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Social influence is the study of how other people affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It is one of the most important topics in social psychology because humans are fundamentally social beings — our behaviour is constantly shaped by the presence, actions, and expectations of others.
Social influence can take several forms:
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Conformity | Changing behaviour or beliefs to match those of a group | Wearing the same fashion as your friends |
| Obedience | Following the orders or commands of an authority figure | A soldier following orders from an officer |
| Compliance | Going along with a request (without necessarily agreeing privately) | Donating to charity when asked directly |
| Prosocial behaviour | Helping others, often influenced by social context | Stopping to help someone who has fallen |
| Anti-social behaviour | Harmful behaviour influenced by social situations | Aggression in a crowd |
There are two main reasons why people conform to the behaviour of a group:
Normative social influence occurs when a person conforms because they want to be accepted and liked by the group. They go along with the group to avoid rejection or social disapproval, even if they privately disagree.
Informational social influence occurs when a person conforms because they believe the group has better knowledge or information than they do. The person genuinely accepts the group's view as correct.
Kelman (1958) identified three levels of conformity:
flowchart TB
K["Kelman 1958<br/>Three types of<br/>conformity"] --> C["COMPLIANCE<br/>public change ONLY<br/>private disagreement"]
K --> ID["IDENTIFICATION<br/>public + private<br/>change while in group"]
K --> IN["INTERNALISATION<br/>public + private<br/>permanent change"]
C --> CD["Driven by NSI<br/>’fit in / be liked’"]
ID --> IDD["Driven by NSI + ISI<br/>identify with group"]
IN --> IND["Driven by ISI<br/>’be right / accept truth’"]
CD --> CE["Example: laughing at<br/>an unfunny joke"]
IDD --> IDE["Example: adopting team<br/>culture at new job"]
IND --> INE["Example: genuinely<br/>changing your beliefs"]
| Type | Description | Duration | Public/Private |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance | Going along with the group publicly but privately disagreeing | Temporary — stops when group pressure is removed | Public only |
| Identification | Conforming because you identify with the group and want to be part of it | Lasts as long as group membership continues | Both public and private (while in the group) |
| Internalisation | Genuinely accepting the group's views as your own — the deepest level of conformity | Permanent — persists even when the group is no longer present | Both public and private |
Understanding social influence helps explain:
Social influence operates constantly, often without our awareness. Consider some everyday examples:
These examples show that social influence is not just a laboratory phenomenon — it is woven into everyday experience. Understanding the mechanisms (NSI, ISI, obedience, diffusion of responsibility) helps us notice and, where appropriate, resist it.
Before moving to the worked study, note two further points that often appear in higher-tier answers.
Although you will study Asch in depth in Lesson 2, it is useful to meet the key findings now because they underpin the concepts introduced here (conformity, NSI and ISI).
Aim: To investigate whether ordinary people would conform to a group's clearly incorrect answer on a straightforward perceptual judgement task, thereby testing the power of normative social influence when the correct answer was unambiguous.
Procedure: Asch tested 123 male American student volunteers, each in a group of 6-8 confederates. Participants were shown a standard line and three comparison lines (A, B, C) and asked to state which matched the standard. The correct answer was always obvious. On 12 of 18 critical trials, the confederates unanimously gave the same wrong answer. The real participant always answered second to last, hearing the majority's incorrect responses first. Post-test interviews explored participants' reasons for conforming or resisting.
Findings: The average conformity rate on critical trials was 37%. 75% of participants conformed on at least one trial, while 25% never conformed. In interviews, most who conformed said they knew the answer was wrong but did not want to be ridiculed or stand out — a clear demonstration of normative social influence and compliance (public change without private change). A minority genuinely believed the group must be right (informational social influence).
Conclusion: Even on an unambiguous task, people conform to an incorrect majority primarily because of the social pressure to fit in. Conformity is not universal — a sizeable minority resist — but normative social influence is strong enough to override clear perceptual evidence in many participants.
GRAVE evaluation:
Misconception: "Conformity and obedience are basically the same thing — going along with what others want."
This is wrong. Conformity is change in behaviour or belief in response to peers or a group of equals — the pressure is usually implicit and horizontal. Obedience is following a direct order from a perceived authority figure — the pressure is explicit and vertical (superior to subordinate). The studies, explanations and evaluation are different: Asch, NSI and ISI for conformity; Milgram, agentic state and legitimate authority for obedience. Conflating the two loses AO1 marks because it shows you have not learned the key conceptual distinction, and AO2 marks because your application will go to the wrong theory.
9-mark exam question: Explain what is meant by social influence. Discuss different types of conformity with reference to research evidence. (9 marks: 3 AO1, 3 AO2, 3 AO3)
Grade 3-4 response (basic):
Social influence is when people affect how other people behave. There are different types like conformity and obedience. Conformity is going along with the group. Kelman said there are three types: compliance, identification and internalisation. Asch did a study where people agreed with the wrong answer. 37% conformed. A problem is this was just men. So social influence means people change because of other people.
Mark scheme feedback: Basic AO1, weak AO2, one AO3 point. Likely 3-4 marks.
Grade 5-6 response (clear):
Social influence is how other people affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. One form is conformity — changing behaviour to match a group. Kelman (1958) identified three types: compliance (public change, private disagreement — temporary), identification (public and private change while part of the group), and internalisation (permanent acceptance of group views). Conformity is driven by normative social influence (desire to be liked) or informational social influence (desire to be correct). Asch (1951) demonstrated NSI: 37% conformed on a line task and 75% conformed at least once, although 25% never conformed. A strength is Asch's standardised procedure. A weakness is the all-male US sample, so findings may not generalise.
Mark scheme feedback: Accurate AO1 with specifics; AO2 links Kelman and Asch; AO3 has two points. Likely 5-6 marks.
Grade 7-9 response (detailed and evaluative):
Social influence is the process by which other people affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviour and includes conformity, obedience, prosocial and anti-social behaviour. Conformity specifically refers to change in response to a peer group, and Kelman (1958) distinguished three types: compliance (public-only, temporary change, driven largely by normative social influence), identification (public and private change adopted while part of a valued group, combining NSI and ISI), and internalisation (permanent public and private change based on genuine acceptance, driven by informational social influence). Asch's (1951) line study supports NSI: conformity on critical trials averaged 37%, with 75% conforming at least once, but 25% never conforming — demonstrating that NSI is powerful but not universal. A single dissenter in Asch's variations cut conformity to 5.5%, highlighting the importance of unanimity. A strength of Kelman's typology is that it maps neatly onto the NSI/ISI mechanisms, giving a coherent account. Weaknesses include the difficulty of distinguishing identification and internalisation in practice (both involve private change), and cultural specificity of the supporting evidence — Smith and Bond (1993) reported conformity ranging from 14% to 58%, suggesting Kelman's categories may operate differently across individualist and collectivist cultures. Modern accounts therefore treat conformity types as interacting with culture and situational ambiguity rather than as fixed universal categories.
Mark scheme feedback: Accurate and detailed AO1; precise AO2 integrating Kelman and Asch; balanced AO3 with conceptual and cross-cultural critique. Likely 8-9 marks.
This content is aligned with the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182) specification, Paper 2: Social context and behaviour — Social influence. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, please refer to the official AQA specification document.