Resistance to Social Influence

define resistance to social influence

The ability of people to withstand social pressures to conform to the majority/obey authority. It is influenced by both situational (social support) and dispositional (LOC) factors.

define social support

The presence of people who resist pressures to conform/obey can help others to do the same by breaking the chain of conformity which frees others to act on their own beliefs rather than those of the majority as they see that resistance is possible.

define locus of control

The sense we have about what directs events in our lives

how does social support aid in resistance of conformity

Asch discovered that his dissenter did not necessarily have to give the right answer for the naive confederate to also not conform, the dissenter enables a person to be free & follow their own conscience. The dissenter acts as a model of independent behaviour, the majority is no longer unanimous.

how does social support aid in resistance of obeience

The pressure to obey can be reduced if there is another person who is seen to disobey. In one of Milgram’s variations, the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the naive participant was joined by a disobedience confederate. The participant may not follow the dissenters behaviour, but the other person’s disobedience acts as a model to act on their own conscience.

explain the strength of social support research support

there is a wealth of evidence that social support aids in resistance to conformity. In a Asch-like study conformity was reduced even when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with vision, this means that even though the dissenter was in no position to judge lines, his dissent gave social support to resist conformity

explain the strength for social support real-world research evidence that demonstrates the positive effects of social support

psychologists investigated Teen Fresh Start USA, an 8-week programme to help pregnant adolescents resist peer pressure to smoke. Social support was provided by an older mentor. At the end of the study those with a buddy were less likely to smoke than the control group who did not have one

internals feel they have….

control over the events in their life.

internals tend to have more…

confidence and need little approval from others

internals are …. likely to conform/obey

less

If a person takes personal responsibility or their actions and experiences (good or bad) then they are …

more likely to base their decisions on their own beliefs (rather than others) and so resist pressures from others

High internal LOC = …

more confident (which makes them more able to stand against the majority/authority figure so have greater resistance to social influence.

externals feel they have…

little or no control over their lives & often believe in ‘luck’ or ‘fate’

externals believe that what happens to them is determined by…

external factors and therefore these people are more likely to conform/obey

explain the strength of LOC research evidence to support the link between LOC & resistance to obedience

in a replication of Milgram’s study, participants were also tested if they had an internal or external LOC. 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whilst only 23% did not continue. Internals showed greater resistance to authority.

explain the weakness of LOC contradictory evidence to the link between LOC & resistance

a psychologist analysed data from 40 years of American LOC studies. The data showed that over this time span people became more resistant to obedience but more external. This challenges the LOC explanation as if resistance was linked to internal LOC people should have become more internal over time