explanantions of resistance to social influence

Resistance to social influence

Ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to majority or obey

Social support

Presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others do the same - they act as models, showing that disobedience is possible

Locus of control

Refers to the sense we have about what directs events in our lives

Internal locus of control

Believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them

External locus of control

Believe what happens to them is mostly a matter of luck / fate

How does locus of control explain resistance to social influence

High ILOC are more able to resist pressures to conform as they take personal responsibility for their behaviours and base their actions on their own beliefs

How does social support help resistance to conformity

• someone else not conforming acts as a model of indépendance and raises possibility of other ways of thinking

• Breaks the unanimity

How does social support help to resist obedience

• acts as a model of dissent - raises option of behaving according to own conscience

• Challenges the legitimacy of authors - undermining the agentic shift

Evaluation of resistance to social influence - meta analysis of studies

Over time - people have become more resistant to obedience, but more external - An increase in resistance to obedience would theoretically mean increase in internal locus of control, as they’d be more likely to make decisions based on what they believe in, so goes against this idea.

Evaluation of resistance to social influence - social support groups

p’s told to produce evidence to run a smear campaign, in groups to discuss. 29 out of 33 groups rebelled. P’s discussing in groups gave them opportunity to voice their opinions, and any dissenters could raise the possibility for the others that they could disobey orders

• Challenges legitimacy of authority