← Psychology syllabus

EnglandPsychology

Component 2: Core studies - Social area (responses to people in need)

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Does helping a stranger depend on the culture, pace of life and economy of the city you are in?

Contemporary study: Levine et al. (2001), Cross-cultural differences in helping strangers. Aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluation, and links to the social area and Piliavin.
An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the contemporary social study, Levine et al. (2001) on helping strangers in 23 cities. Covers the aim, cross-cultural field-experiment method, the three helping measures, the link to economic productivity and simpatia, evaluation, and links to Piliavin and the social area.
14 min answer →

Why do some people disobey an unethical authority and blow the whistle while most comply?

Contemporary study: Bocchiaro et al. (2012), Disobedience and whistle-blowing. Aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluation, and links to the social area and Milgram.
An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the contemporary social study, Bocchiaro et al. (2012) on disobedience and whistle-blowing. Covers the aim, scenario method, the obedience, disobedience and whistle-blowing rates, the gap between predicted and actual behaviour, evaluation, and links to Milgram and the social area.
15 min answer →

Why do ordinary people obey an authority figure even when ordered to harm someone?

Classic study: Milgram (1963), Behavioral study of obedience. Aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluation, and links to the social area and debates.
An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the classic social study, Milgram (1963) Behavioral study of obedience. Covers the aim, controlled-observation procedure, the 65 per cent maximum-shock finding, agency theory, evaluation for ethics, validity and generalisability, and links to the social area and the situational explanation debate.
15 min answer →

What makes bystanders more or less likely to help a stranger in need?

Classic study: Piliavin et al. (1969), Good Samaritanism: an underground phenomenon? Aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluation, and links to the social area and bystander behaviour.
An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the classic social study, Piliavin et al. (1969) on helping behaviour on the New York subway. Covers the aim, field-experiment method, the high helping rates, the cost-reward arousal model, the diffusion-of-responsibility findings, evaluation, and links to the social area and Levine.
15 min answer →