Use your knowledge of conformity and minority influence to explain the factors that will determine how successful the small group of students will be. [7 marks]

Social influence

This page contains a full set of AQA-style exam questions with detailed model answers, written for the updated AQA A-level Psychology specification (teaching from September 2025, exams from 2026). It focuses on short-answer and application-style questions (1–6 marks) and is designed to help students practise applying knowledge effectively under exam conditions.

Social influence

Jenny is a psychology teacher who works with six other teachers in the department...[6 marks]

Marcus wants to persuade his group of friends to go travelling in the summer but the rest of the group would like to go on a beach holiday. [3 marks]

In a sixth form debating society, Samina is the only student in a group of six who does not believe that drugs should be legalised...[4 marks]

Steph's psychology teacher is leaving at the end of term...[6 marks]

Maya wants to encourage the workers in her office to use their own reusable cups at work, rather than the disposable paper cups provided by the company...[2 marks]

Outline consistency as a factor in minority influence. [2 marks]

Outline flexibility as a factor in minority influence. [2 marks]

Which factors affecting minority influence are illustrated by the following examples? [3 marks]

Students Natasha and Tanya are buying food in the supermarket on their way home from school...[6 marks]

Daniel and Matthew are in the same class at school but have very different views on success...[6 marks]

A teacher was absent and left work for students to complete during the lesson...[4 marks]

A teacher asked her class for a volunteer to talk to future A-level students...[3 marks]

Outline and briefly evaluate locus of control as an explanation of resistance to social influence. [6 marks]

Briefly evaluate social support as an explanation of resistance to social influence. [4 marks]

Using your knowledge of psychology, explain why some people might resist pressures to conform. [4 marks]

Explain what is meant by locus of control. [4 marks]

Outline two explanations of resistance to social influence. [4 marks]

When we are in a large group of friends, it is very easy to agree with them and simply go along with their views. However, sometimes we are able to resist the pressure to conform...[2 marks]

Name one explanation of resistance to social influence. [1 mark]

A psychologist studying obedience conducted the following experiment...[10 marks]

Some research into obedience has been carried out in laboratories...[4 marks]

What do these results suggest about the power of the confederates in variations of Milgram's study? [4 marks]

A senior army instructor is advising new instructors how to ensure discipline in training classes...[6 marks]

tudents Natasha and Tanya are buying food in the supermarket on their way home from school...[6 marks]

Charlie has just started at a new school. He has become friendly with a group of boys in his year group. Charlie thinks they are 'cool'...[6 marks]

Amal is in a car park spray painting her name on a wall...[4 marks]

In a hospital, you are very likely to obey a nurse...[4 marks]

When you are a passenger on a train, you are much more likely to move to another seat if the ticket collector tells you to move than if another passenger tells you to do so... [4 marks]

Outline two explanations for obedience. [6 marks]

Describe the dispositional explanation for obedience. [6 marks]

Identify two factors that have been shown to affect obedience to authority. Briefly discuss how each of these factors affects obedience to authority. [6 marks]

Explain one or more reasons why people obey authority. [6 marks]

Briefly discuss the Authoritarian Personality as an explanation for obedience to authority. [4 marks]

Some psychologists criticise Milgram's research into obedience to authority, in terms of both methodological issues and ethical issues. Explain two criticisms of Milgram's research. [6 marks]

Milgram's experiments into obedience can be criticised as being unethical. Describe two ethical issues that can be illustrated by Milgram's research. [4 marks]

Briefly outline and evaluate the authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience to authority. [4 marks]

Outline the authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience. [4 marks]

Outline and explain the findings of Milgram's investigation into the effect of location on obedience. [4 marks]

Outline two explanations of why people obey. [4 marks]

Milgram's work into obedience provided us with valuable insights into why people obey, even though it was carried out in a laboratory. Outline two explanations of why people obey. [4 marks]

Apart from ethical issues, briefly evaluate the methodology of Milgram's research into obedience. [4 marks]

Apart from ethical issues, give one strength and one limitation of Milgram's methodology. [4 marks]

Describe two ethical issues that can be illustrated by Milgram's research into obedience to authority. [4 marks]

Outline one alternative explanation for obedience. [3 marks]

Outline one limitation of the Authoritarian Personality explanation for obedience. [2 marks]

Outline what is meant by 'agentic state' as an explanation for obedience. [2 marks]

Milgram's work can be criticised for being unethical. Describe one way in which his work is unethical. [2 marks]

Suggest one limitation of the Authoritarian Personality as an explanation for obedience. [1 mark]

Which two of the following are situational variables that can affect obedience? [2 marks]

According to the Authoritarian Personality explanation for obedience, people who show unquestioning obedience… [1 mark]

Which of the following statements best describes the agentic state? [1 mark]

For variations of Milgram's experiment, which of the following statements is true? [1 mark]

Use your knowledge of conformity and minority influence to explain the factors that will determine how successful the small group of students will be. [7 marks]

Use your knowledge of conformity to explain Charlie's behaviour. [6 marks]

A researcher carried out a study based on Asch's research to see if task difficulty affects conformity...[10 marks]

A psychologist investigated differences in conformity between two age groups....[6 marks]

Identify three variables affecting conformity and outline how each of these was investigated in Asch's experiment. [6 marks]

Briefly outline and evaluate normative social influence as an explanation for conformity. [4 marks]

Studies of conformity are sometimes criticised for being unethical. Briefly explain two ways in which psychologists might address ethical issues in social influence research. [4 marks]

Suggest two reasons why Asch's conformity investigations could be considered to be unrealistic. [4 marks]

Explain two ethical limitations of Asch's investigations into conformity. [4 marks]

Outline how two variables investigated by Asch affected conformity. [4 marks]

Explain how Asch's conformity research illustrates one of these features of science. [3 marks]

Briefly outline three findings from Asch's research into conformity. [3 marks]

Outline informational social influence as an explanation for conformity. [3 marks]

In psychology, participants are often deceived about the real aims of the research. Explain why researchers often use deception in conformity research studies. [2 marks]

Briefly outline how two variables investigated by Asch were found to affect conformity. [2 marks]