobedient role model challenges the legitimacy of authority

Question 7

how does social support encourage resistance?

Answer 7

-the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others & give them confidence to do the same
-these people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible

Question 8

social support in conformity + effect:

Answer 8

-conformity is reduced by a
dissenting peer
-the effect is not long lasting
-when the non-conforming peer starts
conforming gain, so does the naïve
participant

Question 9

social support in conformity: evidence

Answer 9

-asch found that 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 the others in the
group

Question 10

social support in conformity: explanation

Answer 10

-social support breaks the
unanimous position of the majority
-social support raises the possibility
that there are other ways of
thinking/responding
-the presence of an ally makes the
individual more confident in their
decision and more able to stand up
to the majority

Question 11

social support in obedience: description

Answer 11

-obedience is reduced by one other
dissenting partner
-the dissenter’s disobedience frees
the pp to act from their own
conscience (as obedience requires you to give away free will)

Question 12

social support in obedience: evidence

Answer 12

(milgram)
-obedience dropped from 65% to
10% when the ppt was joined
by a disobedient confederate (variation)
-independent behaviour increased
from 35% to 90% in the disobedient
peer condition
-the dissenter gave the participant
the opportunity to stop the shock

Question 13

social support in obedience: explanation

Answer 13

-people are more confident to resist obedience if they can find an ally who is willing to join them
-they are more confident to
disobey
-disobedient peers act as role
models on which an individual can
model their own behaviour

Question 14

AO3 - strengths of social support

Answer 14

-there is research support for social support (asch & milgram)
-research demonstrates the role of a
social support in resisting obedience (albrecht & gamson)

Question 15

ao3 / strength - research support from asch

Answer 15

P - there is research support for social support in reducing pressure to conform

E - in one of Asch’s (1951) variations, one of the confederates was instructed to give the correct answer throughout. in this variation the rate of conformity dropped to 5%.
↳ this demonstrates that if the real participant has support for their belief (social support), then they are more likely to resist the pressure to conform.

L - this suggests that social support lowers the pressure from the group making it easier to demonstrate independent behaviour

Question 16

ao3 / strength - research support from milgram

Answer 16

P - there is research support for social support in reducing pressure to
obey which comes from milgram

E - in one of milgram’s variations, the real participant was paired with two additional confederates, who also played the role of teachers
↳ in this variation, the two additional confederates refused to go on and
withdrew from the experiment early
↳ the percentage of real participants who proceeded to the full 450 volts dropped from 65% (in the original) to 10%.

L - shows that if the real participant has support for their desire to disobey, then they are more likely to resist the pressure of an authority figure

Question 17

ao3 / strength - research demonstrates the role of a social support in resisting obedience (albrecht)

Answer 17

P - research demonstrates the importance of social support in resisting social influence

E - albrecht (2006) evaluated teen fresh start USA, an 8-week programme to help pregnant adolescents aged 14-19
resist peer pressure to smoke.
↳ social support was provided from a
slightly older mentor or “buddy”
↳ at the end of the programme, adolescents who had a “buddy”
were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group of participants, who did not have a “buddy”

L - this shows that social support can help young people to resist social influence as part of an intervention in the real world

Question 18

ao3 / strength - research demonstrates the role of a social support in resisting obedience (gamson)

Answer 18

P - research demonstrates the role of a
social support in resisting obedience

E - gamson (1982)’s participants were told to produce evidence that
would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
↳ the researchers found high levels of resistance, probably because the participants were in groups so could discuss what they were told to do
↳ 29 out of 33 groups of participants (88%) rebelled against their
orders

L - this shows that peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure

Question 19

define locus of control
(+ who came up with it)

Answer 19

how much control a person feels they have over things that happen to them

rotter et al

Question 20

what is a LOC continuum?

Answer 20

LOC is a scale and people vary in their position on it (a scale that is continuous
but quite distinct at the extremes)

Question 21

what do internal LOCs think?

Answer 21

that they are mostly in control of what
happens to them

Question 22

what do external LOCs think?

