Social Influence – Tuesday 7th of April 11:00 – 12:00

Conformity is a type of social influence where a person changes their behaviour, attitudes or beliefs to match those of a group. It is often linked to majority influence, as people may follow larger groups due to a sense of safety in numbers. Minority influence can also happen, but it is less common.

Compliance WEAKEST

• A person goes along with the group publicly, but still disagrees with them privately.

• This means behaviour changes, but beliefs do not.

• It is only a surface-level, temporary change, so it usually stops when group pressure is removed.

Examples: 🔸 Eating vegetarian with friends but eating meat when alone. 🔸 Laughing at a joke you do not actually find funny.

Identification MODERATE

• A person conforms because they value the group and want to belong to it.

• The person may adopt group behaviours both publicly and to some extent privately.

• However, it is usually still temporary, because the behaviour may stop once the person leaves the group.

Examples: 🔸 Dressing like a friendship group to fit in. 🔸 Copying the language or behaviour of influencers or a valued group. 🔸 Acting according to a social role such as teacher or police officer.

Internalisation DEEPEST

• This is the deepest form of conformity.

• A person accepts the group’s beliefs as their own, both publicly and privately.

• Because there is a genuine belief change, the behaviour is often long-term or permanent.

Examples: 🔸 Adopting new political or religious beliefs. 🔸 Changing your lifestyle, attitudes and identity to match a group.

QUICK COMPARISON

Type	Public change?	Private change?	Permanent?
Compliance	✓ Yes	✗ No	✗ No
Identification	✓ Yes	✓ Somewhat	✗ Usually no
Internalisation	✓ Yes	✓ Yes	✓ Yes

💡 Examiner Tips and Tricks

You may be asked to identify a specific type of conformity from an example in the exam question.

Before you start writing, highlight or underline the key evidence in the stem so that you clearly refer back to it in your answer.

Quick clue: If it stops when the person leaves the group, it is likely compliance. If the behaviour is genuine but temporary, it is likely identification. If the change is genuine and lasting, it is internalisation.

2. Explanations for Conformity — click to expand

▶ LESSON

SUMMARY VIDEO

Lesson Notes

Deutsch and Gerard (1955) proposed a two-process theory to explain why people conform. They identified two distinct types of social influence: Informational Social Influence (ISI) and Normative Social Influence (NSI).

Informational Social Influence (ISI) INTERNALISATION

• ISI occurs when a person looks to others for guidance because they are uncertain about what is correct.

• The person genuinely believes the group is right and accepts their view as correct — this leads to internalisation.

• Most likely to occur in ambiguous situations (where the answer is unclear) or when the task is difficult.

• Also more likely when others in the group are seen as experts.

Examples: 🔸 A new student watching how others behave in a lab practical because they don’t know the correct procedure. 🔸 Asking someone who looks confident which answer to choose in a difficult quiz.

Link to type of conformity: ISI leads to internalisation — the person privately agrees with the group, so the change is genuine and lasting.

Normative Social Influence (NSI) COMPLIANCE

• NSI occurs when a person conforms in order to gain approval or avoid rejection from the group.

• The person does not necessarily agree with the group — they conform to fit in and be liked.

• This is based on our need for social belonging — humans are social animals who fear rejection.

• Most likely in situations where the person cares about the opinions of others in the group.

Examples: 🔸 Laughing at a joke you don’t find funny so you don’t seem boring in front of friends. 🔸 Going along with a group’s decision you privately disagree with to avoid conflict.

Link to type of conformity: NSI leads to compliance — the person only changes their public behaviour, not their private beliefs.

⚡ ISI vs NSI — QUICK COMPARISON

Feature	ISI	NSI
Why conform?	To be correct	To be liked
Private belief changes?	✓ Yes	✗ No
Type of conformity	Internalisation	Compliance
When most likely?	Ambiguous or difficult situations	When approval matters
Motivated by	Need to be right	Need to belong

💡 Examiner Tips and Tricks

Exam questions often give you a scenario and ask you to identify whether it is ISI or NSI — always justify your answer using the stem.

The key question to ask yourself: Is the person conforming because they don’t know the right answer (ISI) or because they want to fit in / avoid rejection (NSI)?

Also link to types of conformity — ISI = internalisation, NSI = compliance. Examiners love it when you make this connection explicitly.

Evaluation point to remember: Research support for NSI comes from Asch (1951) — when participants whispered answers privately, conformity dropped, suggesting they had been conforming to avoid looking foolish (NSI).

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