Social Influence
AQA A Level Psychology — Paper 1 (3.1.1) — New Spec 2025 — Print Edition
SPEC 1 T Y P E S & E X P L A N AT I O N S O F C O N F O R M I T Y — A S C H
Types of Conformity Explanations for Conformity Asch (1951) — Variables
Compliance — publicly agree, ✦ NSI — Normative Social ✦ Line length task — confederates
privately disagree. Temporary, Influence. Conform to be gave wrong answers. 36.8%
surface-level change liked/accepted. Fear of rejection conformity overall
→ compliance
Internalisation — publicly AND ✦ ↓ Group size — only 2
privately agree. Genuine, lasting ✦ ISI — Informational Social confederates → 13.6%
change in beliefs Influence. Conform because conformity
unsure; believe others know
Identification removed from better → internalisation
✦ ↓ Unanimity — dissenter
new 2025 spec present → drops to 5.5%
✦ ↑ Task difficulty — harder →
more ISI conformity
✦ Lucas et al. — hard maths
→ more ISI conformity
✦ Perrin & Spencer —
engineers didn't conform →
cultural/historical bias
AQA A Level Psychology — Paper 1 (3.1.1) — New Spec 2025 — Print Edition
SPEC 1 T Y P E S & E X P L A N AT I O N S O F C O N F O R M I T Y — A S C H
Types of Conformity Explanations for Conformity Asch (1951) — Variables
Compliance — publicly agree, ✦ NSI — Normative Social ✦ Line length task — confederates
privately disagree. Temporary, Influence. Conform to be gave wrong answers. 36.8%
surface-level change liked/accepted. Fear of rejection conformity overall
→ compliance
Internalisation — publicly AND ✦ ↓ Group size — only 2
privately agree. Genuine, lasting ✦ ISI — Informational Social confederates → 13.6%
change in beliefs Influence. Conform because conformity
unsure; believe others know
Identification removed from better → internalisation
✦ ↓ Unanimity — dissenter
new 2025 spec present → drops to 5.5%
✦ ↑ Task difficulty — harder →
more ISI conformity
✦ Lucas et al. — hard maths
→ more ISI conformity
✦ Perrin & Spencer —
engineers didn't conform →
cultural/historical bias
