OCR GCSE Psychology: Social influence overview (J203)
An overview of the social influence topic in OCR GCSE Psychology (J203), mapping conformity and obedience, the situational and dispositional factors that affect them, collective and crowd behaviour, the core studies Bickman (1974) and NatCen (2011), and the applications, and how they are examined on Paper 2.
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Social influence is one of the three topics on Component 02 (Studies and applications in psychology 2) of OCR GCSE Psychology (specification J203). It asks why people conform and obey, why crowds behave as they do, and how social influence can be used and resisted. This page maps the topic and links to a focused answer page for each part.
The social influence content
- Conformity and obedience
- The difference between them, the types and reasons for conformity (normative and informational influence), and explanations of obedience. See Conformity and obedience.
- Factors affecting social influence
- Situational factors (group size, anonymity, task difficulty, an ally, authority) and dispositional factors (personality and locus of control). See Factors affecting social influence.
- Collective and crowd behaviour
- Deindividuation, social loafing, and why crowds behave in pro-social or anti-social ways. See Collective and crowd behaviour.
- The core studies
- The classic study Bickman (1974) on the social power of a uniform, and the contemporary study NatCen (2011) on the 2011 English riots. See Core studies: Bickman and NatCen.
- Applications of social influence
- Promoting pro-social and independent behaviour, and how people resist conformity and obedience. See Applications of social influence.
How this topic is examined
Social influence is assessed on the second paper (J203/02), which is 1 hour 30 minutes, worth 90 marks and 50 percent of the GCSE, shared with memory and sleep and dreaming. Questions include multiple choice, short structured items, research methods (using a novel source) and extended responses up to 13 marks. Expect to define and contrast conformity and obedience, explain the factors, recall both core studies precisely, and apply ideas to scenarios.
How to study the social influence topic
- Separate conformity and obedience and learn the reasons for conformity (normative versus informational).
- Memorise the factors: situational (group size, anonymity, task difficulty, ally, authority) and dispositional (locus of control).
- Learn deindividuation and social loafing and why crowds can be pro-social or anti-social.
- Learn both core studies in full (Bickman's uniform field experiment, NatCen's multi-cause riot analysis).
- Practise the applications (social norms for pro-social behaviour, social support to resist pressure).
For the official specification
OCR publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at ocr.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and OCR's own past papers, because question style is board-specific.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE (9-1) Psychology J203 specification — OCR (2017)