Resistance to social influence

• What are the 2 explanations of resistance to social influence

  Social support, locus of control
• how can social support be seen in resisting conform its

  pressure to conform is reduced if other people are not conforming. aschs research showed that the dissenter doesnt have to give the right answer. simply someone else not following the majority frees others to follow their own conscious. the dissenter acts as a model. the dissenter shows the majority is no longer unanimous
• how can social support be seen in resisting obedience

  pressure to obey can be reduced if another person is seen to obey.

  milgrams research - obedient behaviour greatly decreased int. disobedient peer condition from 65% - 10%. the participants may not follow the disobedient peer but the dissenters disobedience frees the participant to act form their own conscious. a disobedient model challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure.
• One strength of social support is evidence for the role of support in resisting conformity


  In a programme to help pregnant adolescents to resist pressure to smoke, social support was given by an older ‘buddy’ (albrecht 2006). These adolescents were less likely to smoke at the end of the programme than a control group who did not have a buddy. This shows social support can help young people resist social influence in real world situations
• another strength of social support it evidence for the role of support for dissenting peers

  Gamsons (1982) groups asked to give evidence for an oil company to use in a smear campaign. 29 out of the 33 groups (88%) rebelled against orders, much higher than in milgrams studies. this shows how supporters can undermine legitimacy of authority and reduce obedience
• what is locus of control

  rotter (1966) described internal vs external locus of control

  internals believe things that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves e.g. doing well or badly on a test depends how hard you work.

  externals believe things happen outside their control. if they fail an exam they say it was because they had a bad teacher
• there is a continuum for LOC

  locus of control is not just being internal or external - there is a scale from one to the other and people differ in their position on it. high internals are at one end and high externals at the other.
• internals show greater resistance to social influence

  people with internal locus of control are ore likely to resist pressures to conform or obey

  1. if someone takes personal responsibility for their actions they are more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs
  2. people with high internal locus of control are more confident, more achievement oriéntate and have higher intelligence - traits that lead to greater resistance and traits or those who have less need for social approval
• one strength is evidence to support the role of LOC in resisting obedience 


  holland (1967) repeated the milgram study and measured whether participants were internals or externals. 37% of internals didnt continue to the highest shock level (greater resistance). only 23% of externals did not continue. therefore resistance is partly related to LOC, increasing the validity of this explanation of disobedience.
• one limitation is that not all research supports the role of LOC in resistance

  twenge (2004) analysed data from american locus of control studies over 40 years (1960-2002), showing that people have become more independent but also more external. this is surprising - if resistant was linked to internal LOC we would expect people to have become more internal. therefore LOC may not be a valid explanation of resistant to social influence