The Psychology of Social Influence. A Complete Guide.

Types of Conformity in Social Psychology

Conformity refers to a change in a person’s behaviour or beliefs as a result of real or imagined pressure from a group. It is a central concept in social psychology, helping to explain how group dynamics can influence individual attitudes and behaviour.

Deutsch and Gerard (1955) proposed two key processes that explain conformity: normative social influence (NSI), where individuals conform to be liked or accepted by the group, and informational social influence (ISI), where they conform because they believe others have superior knowledge.

There are three main types of conformity, each with different implications for behaviour and internal belief systems:

1. Compliance

This is the most superficial form of conformity. An individual publicly agrees with the group but privately disagrees. The behaviour or opinion stops as soon as group pressure is removed. This is often motivated by NSI, where the individual seeks social approval or wishes to avoid disapproval.

Example: Laughing at a joke you don’t find funny because everyone else in your group is laughing.

2. Identification

In identification, an individual conforms to the expectations of a social role or group because they value membership in that group. The person may change both their public and private beliefs, but this change is often temporary and may not persist once they leave the group.

Example: A person joining the army may adopt its values and dress code, but these behaviours may change after they leave the military environment.

3. Internalisation

This is the deepest and most permanent form of conformity. The individual genuinely adopts the group’s beliefs or behaviours both publicly and privately, often due to ISI. The new beliefs become part of their value system and usually endure even when the group is not present.

Example: Converting to a religion after being influenced by a group’s discussions and genuinely believing in its teachings.

Student Questions

Knowledge & Understanding (AO1):

1. Define the term compliance and explain how it differs from internalisation.

2. What is meant by identification, and how might it apply in a professional or social setting?

3. Outline how informational social influence might lead to internalisation.

Application (AO2):
4. Sophie joins a new school and starts dressing like her classmates, even though she prefers a different style. Which type of conformity is she displaying and why?
5. A man changes his opinion about climate change after hearing a well-researched group presentation. His views have changed even a year later. Which type of conformity does this represent?

Extension/Discussion (AO3-style):
6. Why might it be difficult to distinguish between identification and internalisation in real-life situations?
7. How could cultural or situational factors affect the type of conformity someone displays?

Solomon Asch’s Conformity Study (1951, 1955)

Background and Aim

Solomon Asch conducted one of the most influential experiments in social psychology to investigate conformity—the extent to which individuals yield to or match the opinions and behaviours of a group.

Asch aimed to examine whether people would conform to the majority opinion in a situation where the correct answer was unambiguous. This challenged the belief that individuals are largely rational and resistant to group pressure in obvious tasks.

Procedure

• Participants: 123 male American college students (volunteers), who believed they were taking part in a study on visual perception.

• Design: A lab experiment using a controlled setting.

• Group size: Each participant was placed in a group with 6–8 confederates (people who were “in on” the experiment). The true participant was always seated second to last.

• Task:

  • Participants were shown a standard line and three comparison lines (A, B, C).

  • They had to publicly state which line matched the standard line in length.

  • The correct answer was always obvious.

• Critical trials: On 12 of 18 trials, the confederates were instructed to unanimously give the wrong answer before the participant responded.

Findings

• Conformity rate:

  • On the critical trials, the average conformity rate was 32%—i.e., participants conformed to the incorrect majority on about a third of these trials.

  • 75% of participants conformed at least once.

  • 25% never conformed.

  • When interviewed, many said they conformed to avoid rejection (normative social influence), even though they knew the group was wrong.

• Control condition: With no group pressure, participants made mistakes less than 1% of the time, showing the task was not difficult or ambiguous.

Conclusions

Asch concluded that people are strongly influenced by group pressure, even when the answer is clear. This shows the power of normative social influence: the desire to fit in and avoid standing out or being ridiculed.

Asch’s Variations

Asch conducted several variations to investigate the situational variables affecting conformity:

Variation Description Effect on Conformity Group size

Increased the number of confederates (from 1 to 15). Conformity rose with 3 confederates (to 32%), then levelled off. Unanimity introduced a dissenting confederate who gave a different wrong or correct answerConformity dropped to 5–10%. Task difficulty, the line lengths are more similarConformity increased (linked to informational social influence)

Evaluation of Asch’s Study

Strengths:

• High control: Lab setting allowed control of variables and replication.

• Groundbreaking: First to quantify conformity in an unambiguous situation.

• Influential: Formed the basis for later research into social influence.

Limitations:

• Lacks ecological validity: Artificial task in a lab; unlikely to mirror real-life decisions.

• Biased sample: All male, American college students—may not generalise to women or other cultures (ethnocentric).

• Temporal validity: Conducted in the 1950s, a period of high conformity in the US due to McCarthyism (Perrin & Spencer [1980] found much lower conformity in UK science students).

• Ethical issues: Participants were deceived and may have felt embarrassed.

Key Terms

• Normative Social Influence (NSI): Conforming to be liked or accepted.

• Informational Social Influence (ISI): Conforming because we believe others are right.

• Compliance: Publicly conforming while privately disagreeing.

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Moscovici’s Minority Influence (1969) | A-Level Psychology

In this video, we break down Moscovici’s classic study on minority influence — a key topic in AQA A-Level Psychology. You’ll learn:

✅ The aim, procedure, and findings of Moscovici’s 1969 blue–green slide study
✅ How a consistent minority can influence the majority
✅ The role of consistency, commitment, and flexibility in minority influence
✅ Evaluation points, strengths, and limitations of the research
✅ Links to real-life examples of social change

This video is perfect for A-Level Psychology revision, exam preparation, or anyone interested in how social influence works.

? Part of the Social Influence topic in AQA Psychology.
? Covers AO1 (description), AO3 (evaluation), and application to the exam.

? Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to The Psychology Tutoring Academy for more psychology revision videos!

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