Resistance To Social Influence Flashcards
(7 cards)
What are the 2 types of resisting social influence
Social support
Locus of control
What is social support
This is having the presence of other people who resist pressures to conform or obey. They act as models to show that resistance is acceptable and possible.
For example- this was shown in milgrams study.
The baseline study = obedience is 65%
Another confederate teacher who refused to go on, obedience dropped to 10%.
Strength evaluation of social support
P- real world research
E- a psychologist looked at an 8 week programme designed to help pregnant teenagers, resist the peer pressure to smoke. At 8 weeks, they were given a ‘buddy’ to show that they can resist social pressure and done have to smoke. Results showed that compare to the control group who didnt have a ‘buddy’, individuals were a lot less likely to smoke.
E- shows social support in day to day life.
P- supporting research
E- a psychologist conducted a study where he got a group of participants and they were asked to attend a meeting. During the meeting they were told that the manager was fired due to him having a relationship with a younger colleague. The manager tired to sue the company, so the leader of the meeting asked the particpants to say “the manager deserved to be fired” on a video. But everyone said no
E- we resist to obedience when we perceive it as unfair.
What is locus of control
This refers to how we direct events in out lives and there are 2 types, external locus of control and internal locus of control.
External = feel that their lies are down to fate or karma and out of their control. Meaning they often blame other people for situations rather then taking ownership
Internal = this is when they take control of their lives and take responsibility. They understand they they are in charge of what happens and consequences in a result to their actions.
Is internal or external locus of control more likely to resist
Internal = this is because they will fin to easier to resist due to more self-confidence, more belief and a stronger character.
They are less likely to go against an agentic shift and accept responsibitly for consequences reguardless of the authority figure.
Strength of LOC
P- supporting research
E- a psychologist repeated milgrams study and measured particpants LOC before the study (to see if they were external or internal). Results showed that 37% of thise with an internal LOC showed some resistance, where as 23% of people woth an external LOC showed some resistance.
E- shows resistance can be partly down to LOC
Limitation for LOC
P- contradictory findings
E- psychologist analysed data from American LOC studies over a 40 year period and found that people become both more external and resistant to obedience.
E- we expected that resistance was associated more with internal LOC, suggesting it’s not a valid explanation
