resistance to social influence

• Social support


  If there are others who don't conform, it removes the pressure for the person to conform and allows them to follow their own conscience
• Resisting obedience


  Pressure to obey removed if someone else disobeys too
• Disobedient model


  Challenges the legitimacy of authority figure, making it easier for others to disobey
• Locus of control continuum (Rotter)

  Internal LOC - Believe things that happen to you are controlled by yourself

  External LOC - Believe everything that happens to them is outside of their control
• People with high internal LOC


  • More able to resist pressures to conform or obey

  Have more self confidence

  Tend to base their decisions on their own beliefs rather than depending on the opinions of others

  Their traits lead to greater resistance to social influence
• Real world research


  • Albrecht study on teens who were pregnant and their ability to resist peer pressure into smoking - those with an older buddy were much less likely to resist smoking than the control group who didn't have a buddy
• Research support for dissenting peers

  • Gamson study - 29/33 groups disobeyed when told to help an oil company, peer support can lead to disobedience
• Locus of control and resistance


  Holland repeated Milgram's study and found that 37% of internals didn't continue to highest shock level, but only 23% of externals didn't continue
• Rotter said that the role of LOC depends on the situation, i.e. there could be severe consequences if you don't obey
• Twenge analysed data and found that over time people became more resistant to obedience but also their LOC became more external, which is contradictory and shows LOC is not a valid explanation for why people resist social influence