resistance to social influence

Question 1

what are the strengths of social support?

Answer 1

• research support by a variation of Milgram’s study where there were two other participants (confederates) and disobeyed the Experimenter, the presence of the other person caused the obedience to reduce to 10%, which shows that social support provided from the other participant gave them the confidence to reject the position of authority
• Gamson et al also gave support to the idea that larger groups provide a stronger social support system, making resisting social influence much easier, when in groups, 88% of participants resisted the pressure to conform to the same smear campaign which other confederates had developed

Question 2

what are the strengths of locus of control?

Answer 2

• research to support the link between locus of control and resistance to obedience, internals show greater resistance to authority in a Milgram-type situation, which shows resistance must be related to LOC, which increases the validity of the theory as an explanation of disobedience

Question 3

what are the weaknesses of locus of control?

Answer 3

• however, evidence also challenges the link between LOC and resistance, an analysis of LOC studies showed that over time people became more resistant but also more external, goes against the idea that resistance is related to an internal LOC so the theory cannot be a full explanation of how people resist social influence