Resistance to social influence + Minority influence (Social Influence) Flashcards
Resistance to social influence
The ability of individuals to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. this ability is influenced by situational and dispositional factors
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 to them. Externals believe it is mainly a matter of luck or other outside forces
Evidence for social support encouraging resistance to social influence
-the introduction of an ally in Asch’s study caused conformity levels to drop from 33% to 5.5%
-an ally raises the possibility that there are other legitimate ways if thinking and makes them feel more confident in resisting the majority
-in a variation of Milgram’s experiment, three individuals testing the learner with two confederates who resisted, the result being only 10% continuing to the full shock level. this is because individuals are more confident when there are others opposing the authority figure. someone’s disobedience acts as a model to copy- frees the conscience
-Women protested against the holding of 2000 Jewish men and demanded their release during the holocaust. They risked death together.
Minority influence
A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes shift as well as public behaviours. This is distinct from conformity which takes place under the majority influence.
Method (Moscovici 1969 minority influence)
A laboratory experiment investigating minority influence using 192 women.
In groups of six at a time, participants judged the colour of 36 slides. All slides were blue with varying brightness. Two of the six participants were confederates.
In one condition, confederates called all of the slides green (consistent) while in another condition they called 24 green and 12 blue (inconsistent)
Results (Moscovici 1969 minority influence)
In the control group (no confederates) participants called the slides green 0.25% of the time
In the consistent condition, participants adopted the minority view 8.4% of the time and 32% of participants did at least once
In the inconsistent group, they only adopted the minority position 1.25% of the time
Conclusion (Moscovici 1969 minority influence)
The confederates were in the minority but their views appeared to influence the real participants.
The use of the two conditions illustrated that the minority had more influence when they were consistent in calling the slides green
Evaluation (Moscovici 1969 minority influence)
Lacked ecological validity being a laboratory experiment
Could be seen as a trivial exercise and participants might have responded differently if their principles were involved
Cannot generalise results; only women were involved
The control group showed that participants were being influence and weren’t just unsure
When participants were asked to write down their answers instead, more people agreed with the minority
Consistency (includes synchronic and diachronic)
if the minority take a consistent approach people start ti consider the issue more carefully
-synchronic consistency: they’re all saying the same thing
-diachronic consistency: they’ve been saying the same thing for some time
A consistent view leads to others thinking more deeply about an issue. We are cognitively more aware if it is said more
Commitment
when a minority group adopts a committed approach to its position it may become difficult to ignore. Because joining a minority has a greater cost for the individual, they need to know the serious nature of the campaign or issue. Others see the commitment and acknowledge the views because of it.
Augmentation principle
The majority will pay attention to the minority when the minority appear to be particularly committed. Often takes place when risk is involved.
Why we listen to minority groups
-consistent and passionate about something new
-deeper processing (depth of thought) is important in the process of conversion to a different, minority view point
-over time people are converted- the more it happens, the faster the rate of conversion (this is the snowball effect)
Other evidence for resistance to social influence
-Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment: some prisoners disrespected the guards
-Wesley Autrey, a New York builder, rescued a man who had fallen onto subway tracks while 75 other people stood by. He held the man down on the tracks while a train passed over them
-Gamson et al (1983) found higher levels of resistance than Milgram. Participants were told that a manager was sacked because his lifestyle was offensive to the local community. They had to produce evidence that would help the company in a smear campaign and 29 out of 33 groups rebelled against the company.
Evaluation of Locus of Control
-Holland (1967) Milgram’s baseline study
-measured wether participants were internal or external. 37% of internals didn’t deliver the highest level shock compared to 23% of externals
-however, Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from American LOC studies from 1960 to 2002. discovered that people have become more resistant to obedience, but also more external
It can be argued that LOC only impacts situations in which an individual has little prior experience
Flexibility
the willingness to consider other views, may create sympathy for a minority group from others
