social support

• defined as the presence of other people who resist pressures to conform or obey
• pressure to conform can be reduced if there are others not conforming. asch's variations showed this when someone else was introduced who rejected the group, gave support to an individual, conformity rates plummeted. the social support provided individual with another person's assessment of reality that made them feel more confident in their own decision and more confident in rejecting majority.
• Allen et al showed social support does reduce conformity rates. Even if the confederate had poor vision, shown by thick glasses, and so was clearly not helpful in judging line lengths, the pt conformed less than normal. this suggests role of an ally is important in resisting conformity, idea is valid.
• exposing people to actions of disobedient models encourages people to disobey. In Milgram's variation when the teacher was joined by a disobedient confederate, obedience dropped from 65% to 10%. This shows the pt that disobedience is possible as well as demonstrating how to do it. A real pt said 'i didn't realise i could refuse to obey'
• research support - mullen et al found when disobedient models bokre the law jay walking, pts were more likely to also jay walk themselves than if model was not present. therefore suggests social support is important in resisting obedience.