Answer 22

they believe that things happen to them & they have no control over these things (things happen due to chance/luck)

Question 23

characteristics of people with an internal LOC:

Answer 23

-more self-confidence
-achievement oriented
-less need for social approval from others
-more intelligent
-more likely to resist pressure to conform

Question 24

characteristics of people with an external LOC:

Answer 24

-have a need to gain social approval from others
-less self confidence

Question 25

why are people with an internal LOC more likely to resist pressures to conform/obey?

Answer 25

-if someone takes personal responsibility for their actions and experiences they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs and not rely on others

Question 26

ao3 strengths of LOC as an explanation of resistance:

Answer 26

-there is research evidence to support the link of LOC and resistance to obedience

Question 27

ao3 / strengths - link between LOC and resistance to obedience

Answer 27

P - there is research evidence to support the link between LOC and resistance to obedience

E - holland repeated milgram’s study and measured whether ppts were internals or externals
↳ 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level
↳ 23% of externals did not continue

L - internals showed greater resistance to obedience, this support increases the validity of the LOC explanation for resistance to social influence

Question 28

ao3 weaknesses of LOC as an explanation for social resistance:

Answer 28

-not all research supports the link between LOC and resistance
-the role of LOC in resisting social influence may be exaggerated

Question 29

ao3 / weaknesses - not all research supports the link between LOC and resistance (+ however)

Answer 29

P - not all research supports the link between LOC and resistance

E - analysed data from american obedience studies over a 40-year period (1960-2002)
↳ the data showed that, over this time span, people have become more
resistant to obedience but more external in terms of their locus of control
↳ if resistance were linked to an internal LOC then we would expect
people to have become more internal

L - his challenges the link between internal LOC and resistance

(however, the results may be due to a changing society where many
things are increasingly outside personal control)

Question 30

ao3 / weaknesses - the role of LOC in resisting social influence may be exaggerated

Answer 30

P - the role of LOC in resisting social influence may be exaggerated

E - rotter et al (who came up with the LOC) found LOC is only important in new situations, it has little influence in familiar situations where previous experiences are always more important
↳ people who have conformed in the past are likely to do so again even if they have a high internal LOC
↳ suggests that locus of control can only explain a limited range of situations in which people might resist social influence

L - this means that locus of control is not as important a factor in resistance as some have suggested

Question 31

what is minority influence?

Answer 31

the idea that one person/ a small group (the minority) can influence other people and cause them to reject the majority & follow the minority

Question 32

how is minority influence achieved?

Answer 32

through conversion - an individual is gradually won over by the minority viewpoint

Question 33

what conformity does minority influence lead to?

Answer 33

internalisation– both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed in the process

Question 34

what is consistency?

Answer 34

the way in which minority influence is more likely to occur when the minority members share the same belief and retain it over time

Question 35

what are the two forms of consistency?

Answer 35

-synchronic consistency
-diachronic consistency

Question 36

what is synchronic consistency?

Answer 36

when the minority are all saying the same thing / the minority group members all sharing the same belief

Question 37

what is diachronic consistency?

Answer 37

when the members have been saying the same thing for a long time

Question 38

what is commitment?

Answer 38

the idea of the minority being dedicated to their beliefs (for example, engaging in risky behaviour to draw attention to their views)

Question 39

what is the augmentation principle?

Answer 39

the idea that when the majority sees the minority being committed to their beliefs they pay more attention and integrate it into their personal viewpoints,
augmenting its importance, due to the personal sacrifice made by the
minority

Question 40

what is flexibility?

Answer 40

-the way in which minority influence is more likely to occur when the minority is willing to compromise
-a member of the minority needs to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counterarguments

Question 41

issue with consistency

Answer 41

researchers, including nemeth, argued that consistency can sometimes be off putting as if a minority repeats their belief constantly they may seem rigid & stubborn

Question 42

who conducted the main study into consistency?

Answer 42

moscovici

Question 43

when did moscovi’s study take place?

Answer 43

1969

Question 44

who took part in moscovici’s study?

