Resistance to social influence

What are two explanations for why people resist social influence?

Social support & locus of control

Why does social support affect social influence?

When others also resist conformity, the social pressure to conform is reduced, which in turn helps individuals maintain their independence

True or false: the additional support needs to provide the same answer as the individual for resistance to occur?

False

Who proposed the theory of locus of control?

Rotter

According to Rotter, what two categories of people are there in terms of locus of control?

Internals & externals

How can we test whether someone is an internal or external?

Questionnaire

Which type of LOC is associated with the ability to resist social influence?

Internals

What are the characteristics of an internal?

• They believe that things are largely controlled by themselves as opposed to externals who believe that things happen beyond their control (e.g. luck/fate)

• They also have a greater degree of self-confidence, are achievement-orientated, have higher intelligence & less need for social approval

In what way was social support demonstrated in Asch’s study?

Conformity decreased when there was one other dissenter in the group

Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks)

Write your AO1 paragraph

• Firstly, one explanation for resistance to social influence is social support. According to this explanation, the presence of a dissenting peer has the effect of helping people to resist conformity, as seeing others not conform reduces the pressure to go along with the group majority. The dissenting peer does not need to provide the same answer as the individual but simply their resistance from the rest of the group is enough to encourage resistance in others. This effects was seen in a variation of Asch’s original study - when unanimity was broken with the presence of a dissenter, conformity decreased by 1/4.

• Secondly, another explanation for resistance to social influence is locus of control (LOC), proposed by Rotter. This states that people with an internal LOC believe things are largely controlled by themselves, as opposed to externals who believe things happen beyond their control (e.g. luck/fate). Research suggests internals are more likely to resist social influence, as they take greater personal responsibility & accountability for their actions. The characteristics of an internal include: high self-confidence, achievement-oriented, higher intelligence & less need for social approval.

Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks)

Write your strength AO3 PEEL (Allen & LeVine)

• Point: One strength of social support as an explanation of resistance to social influence is there is empirical evidence to support the role of dissenting peers in resisting conformity.

• Evidence: For example, Allen & Levine replicated Asch’s study & found conformity rates decreased even when the dissenter wore thick glasses & claimed to have poor eyesight.

• Explain: This suggests that simply the mere presence of a dissenter enables people resist conformity as it reduces the pressure to maintain group harmony & maintains an individual’s independence, autonomy & confidence in their own judgement.

• Link: Therefore, this increases the validity of the theory of social support, as it shows a causal relationship between social support & resistance to social influence.

Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks)

Write your strength AO3 PEEL (Holland)

• Point: One strength of LOC as an explanation of resistance to social influence is there is empirical evidence to support its role in resisting obedience.

• Evidence: For example, Holland replicated Milgram’s study & found that 37% of internals did not continue to the maximum 450V, compared to only 23% of externals.

• Explain: This suggests the internals were likely in an autonomous state & took personal responsibility for their actions - they experienced a lot of moral strain, therefore made the decision not to continue. However, the externals were likely in an agentic state & used binding factors to reduce moral the strain, as well as feeling as though the situation they were in was fate.

• Link: Overall, this increases the validity of LOC as an explanation of resistance to social influence.

Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence (16 marks)

Write your limitation AO3 PEEL (Feldman & Scheibe)

• Point: One limitation of social support as an explanation of resistance to social influence is that some studies may suffer from extraneous variables & demand characteristics.

• Evidence: For example, in Feldman & Scheibe’s study, college students were asked to complete a very personal & embarrassing questionnaire in the presence of other students (confederates). In the control group, the confederates willingly the completed questionnaire, but in the experimental group, the confederates refused & asked to leave the experiment.

• Explain: Results found the naïve participants in the experimental group were less likely to complete the questionnaire, compared to the control group where no such disobedience occurred.

• Link: However, this limits our understanding of resistance to social influence, as the independent groups design increases the risk of participant variables - differences in traits, such as self-esteem/confidence & nAffiliators, may have affected the results rather than the independent variable.