Resistance to social influence

• Resistance to social influence : Resisting conformity


  - The presence of other dissenting PPs who do not conform reduces the pressure to conform

  - Their answer doesn't have to be right, just not following the majority is social support

  - However, Asch's research showed that if the dissenter conforms again, the PPs do the same suggesting the effect is not long lasting
• Resistance to social influence : Resisting obedience

  - The presence of another disobeying participant reduces the pressure to obey

  - In Milgram's experiment, obedience rates dropped from 65% to 10% in the presence of a disobedient confederate

  - Disobedience acts a model to free the PPs to act from their own conscience and challenge legitimacy of authority
• Resistance to social influence : Locus of control


  - A concept concerned with internal control vs external control

  - Internals believe that things that happen to them are controlled by themselves, such as doing well on an exam because you worked hard

  - Externals believe that things that happen to them are controlled by things out of control, such as failing an exam because of a badly written textbook

  - There is a continuum (scale that varies) with high internal LOC at one end and high external LOC at the other end
• Resistance to social influence : Internal LOC

  - Internals are more likely to be able to resist social influence pressures

  - This is because they take personal responsibility for their actions and can base decisions on their own beliefs

  - Internals are also more self confident, more achievement orientated, more intelligent and have less need for social approval
• Social Support AO3: Research Evidence

  • Research evidence supports the role of dissenting peers in resisting conformity
  • Asch's study found that conformity was reduced in the presence of one dissenting PP
  • This occurred even when they wore thick glasses and said they has problems judging vision, so they were bound to get the answers wrong
  • This shows that resistance is not motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to act from their own conscience and be free from the group
• Social Support AO3: Real World Research Support

  • Teen Fresh Start is an 8 week programme to help pregnant adolescents aged 14-19 to resist peer pressure to smoke
  • Social support was provided through a 'buddy'
  • Those who had a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke than the control group that didn't have a buddy
  • Social support can help young people resist social influence in real life
• Social Support AO3: Research support for dissenting peers

  • Participants had to produce evidence in groups used to help an oil company run a smear campaign and 88% rebelled
  • This may be due to the fact PPs were in groups so they could discuss what to do
  • This shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance and can lead to more disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure
• Locus of Control AO3: Research Support

  • Research evidence supports the link between LOC and resistance to obedience
  • In a repeat of Milgram's study, they measured whether PPs were internals or externals
  • They found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only 23% of externals did not continue
  • This means internals showed greater resistance to authority
  • This increases the validity of LOC explanation
• Locus of Control AO3: Contradictory Research

  • Challenges the link between LOC and resistance
  • Date analysed from American LOC studies over 40 years has shown that over time, people have become more resistance to obedience but also more external
  • If resistance were linked to internal LOC, we would expect people to have become more internal
  • This challenges the link between internal LOC and increasing resistance behaviour
• Locus of Control AO3: Limited Role of LOC

  • The role of LOC in resisting social influence may have been exaggerated
  • LOC only occurs in new situations, and has very little influence over behaviour in familiar situations where previous experiences are more important
  • This means that people who have conformed/obeyed in specific situations in the past are likely to do so again, regardless of high internal LOC
  • This suggests LOC can only explain a limited range of situations in resistance to social influence