Answer 44

172 female participants

Question 45

aim of moscovici’s study:

Answer 45

to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect
answer, in a colour perception task

Question 46

method of moscovici’s study:

Answer 46

172 female participants were told they were taking part in a colour perception task
-the participants were placed in groups of six and shown 36 slides, which were all varying shades of blue
-the participants had to state out loud the colour of each slide
-two of the six participants were confederates

Question 47

the three conditions of the study:

Answer 47

-in the consistent condition the two confederates said that all 36 slides were green

-in the inconsistent condition the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue

-a control group was used for comparison with the experimental group (no confederates)

Question 48

findings of moscovici’s study:

Answer 48

control group: 0.25% responses were
green, the rest were blu

inconsistent minority: 1.25% of the
participants’ answers were green

consistent Minority: 8.2% of answers were green

Question 49

conclusion of moscovici’s study:

Answer 49

-minorities can influence majorities.
-however, this influence is much more effective when the minority are consistent in their responses
-when the minority gave inconsistent answers, they were largely ignored by the majority

Question 50

what do consistency, commitment & flexibility make people ______ , what does this do?

Answer 50

-make people think more deeply about the topic
-deeper processing its important in conversion

Question 51

what is the snowball effect?

Answer 51

as more people are converted by processing deeply, the rate of conversion speeds up and more people convert over time
↳ gradually the minority view becomes the majority view

(this is like a snowball gathering more snow as it rolls around)

Question 52

ao3 strength of consistency:

Answer 52

there is research support demonstrating the importance of consistency

Question 53

P.E.L / consistency ao3

Answer 53

P - there is research support demonstrating the importance of consistency

E - moscovici demonstrated that when the minority are consistent in their
responses they can influence the majority more
When the minority gave
inconsistent answers in Moscovici’s study, they were generally ignored by
the majority.

L - this suggests that presenting a consistent view is a major factor in minority
influence

Question 54

ao3 strength of flexibility:

Answer 54

there is research support for flexibility increasing minority influence

Question 55

P.E.L / flexibility ao3

Answer 55

P - nemeth (1986) believed that consistency was not the most important factor as it can be seen as a negative trait

E - participants, in groups of four, had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski‐lift accident
↳ one of the participants in each group was a confederate and there were two conditions

1) minority argued for a low rate of
compensation and refused to change their position (inflexible)

2) the minority argued
for a low rate of compensation but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation (flexible)

results: nemeth found that in the inflexible condition, the minority had little or no effect on the majority
↳ however, in the flexible condition, the majority members were much more
likely to also compromise and change their view

L - nemeth’s research highlights the importance of flexibility, and questions the idea of consistency, suggesting that striking a balance between the two is the most successful strategy for a minority to adopt

Question 56

ao3 strength of moscovicis’s research:

Answer 56

minority influence provides support for
informational social influence

Question 57

ao3 / strength - minority influence provides support for informational social influence

Answer 57

P - moscovici’s research into minority influence provides support for
informational social influence

E - in one of his variations, after participating in the first condition,
participants were later asked to write down their answers rather than
say the colour of the slide out loud
↳ this meant that their response was
private and not shared with the other group member
↳ it was found that agreement with the
minority position was in fact higher, suggesting that they had internalised the viewpoint as correct

L - moscovici suggests that the majority was convinced of the minority’s
argument but found it easier to confess this privately, as being associated with a minority position may seem ‘radical’

Question 58

ao3 weaknesses of moscovici’s study:

Answer 58

-moscovici’s sample was criticised
-moscovici has also been criticised for deceiving his participants
-methodological issues

Question 59

ao3 / weakness - moscovici’s sample was criticized

Answer 59

P - moscovici’s sample was criticized

E - moscovici used biased a sample of 172 female participants from
america
↳ we can’t generalise the results to other populations, (eg: males)
↳ we cannot conclude that male participants would respond to minority influence in the same way

furthermore, research often suggests that females are more likely to
conform (around 50% conform in Asch’s replication compared to about
30% males)

L - further research is required to determine the effect of minority influence on other populations

Question 60

ao3 / weakness - moscovici has been criticised for deceiving his participants

Answer 60

P - moscovici has been criticised for deceiving his participants

E - participants were told that they were taking part in a colour perception test
↳ this means that Moscovici did not gain fully informed consent

H - though it is seen as unethical to deceive participants, moscovici’s
experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results
↳ if the participants knew the true aim, they might have identified demand characteristics and acted differently

Question 61

ao3 / weakness - there are methodological issues with research into minority influence.

