Resistance to social influence

Social Support for Non-Conformity and Non-Obedience

Having an ally or dissenter to resist pressure to conform or obey, reducing fear of ridicule and normative social influence.

Locus of Control

Refers to individuals' belief in controlling events in their lives, with high internal locus attributing events to own behavior and high external locus attributing events to powerful others, fate, or chance.

Resistance to Social Influence and Internal Locus of Control

Individuals with high internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence, being confident, less reliant on approval, and taking responsibility for their actions.

Milgram's Obedience Study

Obedience dropped to 10% with disobedient confederates and rose to 92.5% with obedient confederates, showcasing the impact of social support on resistance.

Asch's Conformity Study

Conformity dropped to 5.5% when a confederate dissented from the majority, highlighting the role of dissent in resisting conformity.

Evaluation of social support

• Research support- resistance to conformity- Allen and Levine (1971) found independence increased with one dissenter so resistance is not motivated by following what someone says but it enables someone to be free of the pressure

• Research support- resistance to obedience- Gamson et al (1982) found higher levels of resistance in their study with 29 out of 33 groups (88%) rebelling

Locus of Control

Refers to the sense we have about what directs events in our lives. Locus of control was proposed by Rotter

Rescuers during the Holocaust(Oliner&Oliner)

Individuals with high internal locus of control and social responsibility were more likely to resist social influence, showing more independent behavior and higher levels of social responsibility.

Evaluation of Locus of Control

• Research support- resistance to obedience- Holland (1967) repeated Milgram’s study and measure if people had internal or external locus of control

  • 23% of externals didn’t continue to the highest shock level

  • 37% of internals didn’t continue to the highest shock level

• Contradictory Research- Twenge et al (2004)analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40 year period. It showed people have become more resistant but more external in their locus of control

  • this challenges the link between internal locus of control and resistance but it may be due to a changing society where many things are increasingly outside personal control

• Limited role of locus of control- Rotter et al (1982) found LOC is only important in new situations and has little influence in familiar situations where previous experiences are more important

  • LOC is not as important a factor in resistance