AQA A Level Psychology
AQA A Level Psychology 3.1.1 Social Influence Exam Questions
Free AQA A Level Psychology exam questions for 3.1.1 Social Influence, with a mark scheme for every pack. Covers conformity, obedience, resistance to social influence, minority influence and how social influence leads to social change.
3.1.1 Social Influence exam questions
5 question packs of real past exam questions, each with its mark scheme. Do not stop after a few: answer as many as you can without notes, then mark every answer with the mark scheme. The more questions you do, the more quickly you will spot how examiners ask about each idea.
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About AQA A Level Psychology 3.1.1 Social Influence
Social Influence is one of the four introductory topics on AQA A Level Psychology Paper 1. It explains why people conform to groups, obey authority figures and sometimes resist, and how minorities can change majority opinion over time. You need to know the classic studies by Asch, Zimbardo and Milgram in detail, including their procedures, findings and ethical problems. The topic links closely to research methods (lab experiments, ethics, validity) and to Issues and Debates on Paper 3 (free will, culture bias). Examiners often ask for short descriptions of explanations, application questions about a scenario, and 16 mark essays evaluating explanations of obedience or conformity.
What you need to know
- Types and explanations of conformity Kelman's three types are compliance, identification and internalisation. Deutsch and Gerard (1955) explained conformity through normative social influence (wanting to be liked) and informational social influence (wanting to be right).
- Asch and variables Asch (1951) found about 37% conformity on critical line judgement trials, with 75% conforming at least once. Conformity rose with group size up to about three confederates, fell sharply with a dissenter (unanimity) and rose when the task was harder.
- Conformity to social roles Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1973) showed students quickly adopting guard and prisoner roles; it was stopped after six days. It is criticised for ethics, Zimbardo's dual role and possible demand characteristics.
- Obedience Milgram (1963) found 65% of 40 men went to 450V and all went to 300V. Variations showed proximity, location and uniform affect obedience. Situational explanations are the agentic state and legitimacy of authority; the dispositional explanation is the Authoritarian Personality (Adorno et al., 1950), measured with the F-scale.
- Resistance to social influence Social support (a dissenter or disobedient peer) helps people resist, and people with an internal locus of control (Rotter) are more likely to resist pressure than those with an external locus.
- Minority influence and social change Moscovici et al. (1969) showed a consistent minority produced about 8% green responses to blue slides compared with about 1% for an inconsistent one. Consistency, commitment and flexibility lead to conversion, and social change happens through processes such as the snowball effect and social cryptomnesia.
Common mistakes in 3.1.1 Social Influence
- Confusing compliance with internalisation: compliance is public agreement only, while internalisation is a genuine change of private beliefs.
- Describing the agentic state as simply obeying orders; it is a mental state where the person sees themselves as acting for the authority figure and so feels no personal responsibility, with moral strain resolved by binding factors.
- Saying Milgram's participants were all fooled; some doubted the shocks were real, which is a key internal validity criticism.
- Treating locus of control as a type of social support; it is a dispositional (personality) factor, while social support is situational.
- Writing generic evaluation such as 'it lacks ecological validity' without explaining how the artificial task affects the conclusion about real-world obedience.
Try three 3.1.1 Social Influence exam-style questions
1. Explain what is meant by informational social influence. (2 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Conformity because a person wants to be right; they look to others who they believe have better knowledge, especially in ambiguous or difficult situations; this often leads to internalisation.
2. Outline the Authoritarian Personality as an explanation of obedience. (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Proposed by Adorno et al. (1950); a personality type linked to strict, harsh parenting with conditional love; hostility to parents is displaced onto weaker or out-group people; such people show extreme respect for authority and see the world in black and white terms; measured using the F-scale; high scorers are more likely to obey.
3. Describe the role of consistency in minority influence. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
The minority must keep the same view over time (diachronic consistency) and agree with each other (synchronic consistency); consistency makes the majority reconsider their position and look more closely at the argument; Moscovici et al. found a consistent minority produced more green responses than an inconsistent one.
3.1.1 Social Influence FAQs
What does AQA A Level Psychology Social Influence cover?
It covers types and explanations of conformity, Asch and Zimbardo, obedience and Milgram, explanations of obedience, resistance to social influence, minority influence and how social influence processes contribute to social change.
Which paper is Social Influence examined in?
Social Influence is examined on AQA A Level Paper 1, Introductory Topics in Psychology, alongside Memory, Attachment and Psychopathology.
Which studies should I learn in detail for Social Influence?
Learn Asch (1951) and its variations, Zimbardo (1973), Milgram (1963) and its variations, and Moscovici et al. (1969), including the procedure, key findings and at least two evaluation points for each.
