AQA Psychology A-level: Social Influence Notes

Part 1: Types of Conformity and Explanations for Conformity

• Conformity Definition: Yielding to group pressures. Changes in behavior/opinion due to real or imagined group pressure.
• Types of Conformity:
  • Internalisation: Adopting group beliefs as your own. Permanent change. Driven by informational social influence.
  • Identification: Temporary change in presence of group.
  • Compliance: Public agreement, private disagreement. Driven by normative social influence.
• Informational Social Influence: Conforming to be correct.
  • Evidence: Fein et al.'s study on voting behavior.
• Normative Social Influence: Conforming to be liked and accepted.
  • Evidence: Link with bullying, Garandeau and Cillissen's study.

Part 2: Variables Affecting Conformity (Asch's Study)

• Study Design: 123 male American undergraduates, group with confederates to observe conformity.
• Findings: Conformity rate was 36.8%. 25% never conformed.
• Factors:
  • Group Size: More conformity with groups of 3+
  • Unanimity: Conformity drops with dissent.
  • Task Difficulty: Higher conformity with harder tasks.
• Evaluation:
  • High internal validity but lacks ecological and population validity.

Part 3: Conformity to Social Roles (Zimbardo’s Study)

• Aim: Understanding conformity to social roles in a prison setup.
• Findings: Rapid internalisation of roles.
• Strengths:
  • Real-life applications, ethical debriefing.
• Weaknesses:
  • Lacks ecological validity, possible demand characteristics.

Part 4: Explanations for Obedience

• Agentic State: People act as an agent for authority, shifting responsibility.
• Legitimacy of Authority: Credible authority increases obedience.
• Situational Factors: Influence of uniform, location, proximity.
• Milgram’s Study: Demonstrated extreme obedience (65% to 450V).
  • Factors Affecting Obedience:
    • Proximity, location, uniform.

Part 5: Dispositional Explanations for Obedience

• Authoritarian Personality (Adorno): Associated with high obedience.
  • F-scale: Measures authoritarian traits.
  • Criticisms: Methodological issues, limited explanation.

Part 6: Resistance to Social Influence

• Locus of Control:
  • Internal locus: Less conformity/obedience.
  • External locus: More conformity/obedience.
• Social Support:
  • Presence of dissent reduces conformity.
  • Evidence from Asch and Milgram variations.

Part 7: Minority Influence

• Moscovici’s Study:
  • Consistency leads to increased influence.
  • Commitment and flexibility enhance influence.
  • Evaluation: Real-life applications, but lacks ecological validity.

Part 8: Social Influence Processes in Social Change

• Strategies for Social Change:
  • Minority influence, locus of control, disobedience to authority.
  • Snowball Effect: Gradual adoption of minority view by majority.
• Challenges:
  • Slow process, stereotypes as barriers.
  • Limited by majority influence.