Psychology · Year 10 · Social Influence · 5.º Período

Conformity and Dispositional Factors

Students will explore why people conform to group pressures, referencing Asch's classic research. They will evaluate how dispositional factors like self-esteem influence conformity.

TL;DR:Conformity is the tendency to change our behaviour or beliefs to match those of a group. Students explore Solomon Asch's landmark research into majority influence and the reasons why people 'go along' with the crowd, even when they know the crowd is wrong. They also examine how individual personality traits, or dispositional factors, can make someone more or less likely to conform.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• GCSE Psychology (AQA) 3.2.2.1: Conformity
• GCSE Psychology (AQA) 3.2.2.2: Dispositional factors in social influence

About This Topic

Conformity is the tendency to change our behaviour or beliefs to match those of a group. Students explore Solomon Asch's landmark research into majority influence and the reasons why people 'go along' with the crowd, even when they know the crowd is wrong. They also examine how individual personality traits, or dispositional factors, can make someone more or less likely to conform.

This topic is a key part of the GCSE Social Influence unit, as it helps students understand the power of social pressure in everyday life. It also introduces the idea that our behaviour is a mix of situational and personal factors. Students grasp this concept faster through structured discussion and peer explanation of their own experiences with peer pressure.

Key Questions

1. Why do individuals conform to a majority?
2. What was Asch's conformity experiment?
3. How does personality affect the likelihood of conforming?

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Conformity is always a bad thing.

What to Teach Instead

Conformity helps society function by creating shared norms, like driving on the correct side of the road. A 'pros and cons' debate can help students see the functional side of social influence.

Common Misconception

Only 'weak' people conform.

What to Teach Instead

Asch's research showed that even intelligent, independent people conform in certain situations. Using a simulation helps students feel the genuine social pressure that makes conformity a universal human experience.

Active Learning Ideas

Simulation Game

The Asch Line Test

Replicate a simplified version of Asch's experiment. A few 'confederates' in the class purposely give the wrong answer to a simple visual task to see if the 'naive' participant will conform to the majority view.

30 min·Whole Class

Think-Pair-Share

Why Do We Conform?

Students think of a time they conformed to a group. They discuss in pairs whether they did it to 'be right' (informational influence) or to 'be liked' (normative influence) and share their findings with the class.

20 min·Pairs

Inquiry Circle

Personality and Conformity

Groups research dispositional factors like self-esteem, locus of control, and expertise. They create a 'Conformity Profile' for a person who is highly likely to resist group pressure and one who is highly likely to follow it.

40 min·Small Groups

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between normative and informational social influence?

Normative influence is when we conform because we want to be liked and accepted by the group. Informational influence is when we conform because we are unsure of the answer and look to others because we believe they are right.

What did Asch's experiment show about conformity?

Asch found that about 75% of participants conformed at least once when a group gave a clearly wrong answer. This proved that the pressure to fit in can be strong enough to make people ignore the evidence of their own eyes.

How does group size affect conformity?

Conformity tends to increase as the group size grows, but only up to a point. Asch found that conformity peaked with a majority of three people; adding more people beyond that didn't significantly increase the pressure to conform.

How can active learning help students understand conformity?

By participating in social influence simulations, students experience the 'uncomfortable' feeling of disagreeing with a group. This emotional connection makes the theoretical reasons for conformity (like normative influence) much more relatable and easier to remember.