How can understanding social influence be used to encourage helpful behaviour and resist harmful pressure?
Applications of social influence: how social influence research is used to promote pro-social behaviour and independent behaviour, including how people resist conformity and obedience and the value of dissent and social support.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 social influence application, covering how research is used to promote pro-social and independent behaviour, how people resist conformity and obedience, and the value of dissent, social support and an internal locus of control.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR wants you to explain how social influence research is applied: how it can be used to promote pro-social behaviour, and how people can be helped to behave independently and resist conformity and obedience, including the value of dissent, social support and an internal locus of control.
Promoting pro-social behaviour
Social influence research shows people copy what others do, especially when unsure (informational influence) or wanting to fit in (normative influence). Campaigns use this to make a desired behaviour seem normal and expected:
- Social norms messaging. Telling people that a behaviour is what most people do ("most students here recycle", "9 in 10 people pay their tax on time") makes the behaviour seem normal, so more people conform to it.
- Positive role models. Showing admired models being rewarded for helpful behaviour (giving blood, volunteering) encourages others to imitate them through social learning.
This is why public health, environmental and charity campaigns often stress how common the good behaviour already is.
Promoting independent behaviour and resisting influence
It is also valuable to help people resist pressure to conform or obey, especially when the pressure is harmful. The main ways are:
- Social support (an ally). If even one other person dissents or behaves independently, it is far easier to resist, because the person is no longer alone and the unanimity of the majority is broken. This is the single most effective way to reduce conformity (see factors affecting social influence).
- Internal locus of control. People who believe they control their own outcomes trust their own judgement and take responsibility, so they resist group pressure and authority more.
- Questioning legitimacy. Recognising that an authority is not legitimate, or has no real right to give an order, makes disobedience easier.
- Awareness. Simply understanding how conformity, obedience and deindividuation work helps people recognise the pressure and resist it.
Evaluating the applications
These applications matter because they can change real behaviour: encouraging recycling, blood donation or tax compliance, and helping young people resist harmful pressure. The strength of social norms campaigns is that they are cheap and effective and based on well-supported research (conformity to the majority). The strength of resistance strategies is that social support and an internal locus of control are strongly backed by research. The weaknesses are that norms messages can backfire if they accidentally reveal a bad behaviour is common ("everyone drops litter"), individual differences mean some people resist or conform regardless, and behaviour has many causes, so no single technique works for everyone. As NatCen (2011) showed, real collective behaviour is complex.
Try this
Q1. How can social norms be used to promote a pro-social behaviour? [2 marks]
- Cue. Show that the desired behaviour is what most people do, so others conform to it.
Q2. Why does having an ally help a person resist conformity? [2 marks]
- Cue. It breaks the majority's unanimity and means the person is no longer alone, making resistance far easier.
Q3. Which personality factor helps people resist social influence? [1 mark]
- Cue. An internal locus of control.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 20204 marksExplain how social influence can be used to promote pro-social behaviour. (J203/02, Section A Social influence)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Explain item rewards using the processes of social influence to encourage helpful behaviour.
Because people conform to what others do (especially when unsure), showing that a desired behaviour is the social norm encourages people to copy it. For example, telling people that "most people in your area recycle" uses informational and normative influence to make recycling seem normal and expected, so more people do it. Positive role models who are seen being rewarded for helpful behaviour can also be imitated through social learning. So campaigns can harness conformity and modelling to make pro-social behaviour the norm.
Markers reward the use of social norms (showing a behaviour is what most people do), normative and informational influence, and positive role models, to promote pro-social behaviour.
OCR 20225 marksExplain two ways a person can resist pressure to conform or obey. (J203/02, Section A Social influence)Show worked answer →
A 5-mark Explain item rewards two developed ways of resisting social influence.
Social support (an ally): if even one other person dissents or behaves independently, it is much easier to resist the group or authority, because the person is no longer alone and the unanimity of the majority is broken. This is why having an ally sharply reduces conformity. An internal locus of control: people who believe they control their own outcomes trust their own judgement and take responsibility, so they are more able to resist group pressure and orders from authority. Other ways include questioning the legitimacy of an authority and being aware of how social influence works so it can be recognised and resisted.
Markers reward two ways, each explained, for example social support or an ally (breaking unanimity) and an internal locus of control (trusting one's own judgement).
Related dot points
- Conformity and obedience: the difference between them, the main types and reasons for conformity (normative and informational influence), and explanations of obedience to authority.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 social influence topic on conformity and obedience, covering the difference between them, the types and reasons for conformity (normative and informational influence), and explanations of obedience to authority.
- Factors affecting conformity and obedience: situational factors (group size, anonymity, task difficulty, presence of an ally, locus of authority) and dispositional factors (personality, including locus of control).
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 social influence topic on the factors affecting conformity and obedience, covering situational factors (group size, anonymity, task difficulty, presence of an ally and authority) and dispositional factors (personality and locus of control).
- Collective and crowd behaviour: deindividuation, the effect of being in a crowd on behaviour, social loafing, and explanations of why crowds can behave in pro-social or anti-social ways.
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 social influence topic on collective and crowd behaviour, covering deindividuation, the effect of crowds on behaviour, social loafing, and why crowds can behave in pro-social or anti-social ways.
- The social influence core studies: the classic study Bickman (1974) on the social power of a uniform (a situational factor in obedience), and the contemporary study NatCen (2011) on the 2011 English riots (dispositional and situational factors).
A focused answer to the OCR GCSE Psychology J203 social influence core studies, covering the classic study Bickman (1974) on the social power of a uniform and the contemporary study NatCen (2011) on the 2011 English riots, including the aim, method, results, conclusions and evaluation of each.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE (9-1) Psychology J203 specification — OCR (2017)