SQA Higher Psychology Social Behaviour: a complete overview of conformity and obedience, aggression, prejudice and social relationships

What this area actually demands

The Social Behaviour area asks the same kinds of question about every topic: what is the behaviour, what theories explain it, what does the research show, and how good is the evidence. Because its classic studies are ethically controversial, the examiners reward not only precise knowledge of theories and findings but also the ability to evaluate that evidence, including its ethics.

This guide walks through the mandatory topic and the three common optional topics, then sets out the patterns the SQA repeats. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with practice questions; this overview ties them together.

Conformity and obedience (mandatory)

This is the guaranteed topic, examined in its own section of the paper. You need the types of conformity (compliance, identification, internalisation), the two explanations of conformity (informational and normative social influence), the explanations of obedience (the agentic state, legitimacy of authority, situational factors), and the key studies, Asch, Milgram and Zimbardo, with their findings and ethical issues.

Aggression (optional)

The aggression topic covers biological explanations (genetics, the amygdala and limbic system, testosterone and serotonin) and social and psychological explanations (social learning theory and the frustration-aggression hypothesis), backed by evidence such as Bandura's Bobo doll studies.

Prejudice (optional)

The prejudice topic covers the nature of prejudice and discrimination, the explanations (social identity theory, realistic conflict theory and the authoritarian personality), and the methods of reducing prejudice (the contact hypothesis and superordinate goals), with evidence from Tajfel's minimal group studies and Sherif's Robbers Cave study.

Social relationships (optional)

The social relationships topic covers the factors affecting attraction (proximity, physical attractiveness, similarity, reciprocal liking), the explanations of maintenance (social exchange theory and equity theory), and the explanations of breakdown, noting that much of the evidence is correlational and from Western samples.

How this area is examined

A typical SQA profile for a Social Behaviour topic:

• Describe questions. Setting out a type of conformity, a theory, or a factor accurately.
• Explain questions. Showing how a theory accounts for the behaviour.
• Evaluate questions. Weighing the research evidence, including its ethics, and reaching a judgement.
• Research-handling. Using named studies and commenting on their methods and ethics.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and explanation questions covering the area. Attempt them, then check against the solutions.

1. Name the three types of conformity. (3 marks)
2. Explain the difference between informational and normative social influence. (4 marks)
3. What did Milgram's obedience study find, and name one ethical issue it raised. (3 marks)
4. Explain the social learning theory of aggression in one sentence. (2 marks)
5. Name two methods of reducing prejudice. (2 marks)