Resistance to social influence

• Resistance to social influence: social support


  1. conformity

  • reduced by the presence of a dissenting peer
  • pressure to conform is reduced if other people are not conforming
  • Asch's unanimity variation shows that if somebody else is there that didn't follow the confederate, resistance to conform increases
  • however, if the dissenting peer starts to conform again so does the participant

  1. obedience

  • reduced by the presence of another dissenting partner
  • pressure to obey seems to reduce when another person is being disobedient
  • in Milgrams variation, obedience dropped to 10%
• social support A03: Allen and Levine +

  Allen and Levine (1971)

  • independence increased with one dissenting confederate in an Asch type study - match line length
  • occuring when the dissenter wore thick, foggy and cracked glasses and said he couldn't see properly
  • resistance seems to be motivated by a freedom of pressure - not following what somebody else says
• social support A03: Gamson +

  Gamson et al (1982)

  • conducted a study on obedience. however participants were in a group against other groups of confederates
  • oil company smear campaign as holiday inn
  • 29/33 groups went against instructions
  • shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance
• Resistance to social influence: locus of control


  Rotter - locus of control

  • your perception of what directs actions or events in our lives
  • internal locus of control
  • place control of behaviour and actions on themselves
  • external locus of control
  • believe it is mainly a matter of luck or outside factors

  Internals are more likely to resist social influence as they have a greater sense of autonomy
• locus of control A03: Holland +


  Holland (1967) repeated Milgrams study. However, beforehand he measured whether participants were internals or externals:

  • 37% internals did not go to 450V
  • 23% externals did not go to 450V
  • clearly supports the locus of control relationship between internals and social influence
• locus of control A03: contradictory research -


  Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from 92 American obedience studies

  • result showed that over a 40 year period (longitudinal research), people have become more resistant to obedience but have a more externalised locus of control
  • challenges the link between internal locus of control and resistance to social influence
  • ethnocentric
  • culture bound
  • only in US
  • cannot generalise