Social Support - Resistance to Social Influence Flashcards
What are examples of people resisting social influence?
Asch’s study - 25% participants didn’t conform
Milgram’ experiment - 35% didn’t obey
Hofling’s experiment - 1 nurse disobeyed
Zimbardo’s prison study - 2/3 resisted pressure to behave sadistically to the prisoners
What are the 2 explanations for resistance to social influence?
Social support
Locus of Control
What type of resistance is social support?
Situational (out of person’s control and due to environment around them)
What are examples of social support?
Having an ally supporting their point of view
Another person present who isn’t conforming
How does social support help a person?
Build confidence and remain independent
No longer have fear of being ridiculed (no more Normative Social Influence)
Less likely to obey orders and conform to pressures of others
What are the 2 research supports for social support?
Asch’s study (1951)
Allen and Levine’s experiment (1971)
What happened during Asch’s study that defends the argument of social support?
Conformity dropped to 5.5% when 1 correct dissenter
Conformity dropped to 9% when dissenter was incorrect
What did Allen and Levine do (1971)?
Did an Asch-type experiment
Conformity still decreased with 1 dissenter - EVEN IF PERSON HAD VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS AND THICK GLASSES ON
How does social support affect obedience?
Pressure to obey can be reduced if another participant is seen to obey
What are the research supports for the effect of social support on obedience?
Milgram’s variation
Gamson et al (1982) - discussion
How did Milgram’s variation demonstrate social support affecting obedience?
Rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when real participants was joined by a disobedient confederate
Participants don’t always demonstrate confederate behaviour but have a will to follow their own conscience
What happened in Gamson’s study?
Set situation for participants to rebel against unjust authority
How did Gamson gather his participants and what did he do with them?
Advert in Michigan USA to take part in group discussion - standards of behaviour in community
People went to local Holiday Inn to attend and put in groups of 9
Met by fake confederate consultant from MHRC (fake company)
What situation did Gamson put his participants in?
MHRC conducting research for oil company taking action on petrol station manager
- Manager been sacked for offensive lifestyle to community
- Manager said it was because he spoke aloud on tv about high petrol prices
Discussion filmed for court
Cameraman ask participants to argue in favour of the oil company
What were the results of Gamson’s study?
32/33 groups rebelled in some away during discussion - developed group identity that cameraman’s wishes were unreasonable
23/33 - majority of group member refused to sign consent form allowing film to be used in court
9 groups threatened legal action
What does Gamson’s study show?
Social Support can heal people rebel against authority as the participants in this study formed a group identity with each other against the cameraman
What are the strengths of social support?
Lots of research support proving idea social support reduces social influence
Studies can be applied in real life (Gamson)
What were all the research supports for Social Support?
Milgram variation
Gamson’s study
Asch’s study
Allen and Levine’s experiment
How can the studies for social support be applied in real life?
Gamson’s study had high ecological validity
- participants unaware it was study
- no demand characteristics
- task given was very real to life
What are the weaknesses of social support?
Theory only strong with low participants per group
Some people don’t need social support
How is social support theory only strong with low participants per group?
Group sizes under 10 - dissenter makes big difference
Group sizes are massive in the real world - 100s - one dissenter won’t make a big difference
All studies explaining social support are restricted to small groups
How do some people not need social support?
People with high self-efficacy more likely to no conform or disobey
PROVEN BY LUCAS’S STUDY (2006)
People don’t need social support to give confidence to resist social influence
