AQA A-Level Psychology 4.1 Social influence: conformity, obedience and social change

What module 4.1 demands

Social influence is the first topic of AQA A-Level Psychology and sits in Paper 1. It studies how the presence and actions of others change our behaviour, from quiet conformity to dramatic obedience, and how individuals and minorities resist that pressure and drive wider social change. The examiners reward precise knowledge of the classic studies (Asch, Zimbardo, Milgram, Moscovici) and the ability to evaluate them and apply them to novel scenarios.

This guide walks through every dot point in specification order, then sets out the exam patterns. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with practice questions.

Conformity and social roles

Conformity has three types: compliance (public only), identification (fitting a valued group) and internalisation (genuine private change). It is explained by normative social influence (the desire to be liked) and informational social influence (the desire to be right). Asch showed conformity rises with group size up to about three, falls when an ally breaks unanimity, and rises with task difficulty.

Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment showed how readily ordinary people conform to social roles, with guards becoming cruel and prisoners passive, driven by deindividuation and the power of the situation.

Obedience and its explanations

Milgram found 65% of participants would deliver a 450-volt shock to a learner on the orders of an authority figure, and that obedience changed with proximity, location and uniform. Obedience is explained situationally by the agentic state and legitimacy of authority, and dispositionally by Adorno's Authoritarian Personality, measured by the F-scale.

Resistance, minority influence and social change

People resist through social support (an ally breaking unanimity) and an internal locus of control. A minority can convert the majority through consistency, commitment and flexibility, as Moscovici showed. These processes drive social change through the snowball effect, social cryptomnesia, and the use of normative influence in campaigns.

Check your knowledge

1. Distinguish between internalisation and compliance. (4 marks)
2. Outline the findings of Asch's research into conformity. (4 marks)
3. Explain the agentic state as an explanation for obedience. (3 marks)
4. Describe how a minority can influence a majority. (4 marks)