Discuss the role of social support and locus of control in resisting social influence

Social support is when a person feels that they have assistence available from other people and that they are part of a supportive network.
Asch found that social support enables an individual to resist conformity pressure from the majority.
He introduced an ally, and found that social support reduced levels of conformity from 33% to 5.5%.
This occurs due to a break in the unanimity of the majority which raises the possibility that there are others legitimate answers. Makes the individual more confident in their own answer.

Social support also has an affect on obedience.
This is often because it is difficult to stand against authority because obedient behaviour by others makes even a harmful action seem acceptable.
Therefore the defience of peers is an opportunity to stop causing harm.
Milgram did a variation, where he had three people, two who were confederates, conduct the electric shocks together. When both of the confederates refused to continue, only 10% went to maximum shock level.

However, when it comes to social support, there is importance in the order.
Allen and Levine found that when resisting the majoirty, if a confederate gave an answer first, before…

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