1.1.11

Resistance to Social Influence

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Resistance to Social Influence

Not all individuals are likely to conform to social influence. Resistance to social influence involves both disobedience and non-conformity. Non-conformity has two forms: independence and anti-conformity.

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Key features of non-conformity

  • Independence refers to a lack of consistent movement either towards or away from social expectancy. We often describe this as ‘doing our own thing.’
  • Anti-conformity refers to a consistent movement away from social conformity, such as adopting the behaviour and norms of the minority.
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Social support

  • When other people in social situations defy attempts to make them conform and obey, it becomes easier for the individual to resist.
  • The presence of others who dissent creates strong sources of defiance.
  • A dissenter would be an example of social support because it would represent another person who then makes it easier for other people to also dissent.
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Research findings - Asch (1951)

  • In Asch's (1951) line judgement task, if the dissenter answered correctly from the start of the study, conformity levels dropped from 32% to 5.5%.
  • If the dissenter answered correctly later in the study, conformity levels dropped to 8.5%. This shows that social support received earlier is more effective than support received later.
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Research findings - Milgram

  • In Milgram's study, when two confederates who were paired with real participants left, saying that they wouldn’t continue, only 10% of participants gave the maximum 450-volt shock.
  • So the creation of disobedient group norms puts more pressure on participants to conform.
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Rotter's questionnaire

  • Rotter (1966) designed a 13-part questionnaire to measure internal and external locus of control.
  • Scores range from 0 to 13.
    • A low score indicates an internal control.
    • A high score indicates external control.
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Locus of control

  • Locus of control (LoC) is the extent to which people think they're in control of their own lives.
    • Internal LoC is the belief that things happen as a result of our choices and decisions.
    • External LoC is the belief that things happen because of luck, fate or other external forces beyond the control of the individual.
  • Individuals with an internal locus of control are less likely to conform than those with an external locus of control.

Locus of Control

A person's locus of control (LoC) is used to describe the extent to which they believe they are in control of their own life.

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Social group acceptance

  • Spector (1983) found that participants with high external LoC conformed more than those with low external LoC, but only in situations involving normative social pressure.
  • Neither group (high or low external LoC) conformed in situations of information social influence.
  • This shows that feeling like we don’t need to be accepted into a social group increases our ability to resist social influence.
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Cultural differences

  • Moghaddam (1998) found that Japanese people conform more easily than Americans and also have a more external LoC.
  • This shows that cultural differences in conformity can be explained by differences in LoC.
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LoC and obedience

  • Holland and Blass (1967, 1991) found that those with internal LoC were better at resisting obedience than those with an external LoC.
  • Those with higher internal LoC are more able to resist if they are forced or when they suspect manipulation.
  • These findings show that aspects of personal control in a situation play an important role in obedience.
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Responsibility

  • Schurz (1985) instructed participants to give what they believed was a painful, skin damaging burst of ultrasound to a learner.
  • Schurz found no relationship between LoC and obedience.
  • But of the participants who administered the highest dose, those with an internal LoC were more likely to take responsibility for their actions than participants with an external LoC.
  • This shows that feelings of personal control may be related to resistance to social influence.

Jump to other topics

1Social Influence

2Memory

3Attachment

4Psychopathology

5Approaches in Psychology

6Biopsychology

7Research Methods

8Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)

9Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)

10Option 1: Gender (A2 only)

11Option 1: Cognition & Development (A2 only)

12Option 2: Schizophrenia (A2 only)

13Option 2: Eating Behaviour (A2 only)

14Option 2: Stress (A2 only)

15Option 3: Aggression (A2 only)

16Option 3: Forensic Psychology (A2 only)

17Option 3: Addiction (A2 only)

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