Social influence- Resistance to social influence and minority influence Flashcards
Give two explanations of resistance to social influence
1- Social support
2- Locus of control
What is social support ?
The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. These people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.
What is locus of control ?
Refers to the sense we have about what directs events in our lives.
What are the two types of LOC ?
Internal and External
What is Internal LOC and give an example ?
They believe that the things that happen to them are larger controlled by themselves. For example, if you do well in an exam it is because you worked hard, if you didn’t do well it is because you didn’t work hard.
What is External LOC and give an example ?
They believe the things that happen to them are outside of their control. For example if they did well in an exam it was because they had good luck and the questions were easy and if they failed they had bad luck as the questions were hard.
What is the LOC continuum ?
The idea that people are not just either internal or external. So, high external LOC is at one end and high internal LOC is at the other with low internal and low external LOC in the middle.
Is a person with Internal or External LOC more likely to resist social influence ?
People with high internal LOC are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey.
Why is someone with a high internal LOC more likely to resist social influence ?
As they tend to base their decisions on their own beliefs rather than depending on the beliefs of others. They also tend to be more self confident and have a higher IQ and these traits lead to greater resistance to social influence.
Who conducted research support for LOC and what did he find ?
Holland, he repeated milligrams baseline study and measured wether people were internals or externals. He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level whereas 23% of externals did not continue. This shows people with an internal LOC can greater resist social influence.
