Resistance to social influence

• Resistance to social influence


  This refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority. The ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational (external factors) and disposition (internal factors).
• 2 explanations for resistance to social influence

  • Locus of control
  • Social support
• Locus of control

  • Rooter 1966
  • Refers to a persons perception of personal control over their own behaviour.
• Internal locus of control

  An individual who believes their life is determined by their own decisions and efforts
• External locus of control

  An individual who believes their life is determined by fate, luck and external factors
• Which type of locus of control are likely to resist social influence?

  Internal locus of control
• Internal locus of control characteristics

  • Strong internal locus of control is associated with the beliefs that we can control events in our life.
  • people with an internal locus of control believe that what happens to them is largely as a consequence of their own ability and effort.
  • They are more likely to display independence in thought and behaviour.
• How does internal locus of control relate to social influence?

  • People high in internality rely less on the opinions of others, which means they are better able to resist social influence.
• Characteristics of external locus of control

  • The beliefs that life is determined by external/environmental factors such as luck
  • They believe events in their life are out of their control
• How does external locus of control relate to social influence?

  • High externals are more likely to be influenced by others as they don’t believe they exercise personal control over their lives.
  • So they are more likely to conform and obey.
• Example-internal locus of control


  I failed my exam because I didnt work hard and revise. I know I can do better.
• Example- external locus of control


  I failed my exam because my teachers didn’t help me. This is just my luck. Why does everything happen to me? Maybe I’m unlucky.
• Research support- locus of control

  • For example, a study conducted by Holland, repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals. he found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only 23% of externals did not continue.
  • The evidence shows those who exercise internal locus of control were more likely to resist obedience and were able to take responsibility for their actions as they have based their decisions on their own beliefs.
  • Suggests internal locus of control is related to resistance of obedience.
• Contradictory research- Locus of control

  • For example, Twenge et al analysed data from American locus of control studies over a 40 year period. Data showed over this time span people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external.
  • This is a limitation because if resistance and locus of control were linked we would have expected people to have become more internal.
  • Consequently, this challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistance behaviour, which decreases the reliability of the explanation.
• Social support

  • Refers to the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey and encourage others to do the same.
  • These people act as models to show others that resistance to social influence is possible.
• Asch’s study on resisting conformity- Unanimity variation

  • Conformity levels dropped to 5.5%
  • Social support breaks the unanimous position of the majority.
  • The presence of the ally gives the individual confidence in their decision and able to stand up against majority.
• Obedience- Disobedient peers

  • Social support can help resist obedience
  • Disobedient peers act as an ally and role model who can join the individual in opposing an authority figure.
  • E.g one of Milgram’s variations, participant was in a team of 3 testing learner. The other 2 confederates who refused to continue giving electric shocks. Their defiance led to a decrease in obedience from 65% to 10%
• Research support for resisting obedience

  • Gamson et al, would participants would rebel in a situation against an unjust authority. Participants were put into group and were asked to conduct research for an oil company taking legal actions against the manager of a petrol station. Manager was sacked for speaking against high oil prices. The discussion was recorded and stopped midway to be ordered to argue in favour of the firing. 29 out of 33 rebelled against showing the discussion in court.
  • Participants would not have disobeyed if they were on their own or if nobody shared the same opinion
• Research support for resisting conformity- Dissenting peers

  • Allen and Levine found that conformity decreases when there was one dissenter in Asch-type study. When the dissenter was someone with good eyesight, 64% of genuine Participants refused to conform. When there was no supporter only 3% resisted.
  • From the study above it can be seen that the dissenting participant is acting as a model which provides the participant the ability to voice their actual opinion which has not been affected by others.
  • This suggests social support does help resist conformity.