Resisting social influence

• What should be filled in the idea clouds?

  Representations of authoritarian personality influences
• What are the types of conformity?

  Internalisation, identification, and compliance
• What are the explanations for conformity?

  Informational and normative social influence
• What variables affect conformity according to Asch?

  Group size, unanimity, and task difficulty
• Who investigated conformity to social roles?

  Zimbardo
• What are the explanations for obedience?

  Agentic state and legitimacy of authority
• What situational variables affect obedience?

  Proximity, location, and uniform
• What is the dispositional explanation for obedience?

  The Authoritarian Personality
• What are the explanations of resistance to social influence?

  Social support and locus of control
• What is minority influence characterized by?

  Consistency, commitment, and flexibility
• What does locus of control refer to?

  Belief in control over life events
• How is locus of control measured?

  On a continuum between internal and external
• What characterizes an internal locus of control?

  Attributing behavior to personal efforts
• How does an internal locus of control affect conformity and obedience?

  More likely to resist pressures to conform
• What characterizes an external locus of control?

  Attributing behavior to external factors
• How does an external locus of control affect conformity and obedience?

  More likely to obey and conform
• What did Rotter propose about internal locus of control?

  They resist social pressures better
• What did Elms and Milgram find about disobedient participants?

  They tended to have a high internal locus of control
• What did Oliner and Oliner discover about rescuers during the Holocaust?

  Rescuers had an internal locus of control
• What does the evidence from Elms and Milgram support?

  The role of locus of control in resistance
• What did Avtgis et al. find in their meta-analysis on conformity?

  Higher external locus of control leads to more conformity
• What is a weakness of the locus of control explanation?

  Methods used to measure LOC can be biased
• What is social desirability bias?

  Respondents may alter answers to please researchers
• How does social support affect conformity?

  Reduces pressure to conform with dissenters
• How does social support affect obedience?

  Reduces obedience with disobedient models
• What did Asch find about social support in conformity?

  Conformity dropped to 5.5% with an ally
• What did Milgram find about social support in obedience?

  Only 10% obeyed with disobedient confederates
• What did Twenge et al. find about locus of control over time?

  People became more resistant but more external
• What did Holland find in his replication of Milgram's study?

  Internals showed greater resistance to authority
• What is the structure of the exam question about conformity?

  Identify and explain choice with evidence
• What are the key concepts related to social influence processes in social change?

  • Minority influence
  • Social support
  • Locus of control
  • Resistance to conformity and obedience
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of locus of control as an explanation for resistance to social influence?

  Strengths:

  • Supported by research (Holland, Elms & Milgram)
  • Explains individual differences in resistance

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Methods used can be biased
  • Contradictory research (Twenge et al.)
• What are the implications of social support in resisting social influence?

  • Presence of dissenters reduces conformity
  • Disobedient models empower individuals to resist authority
  • Increases confidence in personal decisions
• What are the characteristics of the Authoritarian Personality?

  • High respect for authority
  • Rigid thinking
  • Prejudice against out-groups
  • Need for order and structure
• What are the implications of locus of control in social influence?

  • Internal locus leads to resistance
  • External locus leads to conformity and obedience
  • Influences personal responsibility perception
• What are the factors affecting conformity according to Asch's research?

  • Group size
  • Unanimity
  • Task difficulty
• What are the situational variables affecting obedience according to Milgram?

  • Proximity
  • Location
  • Uniform
• What are the explanations for conformity?

  • Informational social influence
  • Normative social influence
• What are the types of conformity?

  • Internalisation
  • Identification
  • Compliance