Resisting Social Influence

What percentage of pps didn't conform in Asch's study?

25%

What percentage of pps in Milgram's study did not go to 450 volts?

35%

What is social support in conformity?

the presence of other who go against the majority opinion

How does social support reduce conformity?

- helps to reduce conformity as it reduces the pressure felt if you were the only one not conforming

- this is because it provides a new group for the individual to belong to, the non-conformist doesn't even have to be correct the fact someone isn't conforming is enough

- however if non-conforming starts to conform again, the other person is likely to follow suit

What is social support in obedience?

the presence of others that defy the authority figure

How does social support reduce obedience?

- reduces obedience as it reduces the pressure felt if you were the only one disobeying

- the person doesn't have to copy the behaviour of the dissenter, the fact that someone isn't obeying is enough

Which study demonstrates social support in obedience?

Milgram's variation where there were 2 disobedient confederates

What is locus of control?

Rotter (1966) stated that locus of control refers to what you believe controls the events of your life

What are the two types of locus of control?

internal and external

What is internal locus of control?

The belief that what happens to you is within your control

What is external locus of control?

The belief that what happens in our lives is caused by events outside of our control

Outcome of events dependent on factors such as luck and fate

Which locus of control is most likely to resist social influence?

Internal

How does Asch's variations show the effect of social support on resisting conformity?

- we can look to Asch's variations to see the effects of social support in resisting conformity

- in the variation where there's a disagreeing confederate, conformity dropped from 75% to 5%

- additionally when Allen and Levine (1971) recreated this variation and implied that the confederate has vision problems they found that conformity still decreased to 64%

- this shows that people conform not just because they follow what someone else says but because it enables them to be free from the group pressure

How does Milgram's variations act as evidence for resistance to obedience?

- furthermore, evidence for resistance to obedience comes from one of Milgram's variations

- in this variation the real participant was paired with two additional confederates who also played the role of teachers, who refused to go one and withdrew from the experiment early

- in this variation, percentage of real participants who proceeded to the full 450 volts, dropped from 65% to 10%

- this shows that if the real participant has support for their desire to obey, then they are more likely to resist the pressure of an authority figure

How did Holland (1967) show that those with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist pressure to obey than those with an external locus of control?

- Holland was able to support the suggestion that those with an internal LOC are more likely to resist pressure to obey than those with an external LOC

- he replicated Milgram's original research and measured whether pps were internal pr external

- he found that 37% of the internals didn't continue to the highest shock level whereas only 23% of externals didn't continue

- this increases the validity of the LOC explanation and helps to show how the LOC explains resistance

How did Rotter (1982) suggest that the LOC explanation can sometimes be overestimated?

- one issue with the LOC explanation is that the influence it has in causing obedience is somewhat overestimated

- Rotter (1982) suggest that LOC only works in novel situations and has very little influence over our behaviour in familiar situations where other previous experiences will always be more important

- therefore LOC can only be used to explain obedient behaviour in a limited range of situations

- this suggests that LOC is not as an important factor that has been suggested, therefore questioning the external validity of this explanation of resistance to social influence.

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