Explanations of Resistance to Social Influence

• define social support

  - seeing others resist social influence reduces pressure to obey or conform,increasing individuals confidence

  - breaks the unanimity of the group and challenges LOA of authority figure
• define locus of control: Rotter

  - high internal LOC: feels that their own actions control their lives, take responsibility and these dictate the events in their lives; less concerned with social approval

  - high external LIC: feels their lives are controlled by external forces (others, fate, government) and avoid taking responsibility for their actions

  - high INTERNAL LOC likely to resist pressure to conform/obey
• A03, resistance to social influence

  - Holland (Milgram replication): ppts assessed for LOC - 37% ILOC refused to highest shock level, 23& ELOC

  - Asch: unanimity variation showed social support as conformity dropped significantly from 32% to 5.5%