Resistance to social influence:
This is when someone doesn’t give into pressure to obey or conform. i.e. when someone resists
direct orders from a person with authority, withstands pressure to conform, withstands pressure to
obey.
Conformity = when people are influence by the majority.
Why do some people resist social influence?
Social support:
Milgram – found that if confederates refused to keep increasing the electricity then the participants
were more likely to disobey, (electricity + obedience), Ash – had to judge line lengths in front of
confederates because if one confederate sided with the participants they were more likely to disobey
the majority (lines + conformity), Zimbardo(prison).
This explanation says that when people have the support of others, they’re more likely to
resist which shows that this is a situational explanation to social influence. (social support is
when a person feels like they have the support when they resist and that other people will
go along with them)
Locus of control:
This refers to the amount of control a person thinks they have over the events in their life.
External locus of control – people who think that they don’t have control over the events in their life
Internal locus of control – people who have an internal locus of control believe that they have more
control over the things within their lives and they are more likely to act independently.
P’s with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence.
Evidence to support locus of control:
Rotter et al developed questionnaires to measure our locus of control:
The researcher Shute used Rotter’s questionnaire to study conformity in undergraduates. Shute
made the students fill out Rotters locus of control questionnaire to work out whether the students
had a high or low internal locus of control.
Then Shute placed these students in a room with other students to discuss their attitudes towards
drugs and alcohol. The researcher Shute examined how much these students could be influenced by
the other students.
Findings: those participants with a high internal locus of control conformed less then those students
with a low internal locus of control.
This suggests that Shute’s study shows that people with an internal locus of control conform
less in situations that produce normative social influence.
This is when someone doesn’t give into pressure to obey or conform. i.e. when someone resists
direct orders from a person with authority, withstands pressure to conform, withstands pressure to
obey.
Conformity = when people are influence by the majority.
Why do some people resist social influence?
Social support:
Milgram – found that if confederates refused to keep increasing the electricity then the participants
were more likely to disobey, (electricity + obedience), Ash – had to judge line lengths in front of
confederates because if one confederate sided with the participants they were more likely to disobey
the majority (lines + conformity), Zimbardo(prison).
This explanation says that when people have the support of others, they’re more likely to
resist which shows that this is a situational explanation to social influence. (social support is
when a person feels like they have the support when they resist and that other people will
go along with them)
Locus of control:
This refers to the amount of control a person thinks they have over the events in their life.
External locus of control – people who think that they don’t have control over the events in their life
Internal locus of control – people who have an internal locus of control believe that they have more
control over the things within their lives and they are more likely to act independently.
P’s with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist social influence.
Evidence to support locus of control:
Rotter et al developed questionnaires to measure our locus of control:
The researcher Shute used Rotter’s questionnaire to study conformity in undergraduates. Shute
made the students fill out Rotters locus of control questionnaire to work out whether the students
had a high or low internal locus of control.
Then Shute placed these students in a room with other students to discuss their attitudes towards
drugs and alcohol. The researcher Shute examined how much these students could be influenced by
the other students.
Findings: those participants with a high internal locus of control conformed less then those students
with a low internal locus of control.
This suggests that Shute’s study shows that people with an internal locus of control conform
less in situations that produce normative social influence.
