Psychology a level - PART 2 social influence

ao1 and ao3

define resistance to social influence

the ability to withstand social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority, influenced by both situational and dispositional factors

which situational factor increases resistance to social influence

social support

how does social support increase resistance to SI

having an ally helps resist conformity, while seeing someone else disobey reduces obedience

which dispositional factor affects resistance to social influence

locus of control

what % of people obeyed in Milgram’s study when they saw someone else disobey

10%

what is locus of control

a personal idea of what directs events in our lives. internals believe things happen because they controlled the situation themselves, while externals believe things that happen are mostly due to luck and are out of their control

is low external at the end or middle of the locus of control continuum

middle

can internals or externals better resist social influence

internals

2 strengths of the social support explanation for resisting SI

real world application e.g. buddy mentoring systems in helping pregnant young girls stop smoking (Albrecht et al)

research support from Asch and Milgram

1 strength of the locus of control explanation of resisting SI

research support from Holland, who repeated Milgram’s study and measured whether p’s were internals or externals. 37% internals disobeyed while only 23% externals disobeyed

what 3 behaviours did moscovici propose for a minority to have influence

commitment, consistency, flexibility

what happens when more and more people internalise a minority viewpoint

snowball effect

strongest example to use for minority influence

suffragettes

what is the augmentation principle

pushing a point of view despite the risks it creates, strengthening the position of the minority

what is social crypto amnesia

when the majority forgets life before a change, happens after social change has occurred

what is deeper processing

the new, minority viewpoint creates internal conflict, so people have to consider it deeply. this may lead to conversion and internalisation

2 strengths of minority influence

research support for the role of deeper processing in minority influence

real world application

2 limitations of minority influence

rare and therefore difficult to investigate

lab studies have low ecological validity

define social change

when whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs, or ways of doing things

summarise the study that supports the role of deeper processing in minority influence

experimenter presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants’ agreement. one condition had a participant hear a minority agree with the viewpoint, while the other had them hear a majority agree. they were then exposed to a conflicting viewpoint, and their agreement was measured again. people were less willing to change their views if they had heard the minority