Resistance to Social Influence

Question 1

Name 2 things that help RESIST Social Influence

Answer 1

• Locus of Control

- Social Support

Question 2

How does Social support resist conformity?
When does the pressure to conform reduce?
Give an example of Case Study?
What would happen if a real ppt saw a dissening ppt disagree?
What does a dissenter act as to a real ppt?
What do these confeds provide to a ppt 2 things)? Even if the dissener does not what?
What enables a person to be ‘free’?

Answer 2

Social support can help people to resist conformity - the pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people present who are not conforming.
For example, in a variation of Asch’s study, if the real participant saw another confederate disagreeing with the majority, conformity dropped sharply. The non-conforming ppts acts as a ‘model’

These confederates provide the participant with moral and social support, even if they are not giving the right answer. It is simply the fact that someone else is not following the majority that seems to enable a person to be ‘free’ to give the correct answer.

Question 3

Is Social support long lasting? Why? Why not?

Answer 3

No, the effect of the dissenter is not long lasting if the dissenter starts conforming again they real ppts will also do the same.

Question 4

How social support resists obedience?
-How is it reduced
-Give a Study it is supported by? How does obedience drop from what % to What %?
When does the % drop?
What does a dissenting participant act as to a real ppt?

Answer 4

Can be reduced when someone else disobeys.
-In Milgrams variation rate of obedience dropps from 65% to 10% when the dissenting confederate joined the real ppt. The person’s disobedience acts as an ‘model’ for ppt to copy for his own conscience.

Question 5

How INTERNAL Locus of control Resists social roles?
How kind of reponsabilities does a person take? What does this display about the personalities of a person?
Does that person want to be accepted by … of others? Or not?
What are the pple likely to base their decisions on? What do they rely less on?
They are more self…..?
What does this mean they are able to resist?

Answer 5

If a person takes personal responsibility for their actions than they are more likely to display independent behaviour and therefore less likely to accept the influence of others. They are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs, rely less on the opinion of others and are more self-confident so therefore resist pressures from others to conform or obey.

Question 6

What happens to people who have high external Locus of Control?
What do they take less responsability for?
What behaviour are they likely to display?
What are they more likely to accept?

Answer 6

People who have a high external LOC take less personal responsibility for their actions, are less likely to display independent behaviour and therefore more likely to accept the influence of others.

Question 7

Which person first purposed Locus of Control?

Answer 7

Rotter 1966

Question 8

How Locus of control is measures?

Include a scale of High , low locus of control.

Answer 8

It is measured along a continuum with ‘high internal’ locus of control at one end and ‘high external’ locus of control at the other, with ‘low internal’ and ‘low external’ lying in-between.

Question 9

What Locus of Control means?

Answer 9

Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Includes Internal and External LOC

Question 10

Explain Internal Locus of Control.

Answer 10

People with an internal locus of control believe that what happens in their life is largely the result of their own behaviour, and are more likely to resist pressure to conform or obey.

Question 11

Explain External Locus of Control.

Answer 11

Describes when someone believes what happens to them is luck or fate and that they are not in control of their life; it is all due to external forces in their environment

Question 12

Give 1st Evaluation Research support for resistence of conformity.
Name the study:
What did that study find out? When there was what kind of person?
When did importantly occue even if the ppt wore what?
What was the ppt vision like?

What does this support the view of resistence?
What is it not just … by?
Whether its … ans or even?

Answer 12

Research, using Asch type studies, have found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter. More importantly this occurred even if the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision (so he was clearly in no position to judge the length of the lines given that this was a rest of visual discrimination).

This therefore supports the view that resistance isn’t just motivated by whether someone else has the right answer or even skilled in a particular situation.

Question 13

Outline one of Milgram’s variations that supports how social support can lead resisting obedience.
Name the study’s person:
Who was the real ppt paired with?
Who did the confeds play the role of?
What did the confeds refuse?
What they did after?
Ppts who proceeded 450v dropped by how much (orig value)? to what percent?
What does this show the real ppts are capable of?
Which figure the ppt are likely to resist?

Answer 13

• 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.

Question 14

1st Evaluation Resarch Support for Locus of Conrol?

• Name study:
• Which person of that study replicated which study? What did he measure of the ppt?
• What PERCENTAGE did he find of internals that didn’t contuine to highers shock level?
• What PERCENTAGE did he find of externals that did not what?
• What did this show for which of internal/external?
• What did this increase? For LOC

Answer 14

Hollan 1967

• Repeated Milgrams baseline study + measured the internal & externals of the ppt.
• Found 37% of internals did not continue t the highers shock level
• Whereas only 23% of exernals did not continue.
• Showing internals had greater resistence to authority.
• Increasing validity of LOC.

Question 15

1st Evaluation LIMITATION for Locus of Conrol?

Answer 15

• Rotter 1982
• LOC only comes into play in novel situations.
• Has very little influence on our behaviour in farmiliar situations where our previous experiences are more important.
• Says LOC is overlooked.
• People who conformed in specific situations in past likely to do so again even with high internal LOC.

Question 16

Explain the term Social Support? In terms of Resistance and Social influence?
How pple resist? 
What does this mean? 
What this does to an individual? 
How they act after this?

Answer 16

People may resist pressures to conform or obey if they have support from a dissenter (someone who disagrees with the majority or refuses to obey). This frees the individual from the pressure to conform or obey, allowing them to act independently.

Question 17

Outline Locus of control as an explantion of resistance to social influence.
Explain LOC? In pple.
What internal LOC more likely to what? As their what is less? Influenced by who?
Who’s research is it supported by?

Answer 17

A person’s locus of control can be either internal or external.
As such, people with an internal locus of control are much more likely to resist social influence since they are less influenced by others. This is explanation is supported by research conducted by Holland in 1967.

Question 18

Descibe social support

Answer 18

One reason that people can resist the pressure to conform or obey is if they have an ally, someone supporting their point of view. Having an ally can build confidence and allow individuals to remain independent.

Individuals who have support for their point of view no longer fear being ridiculed, allowing them to avoid normative social influence. Furthermore, individuals who have support for their point of view are more likely to disobey orders.

Question 19

Evaluate social support

Answer 19

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%. This demonstrates that if the real participant has support for their belief (social support), then they are likely more likely to resist the pressure to conform.

Question 20

Descrive locus of control

Answer 20

Rotter (1966) proposed the idea of locus of control, which is the extent to which people believe they have control over their own lives.

People with an internal locus of control believe that what happens in their life is largely the result of their own behaviour and that they have control over their life. Whereas people with an external locus of control believe that what happens to them is controlled by external factors and that they do not have complete control over their life.

Consequently, Rotter suggested that individuals with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist the pressures to conform or obey, in comparison to individuals with an external locus of control.

Question 21

Evaluate Locus of control

Answer 21

Furthermore, research also supports the idea that individuals with an internal locus of control are less likely to conform. Spector (1983) used Rotter’s locus of control scale to determine whether locus of control is associated with conformity. From 157 students, Spector found that individuals with a high internal locus of control were less likely to conform than those with a high external locus of control, but only in situations of normative social influence, where individuals conform to be accepted. There was no difference between the two groups for informational social influence. This suggests that normative social influence, the desire to fit in, is more power than informational social influence, the desire to be right, when considering locus of control.