Social Influence | AQA GCSE Psychology (8182)
Social Influence
- 64 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Paper 2
- Paper 2
Social Influence is examined in Paper 2, Social context and behaviour.
It covers conformity and Asch's study, obedience, agency theory and the authoritarian personality, bystander intervention and Piliavin's subway study and crowd and collective behaviour.
Sample questions from Social Influence
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Conformity and Asch's study
On the critical trials, how often did Asch's participants give the wrong majority answer?
Show the answer
Participants gave the wrong majority answer on about 37% of the critical trials. -
Conformity and Asch's study
How can personality affect conformity?
Show the answer
People with low self-esteem or a strong need for approval tend to conform more. People with high self-esteem or an internal locus of control are more likely to resist. -
Obedience, agency theory and the authoritarian personality
What did Milgram conclude from his original study?
Show the answer
Milgram concluded that ordinary people will obey a legitimate authority even when it means harming someone. The situation, rather than a cruel personality, explained most of the obedience. -
Obedience, agency theory and the authoritarian personality
How does a harsh upbringing produce an authoritarian personality, according to Adorno?
Show the answer
Parents who use strict discipline and love that depends on good behaviour create hostility in the child. The child cannot express this hostility towards the parents, so displaces it onto weaker scapegoats. -
Bystander intervention and Piliavin's subway study
Why are people more likely to help a victim who is similar to them?
Show the answer
People feel more empathy for someone they see as similar to themselves. Levine found football fans more often helped an injured stranger wearing their own team's shirt. -
Bystander intervention and Piliavin's subway study
What were the main results of Piliavin's subway study?
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The ill victim with a cane was helped on 95% of trials, usually before the model stepped in. The drunk victim was helped on about 50% of trials. -
Crowd and collective behaviour
What is deindividuation?
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Deindividuation is the loss of a sense of personal identity when part of a crowd. A deindividuated person feels anonymous and less responsible for their actions. -
Crowd and collective behaviour
What did Watson find about culture and deindividuation?
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Watson studied records of warfare from many different societies. Warriors who changed their appearance before battle, such as with war paint, were more likely to kill or torture enemies.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Conformity and Asch's study | Conformity, Asch's line judgement study and its findings, and how majority size, anonymity, task difficulty, personality and expertise affect conforming. | 16 |
| Obedience, agency theory and the authoritarian personality | Milgram's obedience study and its variations, agency theory and the agentic state, the effect of authority, proximity and culture, and Adorno's authoritarian personality. | 16 |
| Bystander intervention and Piliavin's subway study | Prosocial behaviour, the effect of other bystanders, the cost of helping, similarity and expertise, and Piliavin's subway study with its findings and ethics. | 16 |
| Crowd and collective behaviour | Prosocial and antisocial crowds, social loafing and deindividuation, Zimbardo's and Diener's evidence, and the effects of culture, personality and morality. | 16 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA GCSE Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 619 questions with their answers.