Social support Flashcards
What is social support?
The presence of other people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same
Can social support help reduce conformity?
Yes - the pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people who are not conforming
What does social support allow?
The naive participant to be free to follow their own conscience
What does the confederate act as?
A ‘model’ of independent behaviour. Their dissent gives rise to more dissent because it shows that the majority is no longer unanimous
What did Allen and Levine (1971) find?
Conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in an Asch type study. This occurred even when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said they had difficulty with their vision.
What did Milgram find in one of his variations (confederate and obedience)
The rate of obedience dropped from 65% to just 10% when the participant was joined by a disobedient confederate
What did Garson et al (1982) find?
Higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram did, with 88% of groups of participants rebelling. It is said that this is due to the presence of the group providing peer support.
