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EnglandPsychology

4.1 Social influence

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do social roles influence conformity, as shown by Zimbardo?

Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo: the Stanford prison experiment, the power of social roles and situational factors such as deindividuation and loss of personal identity.
Covers AQA 4.1.1 conformity to social roles using Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment, including procedure, findings on the power of social roles, deindividuation and evaluation.
10 min answer →

What are the types of conformity and why do people conform?

Types of conformity: internalisation, identification and compliance. Explanations for conformity: informational social influence and normative social influence, and variables affecting conformity including group size, unanimity and task difficulty as investigated by Asch.
Covers AQA 4.1.1 conformity: the three types (internalisation, identification, compliance), the two explanations (ISI and NSI), and Asch's research into group size, unanimity and task difficulty.
10 min answer →

What psychological explanations account for obedience to authority?

Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of authority, and the dispositional explanation of the Authoritarian Personality as proposed by Adorno.
Covers AQA 4.1.2 explanations for obedience: the agentic state, legitimacy of authority, and Adorno's dispositional Authoritarian Personality, with evaluation.
10 min answer →

How does a minority influence the majority to change its views?

Minority influence including reference to consistency, commitment and flexibility; the role of minority influence in social change.
Covers AQA 4.1.4 minority influence: the behavioural styles of consistency, commitment and flexibility, Moscovici's research and how minorities convert the majority.
10 min answer →

Why do people obey destructive authority, as shown by Milgram?

Obedience as investigated by Milgram, including the baseline procedure and findings, and the situational variables affecting obedience: proximity, location and uniform.
Covers AQA 4.1.2 obedience: Milgram's baseline shock study, the 65% finding, and the situational variables of proximity, location and uniform, with evaluation.
10 min answer →

What factors help people resist social influence?

Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus of control.
Covers AQA 4.1.3 resistance to social influence: social support (allies breaking unanimity) and locus of control (internal versus external), with supporting research and evaluation.
10 min answer →

How do social influence processes bring about wider social change?

The role of social influence processes in social change, including minority influence, internalisation, snowball effect, social cryptomnesia and the role of conformity and obedience.
Covers AQA 4.1.4 social change: how minority influence, conformity (NSI) and obedience drive wider social change, including the snowball effect and social cryptomnesia.
10 min answer →