Why do people conform to groups and obey authority?
Conformity and obedience: the nature of conformity and obedience, explanations of why people conform and obey, factors that affect them, and the key research evidence and methods used to study social influence.
The SQA Higher Psychology mandatory Social Behaviour topic on conformity and obedience: types and explanations of conformity, explanations of obedience, the factors that increase or reduce social influence, and the key research evidence and methods including Asch, Milgram and Zimbardo.
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What this dot point is asking
This is the mandatory Social Behaviour topic, so every candidate is examined on it. The SQA wants you to describe what conformity and obedience are, explain why people conform and obey, explain the factors that increase or reduce social influence, and use research evidence and methods to support and evaluate these explanations. It is the source of a full -mark question on the Higher paper.
The answer
What conformity and obedience are
Types of conformity
Explanations of conformity
Explanations of obedience
Examples in context
Asch's line-judgement study is the key evidence on conformity: when confederates gave obviously wrong answers, genuine participants conformed on about a third of critical trials, and most conformed at least once, demonstrating normative social influence and showing how group size and unanimity affect it. Milgram's obedience study is the central evidence on obedience: of participants administered what they believed was the maximum -volt shock when ordered by an experimenter, and obedience fell sharply when proximity to the victim rose or the authority's legitimacy dropped, supporting the situational explanation. Zimbardo's Stanford prison study showed how quickly people conform to assigned social roles, with guards becoming abusive, though it is heavily criticised on ethical and methodological grounds. A Higher answer that pairs an explanation with these studies and judges both their power and their ethics reaches the top band.
Try this
Q1. Describe the difference between compliance and internalisation. [4 marks]
- Cue. Compliance is public agreement without private change, lasting only while the group is present; internalisation is genuine, lasting change because you accept the group is right.
Q2. Explain two situational factors that affect obedience. [6 marks]
- Cue. Proximity of the authority (closer raises obedience), location or setting (a prestigious place raises it), and uniform (signals legitimacy), as shown by Milgram's variations.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher (mandatory)20 marksExplain why people obey authority and evaluate the research evidence.Show worked answer →
A typical -mark mandatory question, marked for both KU and evaluation. Around to marks reward accurate explanation of obedience: the agentic state (people see themselves as agents carrying out an authority's wishes and feel reduced personal responsibility), legitimacy of authority, and situational factors such as proximity, location and uniform.
The remaining marks reward use and evaluation of evidence, above all Milgram's obedience study, in which of participants gave the maximum shock. Strong answers describe the study, then evaluate it: it has high explanatory power and many replications, but raises serious ethical issues (deception, lack of informed consent, psychological harm) and questions about validity. A reasoned judgement is the discriminator.
SQA Higher (mandatory)8 marksDescribe the difference between informational and normative social influence.Show worked answer →
An -mark KU question. Markers want a clear contrast with an example of each.
Informational social influence is conforming because you believe the group is right and you want to be accurate, common in ambiguous situations; it usually produces internalisation. Normative social influence is conforming to be liked or accepted and to avoid rejection; it usually produces compliance (public agreement without private change). Linking each to the right depth of conformity (internalisation versus compliance) and giving a brief example raises the mark.
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