Resisting Social Influence

• Resistance to social influence

  Resisting conformity/obedience

  More/less likely to resist
• Asch's study resistance stat

  25% resisted conformity
• Milgram's study resistance stat

  35% resisted obedience at some point during the study.
• Social support


  More likely to resist social influence when there are other people also resisting the same pressures. It enables us to be free to follow our own conscience. Initial resistors act as a model for independent behaviour
• Social support strength


  Research support for positive effects of social influence.

  Albrech et al. made an eight week programme designed to help pregnant 14-19 year olds or not smoke.

  Pps with a buddy less likely to smoke, shows SS can help people to resist social influence.

  Increases ecological validity of SS
• Locus of control


  Dispositional explanation for resistance to SI
• What is locus of control

  Rotter (1966)

  Level of control we perceive we have over our own lives with "internal" vs "external" control.
• Internal LOC


  People assume their actions and decisions affect their experiences
• External LOC


  People assume their lives are controlled by powerful others, luck, or fate
• Strength of locus of control

  holland repeated Milgram's baseline study and found that 37% of internals did not continue to highest shock level, whereas 23% of externals did no continue, showing that internal are more resistant to authority.

  
  

  Elms and Milgram investigated the disobedient participants in Milgram's study and identified the same two characteristics (Internal and External LOC)
• Weakness of locus of control

  - Evidence from Twenge et al (2004), over time people have become more resistant to obedience yet more external