Resistance to social influence

• What is resistance to social influence?


  The ability to oppose pressure to conform to a majority or obey an authority figure
• What is a situational factor affecting resistance to social influence?


  Social support
• What is social support?


  The presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey which can help others do the same
• How can social support help others to also resist social influence?


  The people who resist pressure to conform or obey act as models to others to show that resistance to social influence is possible
• Social support is seen in a variation of milgrams study where two confederate teachers refused to continue at 150v and 210v leading to the obedience rate dropping from 65% to 10%
• Social support is seen in a variation of Aschs study where one of the confederates breaks the unanimity of the group by answering correctly leading to the conformity dropping from 32% to 5.5%
• Allen and Levine (1971) findings?


  In a replication of Aschs study found even when the participant was given a dissenting ally with thick glasses claiming to have limited eyesight, participants still used this invalid social support and conformity decreased
• What is a dispositional factor affecting resistance to social influence?

  Locus of control
• What is Locus of Control?


  A personality dimension developed by Rotter (1966) which identifies peoples perceptions of personal control over their behaviour
• High internal locus of control-More likely to resist social influence

  High external locus of control-Less likely to resist social influence
• Holland (1967)?


  Replication of Milgrams study where participants Locus of Control was assessed
• What were the findings of Holland (1967)?


  -37% with internal LoC refused to continue to highest shock level while 23% with external Loc refused to continue to highest shock level

  -Suggests that LoC is only a partial explanation for resisting social influence since 63% of participants with internal LoC still obeyed