Resistance to social influence

• The pressure to conform can be resisted if there are others not conforming. For example Ashe's research into conformity, This gives social support and disperses the majority opinion.
• The pressure to obey can be resisted if there is another person being seen to disobey. For example, in one of Milgram's variations where the participant was joined by a disobeying confederate, the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10%. This is because the disobedient person acts as a 'model', freeing the participant from their own conscience.
• What is the 'Locus of control'?

  Proposed by Rotter (1996) it is a concept with internal vs. external control. Some people have an internal (controlled by themselves) locus of control, others have an external (things that happen are outside of their control) locus of control.
• People with a high internal LOC are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey, even if the other person takes responsibility for their actions. People with high internal LOC also tend to be more self-confident, and have higher intelligence. These traits lead to greater resistance to social influence.
• Research support for resistance to social influence.

  Albrecht et al (2006) evaluated ‘Teen fresh start USA’ an eight week programme to help pregnant adolescents (14 - 19) resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided an older mentor (or 'buddy').

  At the end of the programme, adolescents who had a 'buddy' were significantly less likely to smoke than those in the control group who didn't have a buddy.

  This shows that social support can help young people resist social influences.
• Research support for dissenting peers.

  Gamson et al (1982) Participants told to gather evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign.

  The researchers found higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram did in his variations study. This could be due to the participants being in groups so they were able to discuss what they were told to do.

  29 of 33 groups (88%) rebelled against their orders.

  This shows that peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure.
• Strengths of LOC and resistance to social influence.

  Holland (1967) repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured wether participants were internals or externals. He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level whereas only 23% of externals did not continue.

  Therefore LOC is supported as internals showed greater resistance to authority.

  This increases the validity of LOC.
• Limitations of LOC and resistance to social influence

  Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from American LOC studies conducted over a 40 year period (from 1960 to 2002).

  The data showed that people became more resistant to obedience over time, but also more external.

  This suggests that locus of control is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence.