Resistance to social influence
Saturday, 20 September 2025 13:42
Social support
Conformity
- Pressure to conform can be reduced if we have social support
- Asch identified this due to the presence of a dissenter, who acts as a model
- The issue here is that if the dissenter starts to conform again, as will the ppt
Obedience
- Social support can help resist obedience
- Pressure to obey reduces when someone else disobeys, Milgram’s variations
- The person may not directly follow, but a disobedient individual acts as a model
Locus of control - Rotter (1966)
Internal LOC
- Things that happen are controlled by themselves
External LOC
- Things that happen are out of their control
These exist on a continuum and can range from either end of the spectrum.
LOC and resistance to social influence
- People who have an internal LOC are more likely to resist social influence
- People with an internal LOC tend to have higher levels of self-confidence, intelligence, achievement, directed motivation and
self-esteem
- These all lead to greater resistance to social influence
Evaluations
Research support
Conformity -
Allen and Levine (1971) - conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in a study similar to Asch
- This still occurred when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said that he has problems with his vision
- This supports being free from the pressure of the group
Obedience -
Gamson et al (1982) - found higher levels of resistance than Milgram
- This may be due to the fact that ppts in Gamson et al’s study were in groups
- 29/33 (88%) ppts rebelled
Research support for LOC
Holland (1967) - repeated Milgram’s study and measured if ppts were internal or external LOC
- 37% of internal didn’t continue to the highest shock
- 23% of external didn’t continue to the highest shock
- Internal LOC showed greater resistance to authority
Contradictory research
Twenge et al (2004) - analysed data from American LOC studies from over 40yrs
- Data showed that over time, people became more resistant to obedience but also more external
- It was expected people would become internal
- Questions the temporal validity as the data was from studies over 40yrs
Saturday, 20 September 2025 13:42
Social support
Conformity
- Pressure to conform can be reduced if we have social support
- Asch identified this due to the presence of a dissenter, who acts as a model
- The issue here is that if the dissenter starts to conform again, as will the ppt
Obedience
- Social support can help resist obedience
- Pressure to obey reduces when someone else disobeys, Milgram’s variations
- The person may not directly follow, but a disobedient individual acts as a model
Locus of control - Rotter (1966)
Internal LOC
- Things that happen are controlled by themselves
External LOC
- Things that happen are out of their control
These exist on a continuum and can range from either end of the spectrum.
LOC and resistance to social influence
- People who have an internal LOC are more likely to resist social influence
- People with an internal LOC tend to have higher levels of self-confidence, intelligence, achievement, directed motivation and
self-esteem
- These all lead to greater resistance to social influence
Evaluations
Research support
Conformity -
Allen and Levine (1971) - conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in a study similar to Asch
- This still occurred when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said that he has problems with his vision
- This supports being free from the pressure of the group
Obedience -
Gamson et al (1982) - found higher levels of resistance than Milgram
- This may be due to the fact that ppts in Gamson et al’s study were in groups
- 29/33 (88%) ppts rebelled
Research support for LOC
Holland (1967) - repeated Milgram’s study and measured if ppts were internal or external LOC
- 37% of internal didn’t continue to the highest shock
- 23% of external didn’t continue to the highest shock
- Internal LOC showed greater resistance to authority
Contradictory research
Twenge et al (2004) - analysed data from American LOC studies from over 40yrs
- Data showed that over time, people became more resistant to obedience but also more external
- It was expected people would become internal
- Questions the temporal validity as the data was from studies over 40yrs
