Explanations for Resistance to Social Influence Flashcards
(13 cards)
Identify the two explanations for resistance to social influence.
The locus of control explanation.
The social support explanation.
Outline the locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
LOC refers to how much a person believes they have control over events that happen in their life. It is measured along a continuum with a high internal LOC at one end and a high external LOC at the other. People with an internal LOC view themselves as having control over their own behaviour whereas people with an external LOC believe that their behaviour is controlled by forces outside of their control such as luck or fate. This means that people with an internal LOC are more likely to resist social influence. This is because they are more likely to take responsibility for their behaviour and so are more likely to resist pressures to obey unjust orders.
People with an internal LOC are also more likely to resist pressures to conform because they view themselves as more of a leader than a follower and are less likely to seek social approval.
Evaluate the strength of locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
A strength of the locus of control explanation is that it has received supporting evidence when it comes to resisting conformity. E.g. a meta-analysis of research into the link between locus of control and conformity found that those with an external locus of control were more conformist than those with an internal locus of control.
This supports a relationship between an individual’s locus of control and how conformist they are.
Evaluate the limitation locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
However, a limitation of the locus of control explanation is that there is contradictory evidence. E.g. data from locus of control studies spanning the past several decades have found that people have become more resistant to pressures to obey but have also become more external in their locus of control.
Evaluate another strength locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
Another strength of the locus of control explanation is that it has also received supporting evidence when it comes to resisting obedience. E.g. Milgram’s obedience research was replicated whilst also measuring where each participant scored on the locus of control continuum.
Evaluate another limitation of locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
However, a limitation of the locus of control explanation is that there is contradictory evidence. E.g. in the above study, not everybody identified as having an internal locus of control disobeyed (only 37% did).
Evaluate the limitation locus of control explanation for resistance to social influence.
A limitation is that the role of an individual’s LOC when it comes to resisting social influence has been somewhat exaggerated. This is because it has been argued that an individual’s LOC only plays a role in new situations. This is a limitation because it suggests it would have little influence over levels of conformity/obedience in familiar situations whereby our previous experiences will be more important. This means that people who have conformed or obeyed in a situation in the past are likely to do so again even if they have a high internal locus of control.
Outline the social support explanation for resistance to social influence.
The social support explanation proposes that if there is a person who does not conform or obey, it makes it easier for others to also resist social influence. This is because observing people not conforming/obeying gives others the confidence to do the same. Forms or social support include having a disobedient role model (for resisting obedience) and having an ally {for resisting conformity).
Having a disobedient role model gives others the confidence to resist pressures to obey because it challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure.
Meanwhile, having an ally gives others the confidence to resist pressures to conform because it breaks the unanimity of the majority.
This break in the unanimity of the majority reduces pressures to fit in and so people would be less likely to conform due to normative social influence.
Evaluate the strength of social support explanation for resistance to social influence.
A strength of the social support explanation is that it has received supporting evidence when it comes to resisting conformity. E.g. in Asch’s unanimity variation of his original conformity research, conformity rates reduced when one of the confederates gave a different answer to the rest of the majority.
Evaluate the limitation of social support explanation for resistance to social influence.
However, a limitation of the social support explanation is that there is contradictory evidence. E.g. in the above study, not everybody resisted pressures to conform despite having an ally.
Evaluate the strength of social support explanation for resistance to social influence.
Another strength of the social support explanation is that it has received supporting evidence when it comes to resisting obedience. E.g. Milgram carried out a variation of his original obedience research whereby the participant was joined by a disobedient confederate. found that obedience rates reduced when the participant was joined by the disobedient role model.
Evaluate the limitation of social support explanation for resistance to social influence.
However, a limitation of the social support explanation is that there is contradictory evidence. E.g. in the above study, not everybody joined by the disobedient role model resisted the pressure to obey (10% still obeyed to the full amount).
Evaluate the limitation of social support explanation for resistance to social influence.
However, a limitation is that the extent to which social support has an influence may depend on when the social support is provided. E.g. researchers replicated Asch’s conformity research but had the ally confederate give the correct answer and then the remaining confederates all give the same wrong answer. The real participant answered last. In another replication, all confederates cave the same wrong answer apart from the confederate at the end who gave the correct answer just before the real participant answered. It was found that participants were more likely to resist pressures to conform when the non-conforming confederate gave their different answer earlier on. This is a limitation because it suggests that while social support is more effective when it is given early, it is less effective when provided later on and so may not always help others to resist pressures to conform.
