1. Conformity: Resistance to social influence AO1 Outline LoC as an explanation for why resistance to social influence happens AO2 Apply knowledge of LoC to novel scenarios AO3 Analyse results from Rotter’s LoC questionnaire Evaluate LoC as an explanation for resistance to social influence

2. Sometimes we obey because the situation we are in gives us certain thing to make us feel less guilty about our actions. Match the definition for each EXPLANATION of obedience

4. Briefly outline and evaluate the authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience to authority. (4 marks)

5. LevelMarksDescription 23 – 4 Outline of the authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience to authority is clear and has some detail. Some evaluation relevant to obedience is clear. The answer is generally coherent with effective use of terminology. 11 – 2 Outline of the authoritarian personality lacks clarity and / or detail and / or link to obedience. Evaluation is limited. The answer as a whole is not clearly expressed. Terminology is either absent or inappropriately used. Either outline or evaluation is done well. 0No relevant content. [AO1 = 2 and AO3 = 2] Outline – possible content: A collection of traits / dispositions developed from strict / rigid parenting Obedient / servile towards people of perceived higher status. Credit other traits relevant to obedience. Evaluation – possible content: Situational factors, e.g. proximity (Milgram), may have greater influence on obedience levels Difficult establishing cause / effect between authoritarianism / parenting style and obedience Explanation cannot easily account for obedience of entire social groups / societies Evaluation of F-scale where used to evaluate the explanation. Credit other relevant evaluation points.

6. Link the words together… Milgram’s experiment – 65% went all the way up to 450V. All pps went up to 300V, and 12.5% stopped at 300V. Link to the title – 12.5% were the ones that showed independent behaviour. So, Milgram’s study was one about obedience and independent behaviour.

7. P Link the words together… Asch’s lines study found that 36.8% of responses made by true pps were incorrect (i.e. pps intentionally gave wrong answer in order to conform with the majority’s wrong answer). This means that 63.2% of responses made by true pps were in fact correct. Asch’s study shows independent behaviour as well as conformity.

8. Y Link the words together… Eagley & Carli carried out a meta-analysis of 145 studies and found that women were generally more compliant than men (could be explained by differences in sex roles, women are more interpersonally oriented than men and thus predisposed to conform to others). This implies that men showed more independent behaviours that females; HOWEVER, it was noted that when the researchers were male, they were more likely to find differences than if the researchers were females – so perhaps researcher bias… the male researchers could have used experimental materials that were more familiar to them.

9. Under what conditions did independent behaviour increase in Asch’s study? The size of the majority. Asch found that there was very little conformity when the majority consisted of just one or two other individuals – so for independent behaviour, the smaller the majority, the more likely someone is to act independently. As the majority reaches 3, conformity levels increase to about 30%. Further increases to the size of the majority had no effect indicating, implying can only have so much of an effect.

10. Does the type of support you get matter if you’re thinking of showing resistance to social influence? In Asch’s original study, the confederates unanimously gave the same wrong answer. When the real pps was given the support of either another real pps or a confederate who had been instructed to give the right answer throughout, conformity dropped significantly, reducing errors from 32% to 5.5%. This suggests that if you have some support, then you will show independent behaviour. In a variation of Asch’s study, he introduced another ppt who gave social support to the individual – this resulted in conformity rates plummeting. The social support provided by a fellow dissenter provides the individual with an independent assessment of reality that makes them feel more confident in their own decision, and more confident in rejecting the majority position. What happens if the support is not particularly true or valid? Allen & Levine – 3 conditions. 1) The supporter had extremely poor vision (Bukky; evident by thick lenses) 2) The supporter had normal vision. 3) No support. Both conditions 1 and 2were sufficient to reduce the amount of conformity, compared to a condition where there was no support for the lone participant. The social supporter had much more impact, showing that an ally is helping in resisting conformity, but more so if they are perceived as offering valid social support.

11. Use your answers to the following questions to begin a mind map of the factors affecting independent behaviour, then add any others that you can think of: What factors made people less likely to conform in Asch’s variations on his original study? What factors made people less likely to obey in Milgram’s variations? Most of the information you need for this topic can be found by revisiting studies of conformity and obedience to discover why some of the participants resisted pressures to conform or obey.

12. How do people resist pressures to conform and obey? For each of the following factors, you should give an example from a relevant study which supports the influence of this factor in helping people to resist pressures to conform or obey: Explanations for resisting pressures to conform Giving answers in private Non conforming role model Size of group Explanations for resisting pressures to obey Disobedient role model Questioning the status and legitimacy of the person giving the order Increasing sense of responsibility Time to think and find social support

14. People resist pressure to conform for a variety of reasons: Desire for individuation Have an internal locus of control Support of colleague Prior commitment Dispositional factors Models of independence / non-conformity Exposure to dissent Students may offer one explanation in detail or more than one but in less detail. Merely identifying reasons without any explanation, maximum 2 marks.

