Obedience: Explanations of Resistance to Social Influence: Locus of Control and Social Support

1. it was found that in his line judgement task that when one of a group of confederates became a dissenter and gave a different answer to the other confederates, the conformity rate dropped from 37% to 25% 2. this was true even when the dissenter gave a different incorrect answer to the majority - still provided an escape from conforming 3. this is positive because it supports the view that social support helps people to resist social influence

Evaluation Point 1: Evidence to support the social support explanation comes from Asch...

1. researchers replicated Milgrams original obedience research as measured whether participants were internals/externals 2. found that 37% of internals did not continue to the highest shock level, whereas only 23% of externals did not continue = internals showed a greater resistance to authority 3. positive as it supports the idea that having a high internal locus of control does increase a persons chances of resisting social influence

Evaluation Point 1: There is evidence to support the LOC explanation from replications of Milgrams original research...

1. it was found that not only did the conformity rate decrease when dissenters were present, but this occurred even when the dissenter wore thick glasses and said he had difficulty with his vision 2. this 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

Evaluation Point 2: Furthermore, researchers conducted another Asch-type study to support this explanation...

1. twenge et al analysed the findings from obedience studies over a 40 year period (1960-2002) and found that people have become more resistant but more external 2. this is a problem for the LOC explanation as if resistance were linked to an internal LOC, we would have expected people to have become more internal

Evaluation Point 2: However, there is evidence against the LOC explanation comes from twenge et al

1. he found out that when participants were ordered to give electric shocks with disobedient allies present, the obedience rate dropped from 65% to 10% 2. it was concluded that these allies freed up the participants to also disobey 3. positive as it supports the view that we are more likely to obey if we have social support

Evaluation Point 3: Further support for the explanation comes from Milgram...

1. finding that individuals with an internal locus of control were less easily persuadable and less likely to conform 2. supporting the idea of differences in LOC linked to differences in the abilty to resist social influence

Evaluation Point 3: avtgis performed a meta anaylis involving loc and resisting conformity.

1. pressure to conform it at its most powerful when a group is unanimous (every member of the group acts the same way) and pressure to obey is most powerful when everyone obeys the authority figure 2. however, if at least one person in the group resists the pressure to conform/obey (dissenter) it can help others to do the same 3. these people act as models to show others that resistance is possible by demonstrating how to resist and the consequences of resisting 4. for example, if someone disobeys an authority figure but avoids punishment, this may reduce the fear if disobeying in others 5. social support by allies frees others up to act according to their own conscience

Outline the Social Support explanation

1. LOC refers to a persons perception of personal control over their own behaviour and it is usually measured using a self-report questionnaire, where participants are scored along a continuum from 'high internal' to 'high external' - High internals = view themselves as being in control of their own behaviour so are more likely to take personal responsibility. More likely to be active seekers of information, more self-confident and less in need of social approval - High externals = view their behaviour as being controlled more by external influences (eg-other people/luck) 2. therefore argued that people with a high internal LOC are more likely to resist social influence as they feel they have more personal control over their own behaviour

Outline the locus of control explanation