What makes people more or less likely to conform or obey?
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).
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What this dot point is asking
OCR wants you to explain the factors that change how much people conform or obey: situational factors (features of the situation, such as group size, anonymity, task difficulty, having an ally, and the authority present) and dispositional factors (features of the person, such as personality and locus of control).
Situational factors
These are features of the situation that change conformity and obedience:
- Group size. Conformity rises as a unanimous majority grows from one to about three, then levels off, so a small group is enough to create pressure and adding more people makes little extra difference.
- Anonymity. Conformity falls when people can respond privately (writing answers down) rather than publicly, because the pressure to agree is reduced. Openly giving answers in front of the group raises conformity.
- Task difficulty. Conformity rises when the task is harder or more ambiguous, because people are unsure of their own judgement and look to others (informational influence).
- Presence of an ally. If even one person disagrees with the majority, conformity drops sharply, because the person is no longer the lone dissenter.
- Authority (legitimacy and proximity). Obedience rises when the authority seems legitimate (official, often shown by a uniform, as in Bickman) and is close by and high in status.
Dispositional factors
The key dispositional factor is locus of control: how much a person feels in control of what happens to them.
- People with an internal locus of control believe they control their own lives and outcomes through their own actions.
- People with an external locus of control believe outcomes are due to luck, fate or other people.
People with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist conformity and obedience, because they trust their own judgement, take responsibility for their actions and are less swayed by group or authority pressure. Those with an external locus are more likely to go along with others. Other personality traits (such as confidence and self-esteem) also affect how much a person is influenced.
Evaluating the factors
Knowing these factors matters because it explains when people are most at risk of going along with harmful behaviour, and how resistance can be encouraged. The strength of the situational factors is that they are well supported by experiments (group size, allies and anonymity all show clear effects) and explain why context matters. The strength of dispositional factors like locus of control is that they explain individual differences, why some people resist where others conform. The weakness is that behaviour is rarely down to one factor: situation and personality interact, and people are not perfectly consistent, so predictions are tendencies, not certainties. This links to debates about collective and crowd behaviour, where situation can override personality.
Try this
Q1. What happens to conformity as group size grows beyond about three? [1 mark]
- Cue. It levels off (plateaus); adding more people makes little extra difference.
Q2. Define an internal locus of control. [2 marks]
- Cue. Believing you control your own life and outcomes through your own actions.
Q3. Explain how the presence of an ally affects conformity. [2 marks]
- Cue. One person disagreeing with the majority sharply reduces conformity, because the person is no longer the lone dissenter.
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 two situational factors affect conformity. (J203/02, Section A Social influence)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Explain item rewards two developed situational factors.
Group size: conformity rises as the unanimous majority grows from one to about three, then levels off, so a small group is enough to create pressure and adding more people makes little extra difference. Anonymity: conformity falls when people can respond privately (for example, writing answers down) rather than publicly, because the social pressure to agree is reduced; conformity is higher when answers are given openly in front of the group. Other factors include task difficulty (harder, more ambiguous tasks raise conformity) and the presence of an ally (one person who disagrees with the majority sharply reduces conformity).
Markers reward two situational factors, each explained, for example group size (rises then plateaus around three) and anonymity (lower conformity when private).
OCR 20215 marksExplain what is meant by locus of control and how it affects whether someone resists social influence. (J203/02, Section A Social influence)Show worked answer →
A 5-mark Explain item rewards a clear definition and the link to resisting influence.
Locus of control is a dispositional (personality) factor describing how much a person feels in control of what happens to them. People with an internal locus of control believe they control their own lives and outcomes through their own actions, while people with an external locus of control believe outcomes are due to luck, fate or other people. Those with an internal locus of control are more likely to resist conformity and obedience, because they trust their own judgement, take responsibility for their actions and are less swayed by group or authority pressure. Those with an external locus are more likely to go along with others.
Markers reward defining locus of control (internal versus external) and explaining that an internal locus helps people resist social influence because they rely on their own judgement and take responsibility.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE (9-1) Psychology J203 specification — OCR (2017)