resisting SI

• what is meant by social support?

  • one reason that people can resist the pressure to conform or obey is if they have an ally - someone supporting their point of view. having an ally can build confidence and allow individuals to remain independent.
  • individuals who have support for their pov no longer fear being ridiculed, allowing them to avoid normative social influence.
• evaluation of social support:

  • research support for social support in reducing pressure to conform - in one of Asch's (1951) variations, one of the confederates was instructed to give the correct answer throughout. rate of conformity dropped to 5%.
  • demonstrates if the real participant has social support, then they are more likely to resist the pressure to conform.
• evaluation of social support:

  • research support - Milgram (1974), in one of his variations, the real participant was paired with two additional confederates, who also played the role of teachers. they refused to go on and withdrew from the experiment early.
  • % of real participants who proceeded to the full 450 volts dropped from 65% to 10%.
  • shows that if the real participant has support for their desire to disobey, then they are more likely to resist the pressure of an authority figure.
• what is meant by locus of control?

  • Rotter (1966) proposed the idea of locus of control, which is the extent to which people believe they have control over their own lives.
• what is internal locus of control?

  • people with an internal locus of control believe that what happens in their life is largely the result of their own behaviour and that they have control over their life.
  • individuals with an internal locus of control are more independent and find it easier to resist pressure to conform or obey.
• what is external locus of control?

  • people with external locus of control believe that what happens to them is controlled by external factors and that they do not have complete control over their life.
  • this means that they are more likely to succumb to pressure to conform or obey and are less likely to show independent behaviour.
• evaluation of locus of control:

  • research support of internal LoC (less likely to conform) - Spector (1983) used Rotter's LoC scale to determine whether LoC is associated with conformity. from 157 students, Spector found that individuals with a high internal LoC were less likely to conform than those with a high external LoC, but only in situations of NSI.
  • there was no difference between the two groups for ISI - suggests that NSI is more powerful than ISI when considering LoC.
• evaluation of locus of control:

  • research support of internal LoC (more likely to resist the pressure to obey) - Oliner & Oliner (1998) interviewed non-Jewish survivors of WW2 and compared those who had resisted orders and protected Jewish people from the Nazis with those who had not.
  • they found that 406 'rescuers' who had resisted orders were more likely to have a high internal LoC than the 126 people who had simply followed orders.
  • however, other factors may have caused others to follow orders and is difficult to conclude that LoC is the only factor.
• evaluation of locus of control:

  • however, there is contradictory evidence, since not all research supports the link between LoC and resistance to social influence.
  • Twenge (1967) conducted a meta-analysis of studies spanning over four decades and found that, over time, people have become more external in their LoC but also more resistant to obedience, which is incongruent to Rotter's original suggestions.
  • this challenges the established link between internal LoC and higher resistance.