Resistence to social influence Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is social support?
The perception that an individual has assistance available from other people, and that they are part of a supportive network
What did Asch find about social support?
It enables an individual to resist conformity pressure from the majority
What did Asch find in a variation of his study?
With the introduction of an ally conformity went from 33% to 5.5%
What is the most Important aspect of social support?
It breaks the unanimous position of the majority (raise the possibility that there are other, equally legitimate ways of thinking or responding) - making them feel more confident in their response
Why is it difficult to take a stand against authority?
The obedience of others can make even a harmful action appear acceptable - thus is it difficult to disobey
Why can others disobedience encourage further disobedience?
Disobedient peers act as role models giving other individuals the confidence to disobey
What is an Milgrams example of how social support helps resist social influence?
In one of Milgrams variations, the participant was apart of a team of 3 (two confederates) - each withdrew - gave the participant a liberating influence on the real participant (only 10 continuing to the max shock level)
What is locus of control?
People differ their beliefs about whether the outcomes of their actions are dependent on what they do (internal locus of control) or on events outside their personal control (external locus of control)
What is a strong internal locus of control?
Associated with the belief that we can control events in out life - what happens to them is largely a consequence of their own ability and effort
Why are people with high internal validity more likely to resist social influence?
They rely less on others opinions and therefore are more confident in themselves to disobey
What is an external locus of control?
Belief that what happens to them is determined by external factors such as influence of others or luck
Why are people with high externality more likely to accept influence?
Tend to approach things with a passive and fatalistic attitude - take less personal responsibility for their actions and being less likely to display independent behaviour
What characteristics do high internals possess?
- Active seekers of information that is useful to them + less likely to rely on others opinions
- More achievement-orientated + more likely to become leaders rather than follow others (Spector - a relationship exists between locus of control and leadership style) - more persuasive
- Better able to resist coercion from others
What is the importance of response order in social control?
Allen and Levine (1969) - in one condition a confederate answered first (giving the right answer) while other confederates all gave the wrong answer - real participant always answered last
Second condition - confederate answered 4th
Support was significantly more effective in position 1 than 4
They argue this is because the that a correct first answer, confirming the participants own judgement, produced initial commitment to the correct response that endures even after other members disagree
How did Rees and Wallace demonstrate the importance of social support?
Social support helped adolescents avoid conformity pressure - individuals with majority of friends who drink were more likely to have engaged in drunkenness
However, individuals were able to resist pressures to drink if they had a friend or two who also resisted
Consistent with lab experiments
Why is locus of control related to normative but not informational influence?
Spector (1983) measure locus of control and predisposition to normative and informational influence in 157 undergraduates
Found significant correlation between locus of control and predisposition to normative social influence - externals more likely to conform
Found no correlation with informational social influence
He concluded that externals would conform more in situations of normative social influence but not necessarily in informational pressure
Are people more external than they used to be?
Twenge et al - meta-analysis - young Americans increasingly believed their fate was determined more by luck and powerful others than their own actions
They interpret this trend to towards increasing externality in terms of alienation experienced by young people and the tendency to explain misfortunes on outside forces
