Why do people conform to groups and obey authority?
Social influence concepts: conformity and the factors affecting it, obedience to authority and the factors affecting it (including Milgram's work and the agentic state).
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 5, covering conformity and the factors affecting it, and obedience to authority and the factors affecting it (Milgram and the agentic state).
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What this dot point is asking
Edexcel wants you to define the key social influence concepts: conformity (and the factors affecting it) and obedience to authority (and the factors affecting it, including the agentic state and ideas from Milgram). These concepts underpin the Topic 5 core studies and the bystander and collective-behaviour dot points.
Conformity and its factors
Conformity is affected by several factors. Group size: conformity increases as the unanimous majority grows from one to about three, then levels off, so a small majority is enough. Anonymity: conformity falls when people can answer privately (for example in writing), because the social pressure to agree is reduced. Task difficulty: conformity rises when the task is harder or more ambiguous, because people are unsure and look to others for the right answer. People conform mainly to fit in (normative influence) or because they think the group is right (informational influence).
Obedience and its factors
The agentic state
A key explanation of obedience is the agentic state, an idea from Milgram's work on obedience. In the agentic state, a person stops seeing themselves as responsible for their own actions and instead acts as an agent carrying out the wishes of an authority figure. They feel the authority is responsible for what happens, so they are more willing to obey orders, even ones that conflict with their conscience. The opposite is the autonomous state, where a person feels responsible for their own actions and is more likely to resist. People shift into the agentic state when they accept the authority as legitimate.
Evaluation. Strength: these ideas help explain real events, such as why ordinary people can follow harmful orders. Weakness: they can seem to excuse harmful behaviour by blaming authority, and not everyone obeys, so individual differences (personality, morality) also matter.
Try this
Q1. Define obedience. [1 mark]
- Cue. Following a direct order from a person in authority.
Q2. State one factor that increases obedience. [1 mark]
- Cue. Legitimate authority (such as a uniform or status), or proximity of the authority.
Q3. Explain the difference between the agentic and autonomous states. [2 marks]
- Cue. In the agentic state a person acts as an agent of authority and feels the authority is responsible; in the autonomous state they feel responsible for their own actions.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20184 marksExplain two factors that affect whether a person will obey an authority figure. (Paper 1)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Explain item rewards two developed factors affecting obedience.
Authority and legitimacy: people are more likely to obey someone who appears to be a legitimate authority, for example wearing a uniform or holding a recognised position, because their right to give orders is accepted. Proximity: people obey more when the authority figure is close by and giving orders in person, and they obey less when the authority is distant; they also obey more when they are further from the victim and so feel less responsible for the harm.
Markers reward two clear, explained factors (for example legitimacy or uniform, and proximity of the authority or the victim), each developed rather than just named.
Edexcel 20213 marksDescribe what is meant by the agentic state in obedience. (Paper 1)Show worked answer →
A 3-mark Describe item rewards an accurate account of the agentic state.
The agentic state is when a person stops seeing themselves as responsible for their own actions and instead acts as an agent carrying out the wishes of an authority figure. In this state, the person feels the authority is responsible for what happens, so they are more willing to obey orders even if the orders go against their conscience. The opposite is the autonomous state, where a person feels responsible for their own actions.
Markers reward the idea that the person sees themselves as an agent of authority, feels the authority is responsible, and is therefore more willing to obey. Contrasting it with the autonomous state strengthens the answer.
Related dot points
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A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 6, covering learning theories of criminality: social learning theory (observation, imitation, vicarious reinforcement) and operant conditioning.
- Morality in development (Piaget's stages of moral development and Kohlberg's idea of moral reasoning) and the nature-nurture debate applied to development.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology (1PS0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2017)