Answer 61

P - there are methodological issues with research into minority influence

E - judging the colour of a slide is an artificial task & lacks mundane realism, since it is far from how minorities try to change minority opinion in real life
↳ in jury decision making and political campaigning, outcomes are much more important, maybe even a matter of life or death
↳ in real life minority groups the minority are much more passionate and committed to the cause than students in a lab

L - therefore these studies into minority influence lack external validity and are limited in what they tell us about minority influence in real life

Question 62

what is social change?

Answer 62

when a society adopts a new belief, attitude or way of behaving. this then
becomes widely accepted as the norm

Question 63

6 steps of how minority influence creates social change

Answer 63

1) drawing attention to the issue

2.) consistency of position, displaying a unswerving message and intent

3) deeper processing, many people who simply accept the status quo start thinking further

4) the augmentation principle, minorities take risks to further the cause (commitment)

5) the snowball effect, people switch from a majority position to a minority one

6) social cryptoamnesia – people have a memory that change has
occurred but don’t remember how it happened

Question 64

asch & social change

Answer 64

-dissenters make social change more likely
-asch’s research demonstrated that when one confederate always gave
the correct answer, this broke the power of the majority – this enabled
others to dissent and break the influence of the majority view
-this demonstrates the potential for social change

Question 65

NSI & social change

Answer 65

social change can be encouraged by
reporting the behaviour or attitudes of the majority, to urge others to
follow suit for normative reasons (e.g. to fit in with the majority)

Question 66

how did milgram’s research demonstrate the importance of disobedient role models?

Answer 66

in his variation when one confederate refused to give shocks, the rate of obedience in genuine ppts dropped significantly (gradual commitment)

Question 67

what is gradual commitment?

Answer 67

-once a small instruction has been followed, it is harder for larger requests to be declined
-people effectively find themselves adopting a new way of behaving gradually over a period of time

Question 68

what does gradual commitment lead to?

Answer 68

drift

Question 69

how does obedience link to social change?

Answer 69

-once a smaller commitment has been made it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one
-people ‘drift’ into a new kind of behaviour

Question 70

ao3 strengths of social change

Answer 70

-research support for the role of NSI in social change

Question 71

ao3 / strength - research support for the role of normative social influence as a
process for social change

Answer 71

P - research support for the role of normative social influence as a
process for social change

E - nolan et al. (2008) conducted a study which spanned one month in
california and involved hanging messages on the front doors of people’s
houses in San Diego encouraging them to reduce energy consumption by
indicating that most other residents in the neighbourhood were already
doing this
↳ as a means of control, some houses received a message about energy
usage but with no reference to the behaviour of other people in the area.
↳ it was found that the experimental group significantly lowered their energy
consumption

L - shows that showing that conformity can lead to positive social change
through normative social influence

Question 72

ao3 weaknesses of social change

Answer 72

-methodological issues may undermine the line drawn between social influence processes and social change
-identification is an important variable that is overlooked in minority influence research
-minority influence can often act as a barrier to social change.

Question 73

ao3 / weakness - methodological issues may undermine the line drawn between social influence processes and social change.

Answer 73

P - methodological issues may undermine the line drawn between social influence processes and social change

E - many of the research studies providing an explanation for social change, can themselves be criticised for issues in their methodology ranging from low generalisability to demand characteristics

L - this means that there are doubts about the validity of some of the processes involved in social influence and social change due to the research informing the theories

Question 74

ao3 / weakness - minority influence can often act as a barrier to social change

Answer 74

P - minority influence can often act as a barrier to social change

E - bashir et al. were interested in investigating why so many people resist social change even when they believe it to be needed
↳ it was found that some minority groups, such as environmental activists or feminists, often live up to the stereotypes associated with those groups, which can be off-putting for outsiders
↳ this means that the majority often does not want to be associated with a minority for fear of being stereotypically labelled

L - this shows that minority influence may not always be successful in creating social change

Question 75

ao3 / weakness - identification is an important variable that is overlooked in minority influence research

Answer 75

P - identification is an important variable that is overlooked in minority influence research

E - it has been suggested that people are less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways because they want to avoid the label of being minority ‘environmentalists’

L - this suggests that being able to identify with the minority group (identification) is just as important as agreeing with their views in terms of changing behaviour