1.3 Summary - Resistance to Social Influence; Minority Influence; Social Change

Resistance to Social Influence:

Social Support:

Conformity: Reduced by presence of allies from the group

Obedience: Decreases in presence of disobedient peer who acts as a model to follow

Evaluation:

Research Support: Conformity decreases when one person dissents even if they are not credible (Allen and Levine)

Research Support: Obedience drops when disobedient role models are present ( Gamson et al.)

Locus of Control:

Locus of Control: LOC is sense of what directs events in our lives (Rotter)

Continuum: High internal at one end and high external at the other

Resistance to Social Change: People with high internal LOC are more able to resist pressures to conform or obey

Evaluation:

Research Support: Internals less likely to fully obey in Milgram-type procedure ( Holland)

Contradictory Research: People have become more external and more disobedient recently ( Twenge et al. ); Hard for LOC to explain

Evaluation Extra: Limited role of locus…