AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY
PAPER ONE
CONDENSED REVISION GUIDE
CREATED FOR THE NEW SPECIFICATION (2018++)
,1
SOCIAL
INFLUENCE
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Types of conformity: internalisation, identification and compliance.
Explanations for conformity: informational social influence and
normative social influence, and variables affecting conformity including
group size, unanimity and task difficulty as investigated by Asch.
Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo.
Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of authority,
and situational variables affecting obedience including proximity and
location, as investigated by Milgram, and uniform. Dispositional
explanation for obedience: the Authoritarian Personality.
Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support
and locus of control.
Minority influence including reference to consistency, commitment and
flexibility.
The role of social influence processes in social change.
, SOCIAL INFLUENCE
1.1. TYPES OF CONFORMITY: INTERNALISATION, IDENTIFICATION, AND
COMPLIANCE.
Conformity exists on a spectrum. According to the specification, there are three
types you need to be aware of: internalisation, identification and compliance. You
need to know what these mean; so how to define them, how to explain them, and
relating them to a stem question.
Internalisation is where the behaviour or belief of the majority is accepted by the
individual and becomes part of his or her own belief system. It is the most
permanent form of conformity as it usually lasts even if the majority is no longer
present.
Identification is where an individual conforms to the opinions of the group as there
is a characteristic of the group that they value, they conform both publicly and
privately, but only in the context of the group. This type of conformity only lasts in
the presence of the group, as the aim is to be accepted by them.
Compliance is where the individual changes his or her own behaviour to fit in with
the group. They may not necessarily agree with the behaviour / belief but they go
along with it publicly. It is not a permanent form of social influence; it lasts only as
long as the group is present.
Type of Conformity Change In Context
Internalisation Public AND Private All
Identification Public AND Private Group Context
Compliance Public Group Context
,Practice Questions
● Explain what is meant by internalisation (3 marks)
● Explain what is meant by compliance (3 marks)
● Explain what is meant by identification (3 marks)
,1.2 EXPLANATIONS FOR CONFORMITY: INFORMATIONAL SOCIAL
INFLUENCE AND NORMATIVE SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Well, why do people conform? Two reasons: informational social influence and
normative social influence.
Informational social influence is where someone conforms because they do not
know what to do, but they want to be correct. They follow the majority because
they assume that the majority know what is the right thing to do. This type of social
influence tends to involve internalisation.
Normative social influence is where someone conforms because they want to be
liked and accepted by the group. The person may publicly change their behaviour /
views but privately disagree. This type of social influence is also known as
compliance.
Type of Conformity Change In Context Explained By
Internalisation Public AND Private All Informational Social
Influence
Identification Public AND Private Group Context Normative Social
Influence
Compliance Public Group Context Normative Social
Influence
Now, we need to know some evidence to support these concepts. Evidence comes in
the form of research support, such as Asch’s line study.
Jennes carried out research into informational social influence. He asked participants to
estimate how many beans they thought were in a jar, both individually, then as a group.
When the task was done as a group, participant estimates became more similar to one
another. This is likely a result of not knowing the actual number of beans in the jar, and
therefore informational social influence.
,Asch carried out research into normative social influence. Participants were put into
groups of confederates (fake subjects) and shown a set of lines, then asked which was
closest to the original line. All answers were given as a group, with the real participant
going last (or second to last). Almost all participants gave the wrong answer at some
point when in the group setting, but not when alone. This shows normative social
influence.
Type of Change In Context Explained By Evidence
Conformity
Internalisation Public AND All Informational Jennes
Private Social Influence
Identification Public AND Group Context Normative Social Asch
Private Influence
Compliance Public Group Context Normative Social Asch
Influence
Importantly, you could be asked to evaluate these explanations of forgetting.
Evaluation:
+ Research support for both explanations (Asch for NSI, Jennes for ISI)
- Studies into social influence (Asch and Jennes) are artificial. They lack ecological
validity and do not represent social influence in the real world.
- It is hard to differentiate between ISI and NSI (for example in Jennes study, was
the conformity a result of not knowing, or wanting to be liked?)
- Individual differences affect both NSI and ISI. People who care more about being
liked are more likely to be affected by NSI.
