Resistance to social influience

• Social support

  In Asch's "Unanimity variation", the presence of a dissenter lead to a decrease in conformity levels. This is thought to because the presence of a dissenter gave participants the social support needed to feel confident in their own decision and rejecting the majority.
• Locus of control is how much control a person has over their own behaviour. A person with internal locus of control believes that they have control over their own behaviours and therefore feel responsible for their own actions. In contrast, a person with external locus of control believes that their behaviour is largely due to external influences like luck.
• Strength) Supporting research in Asch's variations showed that when a dissenter gave the correct answer, conformity dropped significantly. Similarly in Milgram's study, the presence of a disobeying peer caused obedience to fall from 65% to 10%.

  
  

  Limitation) Most supporting research was conducted in controlled lab environments which lack ecological validity. This means participants may behave differently in real life situations. This is important because it means the support coming from these studies is limited in it's application.

  
  

  Strength) Research shows that people with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist pressure to conform or obey. Holland found that internals were less likely to obey in a replication of Milgram's study.