explanations of resistance to social influence

• What is resistance to social influence?

  Not conforming to majority or obeying authority
• What risks are associated with resisting social influence?

  Rejection from the group or punishment
• What constitutes social support in resisting social influence?

  When someone else also resists conformity or obedience
• What did the Asch variation of unanimity demonstrate?

  Conformity levels decreased with social support
• How much did conformity decrease when a confederate gave the correct answer in Asch's study?

  From 32% to 5%
• What was the effect on conformity when a confederate gave an incorrect answer in Asch's study?

  Conformity decreased to 9%
• What was the setup of Milgram's obedience research involving disobedient confederates?

  Participants were grouped with confederates as Teachers
• What happened when the shock generator reached 150 volts in Milgram's study?

  One confederate refused to continue
• What was the outcome when the shock generator reached 210 volts?

  The second confederate left the experiment
• What percentage of participants dropped out before reaching 450 volts in Milgram's variation?

  90%
• How many participants required only one act of defiance to resist authority?

  30%
• What does locus of control (LOC) refer to?

  Belief in control over one's life outcomes
• Who designed a scale to measure locus of control?

  Rotter
• What characterizes a high internal locus of control?

  Feeling in control and responsible for behavior
• How do people with a high internal LOC behave under pressure?

  They resist pressure to conform and obey
• Give an example of high internal LOC behavior.

  Accepting responsibility for exam failure
• What characterizes a high external locus of control?

  Feeling no control and lack of responsibility
• How do people with a high external LOC behave under pressure?

  They struggle to resist conformity and obedience
• Give an example of high external LOC behavior.


  Blaming the teacher for an exam failure
• What are the strengths of social support and locus of control in resisting social influence?

  • Rank & Jacobson's study supports social support
  • Holland's study shows validity of internal LOC
• What are the limitations of social support and locus of control in resisting social influence?

  • Not applicable to everyone
  • Individual differences in obedience
  • LOC applies mainly to new situations