resistance to social influence

• locus of control


  a persons perceptions of personal control over their own behaviour - usually measured using self report questionnaires where they're scored along a continuum of high external and high external

  high internals perceive themselves as being in control of their behaviour - more likely to take responsibility - more self confident and less in need of social approval

  High externals - behaviour more controlled by external influences

  people with high LOC less likely to resist social influence - feel they have more personal control over their behaviour
• LOC EVALUATION - Avtgis

  performed a meta analysis of studies involving LoC and resisting conformity found individuals internal LoC less easily persuadable and less likely to conform - differences in LoC linked to differences in ability to resist social influence
• LOC EVALUATION - Holland


  replicated Milgram's research and measured whether participants were internals or externals too - 37% internals didn't continue to highest shock level (showed some resistance) only 23% of externals didn't continue - internals showed greater resistance to authority - having high internal LoC increases persons chance of resisting social influence
• LOC EVALUATION - Twenge 


  analysed findings from obedience studies over a 40 year period - found people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external - if resistance were linked to an internal LoC we would have expected people to have become more internal
• social support


  pressure to conform at its most powerful when a group is unanimous and acts in the same way - pressure is most powerful when everyone obeys authority figure - if at least one person resists pressure to conform (dissenter) can help others do the same - act as models to show others resistance to social influence is possible by demonstrating how to resist and demonstrating the consequences of resisting - social support by allies frees others up to act according to their own conscience
• SOCIAL SUPPORT EVALUATION - Asch


  found in line judgement task when one of a group of confederates became a dissenter and gave a different answer to other confederates conformity rate dropped from 37% to 25% - true even when dissenter gave a different incorrect answer to the majority as it provided an escape from conforming - social support helps people resist social influence
• SOCIAL SUPPORT EVALUATION - Milgram


  found when participants were ordered to give electric shocks with disobedient allies present rather than on their own obedience rate dropped from 65% to 10% - concluded allies freed up participants to also disobey - we are more likely to resist pressures to obey if we have social support