Social Support

• Conformity

  • The pressure to conform can be resisted if there are other people present who are not conforming.
  • It enables the naïve participant to be free to follow their own conscience.
  • Asch's 'unanimity variation' - the dissenter shows that the majority is no longer unanimous.
• Obedience

  • The pressure to obey can be resisted if there is another person who is seen to disobey.
  • The disobedient model challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure, making it easier for others to disobey.
  • Milgram's 'dissenting peer' variation - the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate.
• Real-world research support


  • R+
  • Susan Albrecht - Teen Fresh Start USA; 8 week programme to help pregnant adolescents to resist peer pressure to smoke
  • Social support provided by an older 'mentor/buddy'
  • Adolescents who had a 'buddy' were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group who didn't
  • ++ External validity
• Research support for dissenting peers

  • R+
  • Gamson et al - participants told to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear campaign
  • Higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram's
  • Participants were in groups so could discuss what they were told to do
  • 29 of 33 groups (88%) rebelled against their orders
  • Undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure
• Social support explanation

  • Vernon & Allen - when dissenter had 'good eyesight', 64% of participants refused to conform. When there was no supporter at all only 3% of participants resisted
  • However, the study also showed that social support does not always help - when the dissenter had obviously poor eyesight resistance was only 36%