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Summary AQA Psychology Social Influence Revision Notes

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Module
Social Influence

Institution
AQA

This document has chapter 1 of the psychology text book for AS level (social influence) summarised. It’s in question and answer form and every possible thing is covered to ensure maximum efficiency when revising

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SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Types of conformity and explanations for conformity
What is conformity? - A form of social influence that results from the
exposure to the majority position and leads to
compliance with that position.
- It is the tendency for people to adopt a behaviour,
belief or attitude of other members of a reference
group; it is behaviour in accordance with socially
accepted conventions
Who proposed the three types of conformity and when? - Kelman (1958)
What is compliance? - When individuals go along with the group to gain
approval or avoid disapproval
- Individual may concentrate on what others say or do
and then adjust their own actions to fit in
- Fitting in is seen as desirable so this motivates
conformity.
- Does not result in any change in the person’s
underlying beliefs (private) and only effects public
behaviour and attitude
What is internalisation? - Individuals go along with the group as they accept
their views.
- When exposed to views of others, they engage in a
validation process and after close examination, the
group’s position may convince the individual that
they are wrong and that the group is right?
- This leads to acceptance of the group’s position both
publicly and privately
What is identification? - Individual may accept influence because they want to
be associated with another person or group and by
adopting their behaviours and attitudes, they feel
more accepted.
- Identification has both compliance and internalisation
as the individual is accepting the influence to fit in
and be accepted as a member of the group, and also
because they accept their behaviours and attitudes as
right and true
What is the difference between the three types of - Each type has a different set of motivating conditions,
conformity? for example:
o to fit in they may comply, rather than
internalise the group’s position on a
particular issue.
- -to find the most appropriate way to respond in an
ambiguous situation, they may internalise the group’s
position as it is seen as the best way of achieving this.
What is normative social influence? - Usually referred to as ‘compliance’ as people can go
along with the majority without accepting the view.
- Humans are social species that have a fundamental
need for social companionship and a fear of censure
and rejection, forming the basis for normative
influence, i.e. to gain approval and acceptance and
avoid censure and disapproval, or to achieve specific

AQA A-level Psychology
Year 1 and AS content

, goals.
- For it to occur, the individual must believe that they
are under surveillance by the group, therefore, they
publicly conform but do not internalise it as it does
not carry into normal settings or endure over time
(Nail, 1968)
What is informational social influence? - Human beings have the need to feel confident that
their perceptions and beliefs are correct; we look to
the majority group for information as we are unsure
about the way in which to behave.
- Individuals may make objective tests (check facts)
against reality but if it is not possible, they may rely
on the opinion of others.
- It is more likely to occur if the situation is ambiguous
or where others are experts. This involves changing
both public and private attitudes and behaviour,
demonstrating internalisation
Variables affecting conformity
What are situational variables? - Features of an environment that affect the degree to
which individuals yield to group pressures
What are individual variables? - Personal characteristics that affect the degree to
which individuals yield to group pressures
Outline the aim and procedure of Asch’s study. Aim:
- To see how the ‘lone’ real participants react to the
behaviour of the confederates during a visual
discrimination task.

Procedure:
- 123 male US undergraduates were tested.
Participants were seated around a table and asked to
look at lines of three lengths. They then took turns to
call out which line they thought was the same length
as the ‘standard’ line, which the participant always
answering second to last
- There was always a fairly obvious answer, but the
confederates were instructed to give the same
incorrect answer on 12 of the 18 critical trials.
- Asch wanted to see whether the ‘real’ participants
would stick to what they believed was right, or
whether they conformed due to pressure of the
majority.

Outline the main findings of Asch’s study. - On the 12 trials, the average conformity was 33% as
the participants agreed with the incorrect response
given by the other group members nearly 1/3 of the
time.
- Asch discovered individual differences in conformity
rates as 1/4 of the participants never conformed on
any of the critical trials.
- 1/2 conformed on six or more of the trials.
- 1 in 20 conformed on all 12 of the critical trials

AQA A-level Psychology
Year 1 and AS content

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