Resisting Social Influence

• What is the explanation for resistance of conformity?

  The pressure to conform is resisted due to the presence of a dissenter
• How is pressure to conform resisted due to the presence of a dissenter?


  The fact someone else is not following the majority= social support.

  Enabling participants to follow their own conscience.
• What does the dissenter serve as?

  A model of independent behaviour.
• What does a dissenter do?

  Decreases unanimity as they disagree with the group.

  This decreases conformity rates.
• How is obedience resisted?

  Pressure to obey is resisted if another person is seen to disobey.
• How far did obedience rates drop when a genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate in Milgram's shock experiment?

  Obedience rate dropped from 65% to 10%.
• Even if disobedient behaviour may not be followed, it still acts as a 'model' of dissent to be copied - the participant copies this and is freed, allowing them to act from their own conscience.
• The disobedient model will challenge legitimacy of authority which makes it easier to disobey.
• Who theorised Locus of Control

  Rotter
• What are the main two concepts of LOC

  internal locus of control vs external locus of control
• Some have Internal Locus of Control...

  They believe that what happens to them/their behaviour is guided by their personal decisions and efforts - it's all within their own control.
• Some have External Locus of Control...

  They believe whatever happens to them/their behaviour is guided by external circumstances (i.e. fate or luck) - it's outside of their personal control.
• What is meant by Locus of Control being a continuum?

  LOC is a scale and there are varying positions on it.
• On the LOC continuum, high internal and external LOC are on either side of the scale, whilst low internal and external lie somewhere in between.
• AO3: What research support is there for the presence of a dissenter increasing resistance to conformity?

  Allen & Levine conducted an Asch type of experiment where social support is offered by a dissenter with poor eyesight or normal vision
• AO3: What did Allen & Levine find?

  • Those with social support (regardless of eyesight) resisted pressure to conform more than the control group (pts without social support)
  • those that didn't conform with dissenter of good eyesight: 64%
  • those that didn't conform with dissenter of poor eyesight: 36%
  • Only 3% of control group resisted
• AO3: What can we analyse from Allen and Levine's study

  • supports the view that social support enables a person to resist pressure to conform
  • explanation for resistance must be valid
• AO3: What is a criticism of Allen & Levine's research?

  • It doesn't reflect real-world scenarios (lacks mundane realism)
  • So, may not be generalisable
• AO3: What can be said about the influence of LOC on resisting social influence?

  • It's exaggerated
• AO3: What did Rotter say about LOC?

  • It only comes into play in 'novel situations' (new situations)
  • So, it must have very little influence over behaviour in familiar situations
• AO3: Why is LOC's role being exaggerated a limitation to its explanation?

  • people will typically behave in the same way they did before
• AO3: What does people behaving in the same way as they did before mean for the role of LOC

  • It mustn't affect behaviour as much as we think
• AO3: What research evidence is there to support the link between LOC and resistance to obedience?

  • Holland: repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether participants had internal or external LOC
• AO3: What did Holland find?

  • 37% of internals did not continue to highest shock - showing resistance to obedience
  • 23% of externals did not continue
• AO3: What did Blass's reanalysis of Holland's data show?

  • Confirms that internals show greater resistance to authority
  • This is parallel to the explanation, as it states internal loc more likely to withstand social influence
  • increases validity of LOC explanation
• AO3: However, what evidence is there challenging the link between LOC and resistance to obedience?

  • Jean Twenge et al: analysed data from American locus of control studies conducted over a 40 year period
• AO3: What did Twenge find?

  • Over time, people became more resistant to obedience but also more external
  • Contradicting the explanation that internal LOC is more resistant to SI
• AO3: Why are Twenge's findings surprising?

  • If resistance is linked to internal LOC, it would be expected that they become more internal over time.
• AO3: What do Twenge's findings mean for the LOC explanation

  • It's not a valid explanation for resistance to social influence.
• What is resistance to social influence

  The ability of individuals to oppose pressure to conform to the majority or obey an authority figure by maintaining personal autonomy and integrity in their thoughts, decisions and actions.
• Social support is associated with diffusion of responsibility, e.g. the more people who disobey, the less severe the consequences are likely to be
• What is Locus of Control?

  How much a person believes that they have control over events that happen in their lives