AQA A Level Psychology Social Influence
Exam 2026 Questions and Answers
State the definition of conformity - Correct answer-An individual is said to be
conforming if they choose a course of action that is favoured by the majority of the
group members.
State and explain the three types of conformity - Correct answer-Compliance -
Individuals follow what the group is doing in order to be accepted or to fit in, even
if there personal views may differ to the one they are portraying. This will not
chance their underlying attitude towards something. (Asch)
Internalisation - This involves both public and private attitudes and is where the
individual may believe that the groups view, after close inspection, is correct and
theirs is wrong. This leads them to changing their public and private view towards
something in order to be correct. This is the deepest level of conformity and
becomes a permanent attitude. (Sherif's Autokinetic)
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,Identification - The individuals attitudes both private and publicly will change but
in this case only for a temporary amount of time and also is in order to fit in and be
liked, essentially it is a mix of compliance and internalisation. (Zimbardo)
There are two explanations for conformity, outline and explain them - Correct
answer-Normative Social Influence - This is where people go along with a majority
in order to feel that they fit in and not be ridiculed for having a different opinion to
everyone else.
Informational Social Influence - Occurs when an individual accepts information
from the majority as they see them as experts or someone with more understanding
of a particular subject. This is done in order to be correct.
Outline and evaluate a study into informational social influence - Correct answer-
Jenness setup an ambiguous situation where participants were asked individually to
estimate how many beans were in a glass bottle they were shown. This was
recorded and participants were then put in a room with a group of people and asked
as a group to come to an estimate. Again they were asked individually if they
would like to change their original estimate, and nearly all of them decided they
would like to change. This shows that most of them went through informational
social influence where they conformed with a group in order to be correct.
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, :) - Unlike other research into conformity there is no deceiving so it is ethically
sound
:( - Doesn't give us any insight into non ambiguous situations where conformity
occurs
Outline and evaluate a study into Normative social influence - Correct answer-
Asch conducted a lab experiment where 50 male students where individually the
participants were put in a room with 7 confederates and took part in a 'vision test'.
The confederates were told before hand to answer wrongly for every task. They
were shown a line and then followed 3 lines on a separate card, named A, B and C.
They had to match which from A, B and C matched with the original line they
were shown. Asch measure the times that participants conformed with the majority
and found that around 1/3rd conformed. Over the 12 critical trials 75% conformed
at least once, compared to less than 1% in the control group. When interviewed
after and asked why they conformed they stated that they wanted to fit in and not
be ridiculed by the group.
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Exam 2026 Questions and Answers
State the definition of conformity - Correct answer-An individual is said to be
conforming if they choose a course of action that is favoured by the majority of the
group members.
State and explain the three types of conformity - Correct answer-Compliance -
Individuals follow what the group is doing in order to be accepted or to fit in, even
if there personal views may differ to the one they are portraying. This will not
chance their underlying attitude towards something. (Asch)
Internalisation - This involves both public and private attitudes and is where the
individual may believe that the groups view, after close inspection, is correct and
theirs is wrong. This leads them to changing their public and private view towards
something in order to be correct. This is the deepest level of conformity and
becomes a permanent attitude. (Sherif's Autokinetic)
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVE 1
,Identification - The individuals attitudes both private and publicly will change but
in this case only for a temporary amount of time and also is in order to fit in and be
liked, essentially it is a mix of compliance and internalisation. (Zimbardo)
There are two explanations for conformity, outline and explain them - Correct
answer-Normative Social Influence - This is where people go along with a majority
in order to feel that they fit in and not be ridiculed for having a different opinion to
everyone else.
Informational Social Influence - Occurs when an individual accepts information
from the majority as they see them as experts or someone with more understanding
of a particular subject. This is done in order to be correct.
Outline and evaluate a study into informational social influence - Correct answer-
Jenness setup an ambiguous situation where participants were asked individually to
estimate how many beans were in a glass bottle they were shown. This was
recorded and participants were then put in a room with a group of people and asked
as a group to come to an estimate. Again they were asked individually if they
would like to change their original estimate, and nearly all of them decided they
would like to change. This shows that most of them went through informational
social influence where they conformed with a group in order to be correct.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVE 2
, :) - Unlike other research into conformity there is no deceiving so it is ethically
sound
:( - Doesn't give us any insight into non ambiguous situations where conformity
occurs
Outline and evaluate a study into Normative social influence - Correct answer-
Asch conducted a lab experiment where 50 male students where individually the
participants were put in a room with 7 confederates and took part in a 'vision test'.
The confederates were told before hand to answer wrongly for every task. They
were shown a line and then followed 3 lines on a separate card, named A, B and C.
They had to match which from A, B and C matched with the original line they
were shown. Asch measure the times that participants conformed with the majority
and found that around 1/3rd conformed. Over the 12 critical trials 75% conformed
at least once, compared to less than 1% in the control group. When interviewed
after and asked why they conformed they stated that they wanted to fit in and not
be ridiculed by the group.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVE 3
