Resistance to social influence

What is social support?

The presence of people who resist pressures to conform/obey can help others do the same

How does Asch show social support resistance to conformity?

• The confederate who is not conforming may not give the ‘correct’ answer

• Someone not following the majority is social support as it enables the naive participant to be free to follow their conscience

• The confederate acts as a model of independent behaviour and shows that the majority isn’t unanimous

How does Milgram show social support in resistance to obedience?

• In a variation, the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the participant was joined with a disobedient confederate.

• The participant may not necessarily follow the confederate’s behaviour, but just their presence enables them to act of their own conscience

What research support is there for social support?

• Albrecht et al. (2006) evaluated ‘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 programme, those with a mentor were significantly less likely to smoke than a control group with no mentor.

• Shows real-world positive effects of social support

What research support is there for resisting obedience?

• Gamson et al. (1982) told participants to produce evidence that would help an oil company’s smear campaign.

• Researchers found higher levels of resistance than Milgram’s study → this was due to participants being in small groups so they could discuss what they were going to do.

• 29/33, 88%, of participants rebelled against orders.

• Shows peer support can lead to disobedience by undermining legitimacy of authority.

How does social support not explain every situation?

• Allen & Levine (1971) showed that social support doesn’t always help individuals to resist group influence.

• In an Asch-like task, when the dissenter was someone with good eyesight, 64% of participants refused to conform, compared to only 3% with no dissenter.

• However, when the dissenter had poor eyesight resistance was only 36%.

• Shows social support only works if the participant views dissenter as capable.

What is Locus Of Control?

Rotter says it refers to how people else what directs events in their lives.

What are the two main types of LOC?

Internal and external

What is an internal LOC?

People believe the things that happen to them are mostly controlled by themselves

What is an external LOC?

People believe the things that happen to them are outside of their control

What is a feature of high internal LOC?

People are more able to resist pressures to conform/obey as they are most sure of their own beliefs, giving them more self-confidence, achievement-oriented and higher intelligence

What research support is there for a link between LOC and resistance to obedience?

• Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals/externals.

• 37% internals showed resistance, didn’t continue to fatal shock

• 23% externals showed resistance

• Internals showed the greatest resistance to authority

• Shows resistance could be linked to LOC → increases LOC as an explanation for disobedience

What evidence challenges a link between LOC and resistance to obedience?

• Twenge et al. (2004) analysed data from American LOC studies from 1960-2002.

• Data showed that, over this time span, people became more resistant to obedience, but also more external.

• Suggests there is no link between the two

• Suggests LOC is not a valid explanation for resisting social influence

Why may LOC not be an important factor for resisting social influence?

Rotter (1982) suggests that LOC’s role depends on the situation , and only significantly affects behaviour in new situations → if you have conformed/obeyed in a specific situation in the past, chances are you will do so again whether you are internal/external.