- These explanations may be overly simplistic, they may in fact work together, rather
than independently from one another.
,Practice Questions
● Explain what is meant by informational social influence. (3 marks)
● Explain what is meant by normative social influence. (3 marks)
● Outline and evaluate explanations of conformity (8 marks)
,1.3 VARIABLES AFFECTING CONFORMITY INCLUDING GROUP SIZE,
UNANIMITY, AND TASK DIFFICULTY AS INVESTIGATED BY ASCH
We’ve already mentioned Asch, but as a named study on the specification, you
could be asked explicitly about his study, in as much as a 16 marker, so you need to
know the details.
Asch’s Line Study: Procedure
- 123 male participants were told they were
taking part in a study of visual perception.
- Participants were put in groups with
between 7 and 9 confederates (fake
participants)
- Each participant completed 18 trials
where they would be shown the sets of
lines above (A, B, or C) and then asked
which one was closest to the original line.
- In the 12 critical trials, the confederates would all give the same wrong answer –
the participant was always asked to give their answer last (or second to last) so as
to hear the group’s answers first.
- The control group for this experiment consisted of 36 participants. In the control
trials, participants were asked the same question as above – but this time alone.
Asch’s Line Study: Results
- 75% of the sample conformed to the majority on at least one trial.
- 5% of participants conformed to every incorrect answer.
- Real participants conformed on 32% of the critical trials where confederates gave
the wrong answers.
Evaluation
- Asch’s study lacks ecological validity. The task itself is not representative of social
influence tasks in the real world. The environment itself was also too controlled,
not representing the many other factors that could influence social influence.
, Essentially, the study lacks mundane realism, and it doesn’t reflect the complexity
of real conformity.
- Asch’s study lacks population validity. All participants in the sample were male,
demonstrating a gender bias. The results of this study cannot be generalised to
females, and therefore has limited ability to explain conformity (as it can only
explain this in males).
- This can also apply to the use of an all American sample (individualistic culture),
meaning that there may be issues generalising across cultures. As culture can
affect behaviour, conformity may be higher or lower in more collectivistic cultures,
therefore these results cannot be generalised.
- Asch’s study has ethical issues. Participants were deceived at the beginning of the
study, being told it was a test of visual perception when it wasn’t. As a result, they
also couldn’t give fully informed consent, as they did not know the true aim of the
study. However, all participants were debriefed at the end, which somewhat
balances this out.
- Asch’s study lacks temporal validity. Being conducted in the 1950s may have
affected the results of this study, they may be a ‘product of their time’ as there
was a big fear to be different in America at the time due to an anti-communist
movement. The findings can therefore not be generalised to all time periods.
+ Asch’s study has good internal validity. Asch maintained strong control over
extraneous variables (such as the type of task and timing of this), allowing for a
cause and effect relationship to be established.
+ Asch’s study can be easily replicated. The use of standardisation means that this
task can be done again and again, increasing the reliability of the findings and
reducing the chances of the finding being a ‘one off’. Replications of this study
have been consistent, further supporting the validity of the findings.
Asch also conducted several variations of his study to investigate their effects.
Asch Line Study: Group Size
- Asch altered the amount of confederates in his study, with the bigger the majority
(of confederates), the more that people conformed (to a point).
, - With one other confederate in the group, conformity was 3%. With two others, it
increased to 13%. With three or more, it was 32%. After this, conformity did not
increase.
Asch Line Study: Unanimity
- Asch investigated unanimity, which is where all members of the group agree
unanimously.
- When one person in the group gave a different answer, conformity dropped from
52% to 5.5%. Even just one confederate going against the majority can reduce
conformity as much as 80%.
Asch Line Study: Task Difficulty
- Asch changed the lengths of the lines in the study to make it easier or harder to
guess the correct line.
- When the task became harder, participants conformed more.
Evaluation of these variations is the same as the original study.
Practice Questions
● Outline Asch's findings in relation to two variables affecting conformity.
Briefly explain two limitations of Asch's conformity research (8 marks)
● Briefly outline how two variables investigated by Asch were found to affect
conformity (2 marks)
