Resistance to social influence Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is social support?
Presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same.
How do those who resist conformity act as models?
Showing others that resistance to social influence is possible
Frees others to follow their own conscience
What is Locus of Control?
Rotter
Refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives.
Internals - Believe they are mostly responsible for what happens tot hem
Externals - Believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces
What is the LOC continuum?
People are not just internal or external
LOC is a scale and individuals vary in their position on it.
What do externals do when resting social influences?
Believe they aren’t responsible for their own actions
So are are more likely to obey and conform
What do internals do when resisting social influences?
Take responsibility for own actions
They are less likely to conform or obey.
What is an evaluation for social support?
Real world research
Research evidence for the positive effects of social support.
Albrecht et al
Evaluated teen fresh start USA
8 week programme to help pregnant adolescents ages 14-19 result peer pressure to smoke
Social support was provided by a slightly older mentor
End of programme adolescents who had a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group who did not have a buddy.
Showing that social support can help young people resist social influence as part of an intervention in the real world
What is an evaluation for social support?
Research support for dissenting peers
Evidence to support role of dissenting peers in resisting obedience.
Gamson et al
Participants told to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
Found higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram did in his
Due to participants being groups so could discuss what they were told to do..
29/33 groups of participants rebelled against their orders
Showing peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure.
What is an evaluation for locus of control?
Research support
Link between LOC and resistance to obedience
Holland
Related Milgrams baseline study
Measure whether participants were internals or externals
Found that 37% of internals did not continue to highest shock level
23% of Externals did continue
Showing resistance is at least partly related to LOC which increases the validity of LOC as a explanation of disobedience
What is an evaluation for locus of control?
Contradictory research
Evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance
Twenge et al
Analysed data from American locus of control studies conducted over a 40 year period.
Data showed that over time people became more resistant to obedience but also more external
If resistance is linked to an internal locus of control, we would expect people to have become more internal.
Suggesting that locus of control is not valid explanation of how people resist social influence.
