explanations of resistance to social influence

• what is resistance to social influence?

  the ability to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority - influenced by both situational and dispositional factors
• what is social support?

  presence of people who resist pressure to conform can help others to do the same. they act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible
• what is locus of control?

  refers to the sense we have about what directs events in our lives
• what are the two types of locus of control?

  • high internal
  • high external
• what studies support social support?

  • Asch (1951)
  • milgram (1963)
• how did Asch's study support social support?

  • conformity dropped to 5% from 36.8% when there was a descenter?
  • there was someone else not conforming, the participants felt like they could not conform aswell
  • the confederate gave different wrong answers to the others in the group
  • shows social support can reduce conformity breaking the unanimous position of the majority
• how did milgrams study support social support?

  • disobedience dropped from 65% to 105 when the participants are joined with someone who disobeys
  • participants may not follow disobedience persons behaviour
  • the other persons disobedience acts as a model for participants to copy that frees participants to act from their own conscious
  • shows that with social support people are more confident to resist obedience if they can find an ally to join them
• what is internal locus of control?

  people believe things happen to them are largely controlled by themselves
• what did Julian Rotter identify locus of control as?

  a personality dimension
• what is external locus of control? 


  people that have a tendency to believe that things happen without their own control
• what is high external LOC?

  outcomes determined independent of ones behaviour by fate
• what is high internal LOC?

  outcomes are determined by ones hard work, attitudes and decisions
• what does LOC mean about resisting SI?

  people who have high internal LOC are more likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey because they are more self confident and have less need for social approval
• high internal LOC personality traits leads to greater resistance to social influence
• what is supporting evidence for social support?

  • albrecht et al
  • gamson et al
  • holland
• what is the albrecht et al study?

  • showed social support and resistance to peer pressure from smoking reduced in teens when they had a older peers acting as buddies as opposed to control
• what is the gamson et al study?

  • asked participants to work in groups and run a smear campaign for an oil company
  • found higher levels of resistance than milgrams study because they were in groups
  • 88% rebelled showing that peer pressure is linked to greater resistance
• what is the Holland study?

  • repeated milgrams study and measured whether participants were internal or externals
  • 37% of internal did not continue to the highest shock levels
  • 27% of externals did not conform
• what are weaknesses of LOC?

  • rotter
  • twenge et al
• what is the rotter study?

  • points out that LOC has very little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where our previous experiences will always be more important.
  • means that people who have conformed or obeyed in specific situations in the past are likely to do so again even if they have a high internal LOC
• What is the Twenge et al study?

  • analysed data from American LOC studies over a 40 year period showed that over this time span people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external
  • of resistance were linked to an internal LOC we would expect people to become more internal