SS Flashcards
supporting evidence from conformity
Evidence for this explanation comes from one of Asch’s (1951) variations. In one of the variations, one of the confederates was instructed to give the correct answer throughout. In this variation the rate of conformity
dropped to 5% showing that having an ally makes it easier to resist conformity. Asch also showed that if the ‘non-conforming’ confederate started to conform again, then so does the naïve participant. This study therefore demonstrates that if an individual has social support
for their belief, then they are more likely to resist the pressure to conform.
Supporting evidence from obedience research
Furthermore, evidence for this explanation comes from Milgram (1974). 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. In this variation, percentage of real participants who proceeded to the full 450 volts, dropped from 65% (in the original) to 10%. This 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.
Variations from Milgram therefore suggest that if an individual has social support then they are likely to resist the pressure to obey.
Alternative explanation
There may be other factors such
as confidence that may also contribute to individuals resisting social influence. It is believed that individuals find it much easier to resist social influence if they have real confidence in the correctness of their own answers. In Lucas’ et al. (2006) study participants were given easy and hard problems in mathematics. They resisted social influence 92% if the questions were easy problems but only 29% of the time with hard problems. Additionally, Perrin and Spencer replicated Asch’s original study with engineering students in the UK and also found less conformity (only one out of 396 trials). It may be that they felt more confident in their precision of measuring lines. This suggests that people who are more confident are less influenced by the apparently ‘right’ view of the majority and are able to resist social
influence.
