Essay
Explanations of resistance to social influence Essay
- Module
- Social Influence
- Institution
- AQA
2 AO1 paragraphs and 4 AO3 paragraphs
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Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus ofcontrol.
Resistance to social influence refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure
to conform to the majority or to obey authority.
Social support can help people to resist conformity. The pressure to conform can be reduced
if there are other people present who are not conforming. As we saw in Asch's research the
person not conforming doesn't have to be giving the 'right' answer but simply the fact that
someone else is not following the majority appears to enable a person to be free to follow
their own conscience. This other person acts as a "model'. 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. In one of Milgram's variations, the rate of obedience dropped from
65% to 10% when the genuine participant was joined by a disobedient confederate. The
participant may not follow the disobedient person's behaviour but the point is the other
person's disobedience acts as a 'model' for the participant to copy that frees him to act from
his own conscience.
Julian Rotter (1966) first proposed the concept of locus of control. It is a concept concerned
with internal control versus external control. Some people (internals) believe that the things
that happen to them are largely controlled by themselves. Other people (externals) have a
tendency to believe that things happen without their own control. There is a continuum with
high internal LOC at one end and high external LOC at the other end of the continuum, with
low internal and low external lying in between. People who have an internal LOC are more
likely to be able to resist pressures to conform or obey. A person who takes personal
responsibility for their actions and experiences (good or bad) is more likely to base their
decisions on their own beliefs and thus resist pressures from others. Another explanation for
the link with greater resistance is that people with a high internal LOC tend to be more self-
confident, achievement-oriented, have higher intelligence and less need for social approval.
These personality traits lead to greater resistance to social influence.
A strength of the explanation for resistance to conformity comes from supporting Research
evidence. Allen and Levine (1971) found that conformity decreased when there was one
dissenter in an Asch-type study. More importantly, this occurred even if the dissenter wore
thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision (so he was clearly in no position to
judge the length of the lines). This therefore supports the view that resistance is not just
motivated by following what someone else says but it enables someone to be free of the
pressure from the group.
Another strength is that there is research evidence that supports the role of dissenting peers
in resisting obedience. Gamson et al. (1982) found higher levels of resistance in their study
than Milgram. This was probably because the participants in Gamson's study were in groups
(they had to produce evidence that would be used to help an oil company run a smear
campaign). In Gamson's study, 29 out of 33 groups of participants (88%) rebelled. This
shows that peer support is linked to greater resistance.
Research evidence also supports the link between LOC and resistance to obedience.
Holland (1967) 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 (i.e. they showed some resistance) whereas only 23% of externals did not continue. In
other words, internals showed greater resistance to authority. Research support of this
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