Explanations of resistance
Cards (6)
- Explanation: Locus of control
- Dispositional explanation for resistance
- Personality characteristic identified by Rotter
- Refers to the sense of control people have over the things that happen in their lives
- Measured along a dimension from internal to external using a questionnaire
- External locus of control:
- behaviour is controlled by other forces, such as luck or fate
- everything is caused by external influences
- less likely to resist social influence
- Internal locus of control:
- your actions are your own choice, you are responsible
- you have a large amount of control over your life
- more likely to resist social influence
- tend to be the risk takers in society but take responsibility for their actions
- have greater self-confidence so do not seek external approval and are therefore more likely to behave independently
- Strength of explanations: supporting research
- Avtgis conducted a meta-analysis and found a positive correlation between internal locus of control and resisting conforming behaviour. (supports LOC)
- Asch found conformity dropped from 33% to 5% in the 'rebel' condition when 1 confederate gave the correct answer on all trials
- Milgram found obedience levels dropped to 10% when 2 confederate teachers 'rebelled' and refused to continue.
Increases the validity of explanations as all studies used controlled conditions, could establish cause and effect = empirical evidence. - Limitation of LOC: contradictory research. Twenge analysed data from US obedience studies over a 40 year period. Resistance increased, internal LOC decreased. This challenges the existing positive correlation between internal LOC and resistance. This means that the LOC as an explanation may not be relevant in the world today and therefore it lacks temporal validity.
- Explanation: social support
- It is easier to resist social influence if other people are too
- With social support, people do not feel totally isolated and are therefore more confident in their resistance