Why is social support not considered a complete explanation for resisting social influence?

Why is social support not considered a complete explanation for resisting social influence?

• A. Because many people resist without any allies in real life.
• B. Because obedience is entirely dispositional.
• C. Because some people resist social influence even without a dissenter, and not all disobedience is due to support.
• D. Because social support always fails in high-pressure situations.

Answer: (C)

Resistance to social influence isn’t just about having someone else push back with you. Social support helps by providing a model for disobedience and reducing the pressure to conform, but it isn’t required for resistance, and it doesn’t explain all disobedience. People can resist even when no ally is present due to personal factors like strong moral beliefs, a sense of autonomy, or higher self-confidence. Conversely, disobedience can occur for reasons beyond having support, such as perceiving the situation as illegitimate or responding to individual principles. So social support accounts for part of why people resist, but it doesn’t fully explain why resistance happens in all cases.

Resistance to social influence isn’t just about having someone else push back with you. Social support helps by providing a model for disobedience and reducing the pressure to conform, but it isn’t required for resistance, and it doesn’t explain all disobedience. People can resist even when no ally is present due to personal factors like strong moral beliefs, a sense of autonomy, or higher self-confidence. Conversely, disobedience can occur for reasons beyond having support, such as perceiving the situation as illegitimate or responding to individual principles. So social support accounts for part of why people resist, but it doesn’t fully explain why resistance happens in all cases.