Resisting social influence – social

support and locus of control

“I will not obey!”

“I will not conform!”

 Today we are going to describe how social support and locus
of control can lead to resisting conformity (AO1).

This is building on your existing knowledge of obedience and

conformity within psychological research

This is so that you can confidently explain the 2 reasons leading to

resisting conformity
 Specific Lesson Objectives:
• 1. To describe how social support and locus of
control can lead to resisting conformity (AO1).

• 2. To apply these 2 to real life scenarios (AO2).

• 3. To evaluate the 2 explanations (AO3).

 Resisting conformity
• Jane hates drinking games – drinking shots make her feel sick
and she can’t drink pints quickly like some of the boys can. She
is worried about the party she is going to tonight as everyone is
talking about playing these games. She really wants to go and
have a good time with her friends but does not want to be
pressured into conforming to these games. Which of the
following suggestions would work best for Jane and why?
– Refuse to go to the party
– Join in the games and pretend she is having fun
– Take a friend with her who also does not like drinking games so they
can just watch together
– Say no and tell others that the games are stupid
Social Support – a definition (AO1)
Social support is the perception and actuality
that one is cared for, has assistance available
from other people, and most popularly, that one
is part of a supportive social network. These
supportive resources can be emotional (e.g.,
nurturance), informational (e.g., advice), or
companionship (e.g., sense of belonging);
tangible (e.g., financial assistance) or intangible
(e.g., personal advice).
 Social support and resisting conformity
(AO1)
Use page 33 of the Hodder book and p30 of the illuminate book to answer the
following exam question:

In the context of resistance to social influence, explain what is meant by the

term ‘social support’ (4 marks)

You must refer to both conformity and obedience – do one at a time to create
two really good explanations.

Try to include as many of these key terms as possible: resist, models,

conformity, obedience, dissent, moral support, breaking agreement/unanimity,
disobedient.

When finished swap with partner and mark each other’s question.
 Apply it… (AO2)
To conformity:
Research: Look back at your graph of Asch’s variations – what happened when
one of the other confederates didn’t conform and broke the agreement of the
majority?

Real life: Give an example of how social support could help Bart to resist gang
pressure to graffiti a statue.

To obedience:
Research: Find out what happened when the ‘teacher’ in Milgram’s study had the
support of a disobedient confederate who refused to give the shocks.
Extension: Look at Rank and Jacobson’s replication of Hoffling’s obedience study
with nurses – what happened when the nurse has time to discuss the orders with
others?

Real life: Nelson is a school bully, every day he demands that Millhouse, Ralph
and Lisa give him their desserts at lunchtime.
Ensure thatGive
youan example
have of how
really good social
notes from this
support could help the students to resist obeying
activity Nelson.like to ask about this stuff!
– examiners
 Test it (AO1/AO3)
• Describe and evaluate social support as an explanation of
resisting social influence (8,12)
Structure:
• Outline - You already have an outline, you could add a real
life example to this to make it even more detailed.
• Evaluation – Point 1: Use research to support the
explanation – you could do this for both conformity and
obedience– combine this into one point
• A level/12 marks – Point 2 &3: you could criticise the
supporting research (artificial tasks, ethics), link this back to
how it affects the explanation.
 For year 2 -issues and debates grenade (bursts of brilliance)
Gender bias
Reductionism-
holism
Ethnocentrism/
cultural bias
Nature-nurture
Animal studies
Determinism Environmental determinism again (as with most explanations in this topic).
Useful as it helps us to show young people how to resist social pressures
by finding an ally who feels the same. This is empowering and can break
up destructive group behaviour.
Ethics and
socially sensitive
research
I was late because I
always leave things Locus of control I’m always late
to the last minute – because Bristol
I should really try buses are awful
to be more and my
punctual! housemate
always jumps in
the shower
when she
knows I’m in a
hurry!
Internal or external locus of control?
(AO1)
Wearing your lucky pants Blaming yourself when a Blaming your computer
on a Saturday night pet dies of old age for making you late with
homework
Accepting that you may Making a New Years Looking at an essay that
be a bald man by the Resolution has been marked and
age of 30 trying to work out what
you can do to improve
Avoiding things with the Joining a gym in the Blaming David Cameron
number 13 – hotel rooms hope that you will feel when the bank charges
etc more confident this you for exceeding your
summer overdraft this month
 AO2:
Internal locus of control External locus of control

Describe a person with

this personality type – give
an example too

Are they likely to resist

social influence or likely to
conform/obey?

Explain why
 Evaluating locus of control as an explanation
of resisting social influence (AO3).
1. Supporting research: Use the Hodder book to
choose one supporting study for resisting
conformity (p35) – turn this into an evaluative
point.
2. However, there is mixed support for a link
between LOC and resisting obedience – how
does this affect the explanation? (Elaborate
with a finding but only if you understand it)
3. A lot of research in this area uses
undergraduates – why might this be a
problem
For revision: forplanning
use an essay the explanation?
grid to answer
the question ‘discuss two explanations of resisting
social influence’ (12/16)
 AO2/AO3:
• Two psychology students were discussing the topic of social
influence.

‘I find it fascinating how some people are able to resist

social influence’, said Jack.
‘It must be the result of having a confident personality.’

‘I disagree’, replied Sarah. ‘I think resisting social influence

depends much more on the presence of others.’

Discuss two explanations of resistance to social influence.

As part of your discussion, refer to the views expressed by
Jack and Sarah in the conversation above. (12)
 For year 2 -issues and debates grenade (bursts of brilliance)
Gender bias
Reductionism-
holism
Ethnocentrism/ Questionnaires that measure LOC are based around western values of
cultural bias independence and autonomy. The scale is therefore ethnocentric and can
result in other cultures being seen as weaker if they do not get a high
score. Internal LOC is valued more highly in western research.
Nature-nurture
Animal studies
Determinism
Ethics and See above - the ethnocentrism has implications for how we view another
socially sensitive culture’s ability to resist illegitimate forces.
research