Resistance To Social Influence

Question 1

What is resistance to social influence

Answer 1

The ability to withstand social pressures and NOT conform or obey

Question 2

How was resisting social influence shown in milgrams study?

Answer 2

• many ppts withdrew from the study
  -35% did not obey to 450v
• resistance was shown towards an authority figure - researcher
  -ppts may have had a strong feeling of morality and acting against their conscience

Question 3

In Asch how was social influence resisted?

Answer 3

• Ppts often gave the correct answer over different trials in the experiment
• 25% of ppts never conformed to an incorrect answer
• resistance was shown towards the majority group
• ppts may not have needed to ‘fit in’ with the group

Question 4

How does social support allow us to resist conformity

Answer 4

• Social support in the form of an ally can lead to an individual resisting greater pressure from the majority
• 1 dissenter/ally can break the ‘unanimity’ position of the group and raise the idea that there could be other legitimate ways of thinking or behaving
• individuals who have an ally no longer fear being ridiculed- they avoid normative social influence
• allowing the individual to feel more confident in their choice to follow their own opinions thereby resisting conformity

Question 5

How does social support allow us to resist obedience

Answer 5

• social support in the form of a disobedient peer can lead to individual resting obeying an authority figure
• disobedience can change an individuals perception about the consequences of not obeying
• the peer raises an individuals awareness that obeying a harmful action is possible unacceptable
• allowing an individual to feel more confident to use the disobedient peer as a way of excusing themselves from any further harmful obedience acts and therefore resist obedience and remain independence

Question 6

Strength: supporting conformity

Answer 6

I: supporting evidence for the role of social support in resisting conformity
E: in one of the variations of Asch’s study, one confederate gave social support to the real naïve participant by always giving the correct answer to the line judgment task. In this variation conformity dropped to 5%
C: shows that social support in the form of a dissenter help individuals to resist conformity, and more if the ally is perceived to have valid social support

Question 7

Strength: supporting obedience

Answer 7

I: Supporting evidence for the role of support in resisting obedience
E: in one variation of milgrams experiment, ppts were paired with 2 additional confederates who also played the role of teachers and who refused to give the shocks. As a result ppts disobeyed the order with only 10% going to 450v
C: shows social support in the form of a disobedient peer helps individuals resit obedience

Question 8

Weakness: methodological

Answer 8

I: supporting evidence has methodological flaws
E: the studies lack ecological validity/ mundane realism, because the tasks demonstrating resistance were artificial
In Aschs and Milgram’s experiment, ppts were given a test where there were no consequences for resisting social influence through not conforming or obeying
C: means studies like this do not tell us much about resisting influence in real life and therefore there are problems generalising the findings to other situations

Question 9

What is locus of control?

Answer 9

• Sense we have about what directs events in our lives
• the extent to which we believe the outcomes of our actions are determined by internal or external factors

Question 10

What is locus of control?

Answer 10

• Sense we have about what directs events in our lives
• the extent to which we believe the outcomes of our actions are determined by internal or external factors

Question 11

What type of locus of control is more likely to resist social influence

Answer 11

Internal locus of control

Question 12

Explain high internal locus of control

Answer 12

• a person believes that their behaviour is caused by their own choices, effort and responsibility
• they do not rely on other people or information and display independence in thought and behaviour

Question 13

Explain high external locus of control

Answer 13

• a person believes that their behaviour is caused by luck,fate or circumstances outside their control
• take less personal control for their actions and do not display independence, being largely influenced by other people

Question 14

What characteristics do people with high internal locus of control display ?

Answer 14

• more confident and intelligent: make decisions/ think for themselves
• active seekers of information: trust own judgment
• more achievement motivated and self motiviated

Question 15

Strength: supporting evidence

Answer 15

I: supporting evidence for the role of dispositional factors in explaining resisting social influence
E: Holland replicated milgrams experiment and investigated personality factors in the ppts who did not obey the order to give 450v
He found 37% of ppts who scored high on internal locus of control did not continue to the highest shock, whereas only 23% of those who scored high on external locus of control did not continue
C: shows a person’s character is linked to greater resistance of social influence as ‘internal’ people are more likely to disobey, showing locus of control to be a valid explanation for resistance

Question 16

Weakness: self report

Answer 16

I: can question the validity of the supporting evidence as it comes from the use of self-report methods
E: research methods used often measure individuals locus of control are self-report methods often involving questionnaire in particular
Methods are highly likely to produce social desirable answers, produce a lack of qualitative data is the questions are closed ended.
Meaning ppts may not answer questions about their personality truthfully, instead of wanting to appear more resistant to social influence than what they actually are
C: means we must be cautious when taking into consideration evidence that supports the role of locus of control and resisting social influences a as the link may have been over exaggerated, reducing the validity

Question 17

Weakness: alternative explainations

Answer 17

I: alternative explanations for experiencing resisting social influence
E: not everybody who experiences social support in the form of an ally or disobedient peer manages to resist social influence or still conform/obey
Not everybody who resist social influence scores high on internal locus of control. Twinge et al has found over time people have become more external in their LoC but also more resistant
C: suggests there must be alternative explainations for resisting social influence