Resistance to social influence Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is resistance to social influence?
Refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority.
What is social support?
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. These people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.
Why is having an ally important?
Having an ally can build confidence and allow individuals to remain independent. Social support is therefore a situational factor influencing resistance to social influence because it is impacted by people in the environment.
How does social support link to / stop conformity?
social support breaks the unanimity of the group, as there is a break from the agreement of the majority. This was seen in Asch’s study, where conformity rates dropped to 5.5% when there was a confederate who was not conforming to the obviously wrong answer and gave the genuinely correct answer. Individuals who have support for their point of view no longer fear being ridiculed, allowing them to avoid normative social influence.
How does social support link to/stop obedience?
the pressure to obey can be resisted if there is another person who is seen to disobey. This is because it provides a model of disobedience which can then be followed. In one of Milgram’s variations, the participant was paired with two additional confederates, who also played the role of teachers. The two additional confederates refused to go on and withdrew from the experiment early. The percentage of participants who proceeded to the full 450 volts, dropped from 65% in the baseline study, to 10%
What does social support allow individuals to do?
Act according to their own conscience.
What are two strengths of social support?
Conformity to the majority view is impacted by when the social support arrives. Allen and Levine (1971) looked at whether the position of the person providing social support to the participant in an Asch-like study made a difference. They found that participants were more likely to dissent, when the dissenter was the first confederate, rather than the fourth. The earlier the participant’s judgement is confirmed the better, as it produces an initial commitment to the correct response even though other group members disagree. This shows that there are factors that can impact how well social support prevents social influence.
Allen and Levine (1971) also looked at whether social support that was not always valid was still effective. In one condition, the confederate providing the support wore glasses and complained about his vision, thus providing invalid social support. They compared this to another condition where the supportive confederate had normal vision and did not wear glasses. Both conditions reduced conformity. In the valid support condition, 64% of the participants refused to conform. In the invalid support condition, 36% of the participants refused to conform. This shows that having an ally is helpful in resisting conformity, but more so it they are perceived as offering valid social support
what are two limitations of social support?
.
What is Locus of Control?
It is a Dispositional factor. LoC is the degree of control an individual feels they have over their own life and is measured on a continuum from internal to external.
What type of explanation is Locus of Control and Social support?
Resistance to social influence
How is LoC viewed?
It’s a scale/ continuum and individuals vary their position within this continuum.
What does having an internal LoC mean?
Those with an internal LoC believe things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves. Those with an internal LoC are more likely to resist social influence because they take personal responsibility for their actions and base their decisions on their own beliefs.
They are also in less need for social approval leading to greater resistance as a result.
What does having an external LoC mean?
Whereas those with an external LoC believe that things that happen are outside of their control.
What are three strengths of LoC?
- There is evidence to support the link between LoC and resisting obedience. Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s study and measured whether the participants were internal or external. He found that 37% of internals did not continue to 450V, while only 23% of externals did not continue. This shows that internal LoC showed greater resistance to authority (social influence), due to personal responsibility for their actions.
2.Avtgis (1998) carried out a meta-analysis of studies looking at the relationship between LoC and different forms of social influence. They found that individuals with an internal LoC were less easily persuadable and less likely to conform. The analysis also showed that individuals who scored high on external LoC tend to be more easily persuaded, more easily influenced, and more conforming than those who score as internal in terms of LoC
3.Shute (1975) exposed undergraduates to peers who expressed either conservative or liberal attitudes to drug taking. He found that undergraduates with an internal LoC conformed less to expressing pro-drug attitudes. This supports the idea that having an internal LoC increases resistance to conformity.
What are two limitations of LoC?
1.Rotter (1982) found that LoC is only important in new situations as behaviour in familiar situation relies more on experience. This means that even if people have an internal LoC but have conformed or obeyed previously in a particular situation, they will do so again. It suggests that LoC can only explain a limited range of situations in which people might resist social influence. This means that LoC is not as important a factor in resistance as some have suggested.
- There is contradictory evidence for the role of LoC and resistance to social influence. Twenge et al., (2004) analysed data from American LoC studies over 40 years (1960-2002). They knew that the American public had become more independent over this time. But people had become more external in their LoC. This suggests that LoC is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence. However, it is possible that other factors could have influenced the results. The change may be because society is so unstable that many things are outside of people’s personal control and therefore, they are more external in their LoC.
