Social Support

• Asch found that the presence of social support helps resist conformity pressure form the majority. The addition of an ally changing conformity rates from 33% to 5.5%.
• The addition of an ally breaks the unanimity of the majority, a factor which affected Asch’s study.
• Research has shown that individuals are more likely to disobey if they can find an ally who is willing to join.
• Disobedient peers act as role models.
• Milgram completed a variation where teams of 3 consisting of 2 confederates and 1 participants generated shocks to the learner. When the confederates stepped down one by one, only 10% continued to 450 volts.
• Allen and Levine

  • Found social support was more useful if the ally is valid.
  • In a visual discrimination test, an ally with thick glasses was less useful than one with normal vision.
  • While both conditions decreased conformity, the first decreased it less, suggesting validity Of the ally is important.
• Rosenstrasse protest

  • German women protested about 2000 Jewish men being held hostage (many were wives to them)
  • The women stood in front of the armed Gestapo agents and the Jews were set free.
  • The presence of all these disobedient allies is what gave the women confidence to risk their lives.