SOCIAL SUPPORT
– Social Support is the perception that an individual has assistance available from other people, and that they are part of a supportive network
CONFORMITY
– Social support can help people resist conformity as the pressure to conform can be reduced if there are other people present who are not conforming.
– Asch found that the presence of social support enables an individual to resistive conformity pressure from the majority
– He introduced an ally who also gave the right answer
– This caused conformity levels to drop
OBEDIENCE
– Social support can also help people to resist obedience.
– The pressure to obey can be reduced if there is another person who is seen to disobey.
– The other person’s disobedience acts as a ‘model’ for the participant to copy that frees him to act from his own conscience.
– In one of Milgram’s variations the rate of obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when being joined with a disobedient confederate
– The other person acts like a ‘model’ for the participant to copy that frees them from their own conscience
EVALUATION OF SOCIAL SUPPORT
STRENGTHS
Research Support – Resistance to conformity
– Allen and Levine found that conformity decreased when there was one dissenter in an Asvh type study
– This occurs even if the dissenter wore thick glasses
– This supports the view that resistance is motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free of the pressure from the group
Research Support – Resistance to Obedience
– Gamson et al found higher levels of resistance in their study than Milgram
– This was because the participants in Gamson’s study were in groups
– 29 out of the 33 groups of participants rebelled
– This shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance
LOCUS OF CONTROL
– Proposed by Julian Rotter in 1966.
– Locus of control refers to a person’s perception of personal control over their own behaviour
– Measure between a high internal and high external though most of us would be in between
Internal Locus of Control
– Individuals who tend to believe that they are responsible for their behaviour and experience rather than external forces. Eg. Their own ability or effort
– More likely to be independent in thought and behaviour
– They rely less on the opinions of others so they can resist social influence
External Locus of Control
– Individuals who tend to believe that their behaviour and experience is caused by events outside of their control. Eg. Others or luck
– Tend to approach events with a more passive and fatalistic attitude than internals
– They take less responsibility for their actions and are more likely to be influenced by social influence
RESISTANCE TO SOCIAL INFLUENCE
– People who have an internal LOC are more likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey as they take more responsibility for their actions and experiences.
– They also tend to be more self-confident, more achievement oriented, have high-intelligence and have less need for social approval.
EVALUATION OF LOC
STRENGTH
Research Support
– In 1967 Holland repeated Milgram’s baseline study and measured whether participants were internals or externals.
– He found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level whereas, only 23% of externals did not continue.
– Therefore, internals showed greater resistance to authority.
– This increases the validity of the LOC explanation.
LIMITATION
Contradictory Research
– In 2004 Twenge analysed data from American obedience studies over a 40-year period and it showed that, over this time span, people have become more resistant to obedience but also more external.
– We would have expected people to become more internal.
– This challenges the link between LOC and increasing resistant behaviour.
– However, it may be possible that the results are due to a changing society where many things are out of personal control.