15. Locus of control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea4xy8KIKBI

16. Locus of Control Create your own mini-questionnaire of no more than 5 questions to assess whether someone has an internal or external locus of control.

17. 2b 3a 4a 5a 6b 7b 9b 10a 11a 12a 13a 15a 16b 17b 18b 20b 21b 22a 23b 25b 26a 28a 29b External = low score Internal = high score Note there are 6 filler items (1, 8, 14, 19, 24, 27) and 23 scoring items. Score 1 point each number/letter combination

18. Application of locus of control to real life situations For each of these examples, identify whether the person is displaying an internal or external locus of control: 1.Amanda doesn’t bother applying to be her class representative because she feels she is not popular enough to win. 2.Saima checks her horoscope every day to see if she is going to have a good or a bad day. 3.Harry feels confident that he will get the job he applied for because he has good exam results and did well in the interview. Now use your knowledge to describe how someone with each type of locus of control would explain being involved in a car accident: Internal External

19. Three students, George, Petra and Dan, have just started in the sixth form. Dan is a confident person who thinks that his fate lies firmly in his hands. By the end of the first week, Dan has put himself forward to be nominated as the class representative. Petra has also put her name forward to be nominated. She believes it is just luck whether or not she will be selected and feels that there is not much she can do about it. George did not put his name forward because his father told him not to. (a) (i) What type of locus of control does Petra’s behaviour show? (ii) What type of locus of control does Dan’s behaviour show? (iii) George did not put his name forward as the class representative. Use your knowledge of social influence research to explain this. (4) (b) Which one of the three students is most likely to resist pressures to conform? Use your knowledge of psychology to explain your choice. (4) (Total 8 marks)

20. 4 marks - Effective explanation Accurate and reasonably detailed explanation that demonstrates sound knowledge and understanding of why Dan behaved in this way. 3 marks - Reasonable explanation Less detailed but generally accurate explanation that demonstrates knowledge and understanding of resistance to conformity. 2 marks - Basic Basic explanation that demonstrates some relevant knowledge and understanding of resistance to conformity but lacks detail and may be muddled. 1 mark - Very brief/flawed of inappropriate Very brief or flawed answer demonstrating very little knowledge. 0 marksNo creditworthy material. M1. (a) (i) Petra is showing external locus of control. (ii) Dan is showing an internal locus of control. (iii) George did not put his name forward as he was obeying his father, someone who he is likely to see as a legitimate authority figure. Candidates could indicate that it was obedience that caused George’s behaviour. They might also refer to the influence of an authority figure. (b) AO2 = 4 The student who is most likely to resist pressure to conform is Dan. He has an internal locus of control and research has suggested that those people who believe that they are in control of their environment are less likely to conform. These personality types are much more likely to behave independently. Dan’s attributional style allows him to resist the pressure to conform. Another reason could be gender. Males have been shown to be more independent than females.

21. ‘Explain what is meant by locus of control.’ (4 marks)

22. ‘Explain what is meant by locus of control.’ (4) Locus of control is how much a person believes that they have control over events that happen in their lives. This is usually measured along a scale with internal control at one end and external control at the other. Internal control refers to those people who see that they have a great deal of control over their own behaviour and will take responsibility for their own actions. External control refers to those who believe that their behaviour is controlled by other forces such as luck or fate.

23. Evaluation of the effect of locus of control on independent behaviour Oliner and Oliner (1988) interviewed two groups of non-Jewish people who had lived through the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. They compared 406 people who had protected and rescued Jews from the Nazis and 126 people who had not done this. Oliner and Oliner found that the group that rescued the Jews had scores demonstrating an internal locus of control. Blass (1991) carried out a meta-analysis of a number of variations of Milgram’s study and found that participants with an internal locus of control were more likely to act independently. However, he did note that it was difficult to make any clear conclusions because research evidence was mixed.

24. Discuss one or more explanations of why people resist the pressure to conform. (Total 8 marks)

25. AO1: There are many explanations why people resist pressure to conform. Having an internal locus of control Confident personality Prior commitment Social support of ally Reactance Credit alternative explanations where relevant, such as factors, culture, gender etc. AO3: The commentary may be a consideration of how well the explanation(s) explain resistance. Or it could be use of empirical evidence to support the explanation. Simply describing evidence would not gain AO3 credit. For example there are several studies that demonstrate the impact of reactance (e.g. Bushman et al; Hamilton et al). As the question requires students to discuss, credit can be given for wider discussion points, such as implications and consequences.

26. What characteristics do these individuals have that has made them bring about social change through independent behaviour?