Independent Behaviour

'Independent behaviour' means resisting the pressure to conform (to a group who are not actually telling you what to do) or obey (to an authority figure who is actually giving you an order).

You should be able to explain how factors in a situation can make it easier to behave independently. This means going back over the Asch and Milgram experiments and learning the variation which led to lower levels of conformity and obedience, e.g. the presence of social support in the form of an 'ally' (a confederate who does what you want to do).

Today we looked at individual differences - personality factors which affect how likely a person is to behave independently.

Here is an online questionnaire for the F-scale - an authoritarian personality means a person is more likely to obey, so an opposite type of upbringing and personality will lead to more independent behaviour.

Even more useful for you to know is how Locus of Control affects independent behaviour. Research shows that individuals with a more internal locus of control (who see themselves as being in control of their own behaviour) are more likely to act independently and resist social influence.

Here is the presentation for situational factors.

Here is the presentation for individual differences.