1.3 Explanation of Resistance to Social Influence: AQA Psychology A level Revision

Resisting conformity and obedience

Resisting the pressure to conform can be easier if there are others also resisting the pressure to conform When someone else is also not conforming, this will appear to be social support and allows the person to follow their own conscience.

The same can be seen with resistance to obey. If another person is seen to disobey, it allows the person to also disobeys it challenges the legitimacy of the authority

Albrecht et al (2006)

Albrecht et al(2006) evaluated a program designed to help pregnant teenagers resist smoking. Social support was provided to some of the teenagers by an older mentor. At the end of the 8 week program, they found the participants who had a mentor were less likely to smoke than the control group who did not have a mentor.

This shows that social support can helps young people resist social influence in the real world.

External Locus of Control

When a person feels they do not have control over their own lives and believe their life is controlled by external factors.

Internal Locus of Control

When a person feels they have control over their own life and behaviour.

Holland (1967) contribution

Holland (1967) repeated Milgram's baseline experiment and found that 37% of those participants who were measured to have a high internal locus of control did not continue to the highest shock. In contrast, only 24% of participants who were measured to have a high external locus of control did not continue to the highest shock level.

This shows that those with a high internal locus of control are more resistant to authority.