Resistance to social influence

social support and resisting conformity

Asch found that tge social support offered by an ally led to a reduction in conformity from 33% to just 5.5%. The most important aspect of social support is that it breaks the unanimous position of the majority

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What does the presence of an ally do?

It makes the individual feel more confident in their decision and better able to stand up to the majority.

Social support and resisting obedience

The pressure to obey can be resisted if an individual finds an ally who is willing to join them in opposing the authority figure

Locus of control

An individuals perception of personal controll over their own behaviours.

Internal locus of control

The beleife that you control the events in your life. More likely to display independence, rely less on others, and better able to resist social influence

external locus of control

The belief that what happens is determined by external factors such as luck. They take less responsibility for their actions and are more likely to accept the influence of others.

Characteristics for resisting social influence

- Self confidence

- Higher intelligence

- Less need for social approval

Resistance to social influence AO3

😁Research support for locus of control- Holland repeated Milgrams study and measured whether participants were internal or externals. He then found that 37% of internals didn't go to the full shock in milgrams study while 23% of externala didn't. Internals therfore showed greater resistance to authority. This increases the validity of the explanation.

☹️A meta-analysis by Twenge et al found that young Americans increasingly believed that their fate was determined more by luck than their own actions. In the studies used, researchers found that locus of control scores had become substantially more external in student and child samples

😁 Research support for resistance to conformity- Allen and Levine looked at if invalid social support would still be effective in helping to resist conformity. In one condition the confederates providing support wore glasses with very thick lenses. Therfore he provided invalid social support. In the second condition, the supporter haaad normal vision. Both conditions reduced the amount of conformity, but the valid social supporter had much more impact, showing that an ally offering valid social support is helpful in resisting conformity.

😁Research support- resistance to obedience. Gamon et al found higher levels of resistance to obedience in their study than Milgram. The participants were in groups and had to provide evidence that would be used to help an will company. Gamson et al found that 29 out of 33 groups of participants rebelled. The study gives very strong support and evidence that peer support is linked to greater resistance