Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence. As part of your discussion, refer to the views expressed by Jack and Sarah in the conversation above. [16 marks]

Two psychology student were discussing the topic of
social influence. ‘I find it fascinating how some
people are able to resist social influence’, said Jack.
‘It must be the result of having a confident
personality’. ‘I disagree’, replied Sarah. ‘I think
resisting social influence depends much more on the
presence of others’.
Discuss two explanations of resistance
to social influence. As part of your
discussion, refer to the views
expressed by Jack and Sarah in the
conversation above. [16 marks]
The two explanations of resistance to social influence
are social support and locus of control. Jack suggests
the idea of a ‘confident personality’ which correlates
with the characteristics of an individual with an
internal locus of control – self-confident, achievement-
oriented, no necessary concern for social approval, and
a likelihood of becoming leaders rather than followers.
Therefore, people with an internal locus of control are
more individualistic and find it easier to resist social
influence; it could be inferred that the ‘confident
personality’ is more likely to display an internal locus of
control as well as more prone to resisting social
influence.

There is research supporting the idea that individuals
with an internal locus of control are more likely to
resist social influence. With the use of Rotter’s locus of
control scale, Spector (1983) wanted to investigate if