Factors Affecting Conformity and Obedience
Two different pressures that get called the same thing. What makes a person go along with a group, what makes them follow an order, and what makes some people refuse.
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Two pressures, one word 👥
People use "peer pressure" for everything. Psychology does not, and the mark scheme really does not: **conformity and obedience are different things, with different causes.** Getting the word wrong is expensive, because each one comes with its own set of factors. Name the wrong pressure and every factor you then write about belongs to the other question. So this module starts with the distinction and then takes each side in turn.
Nobody told you, or somebody did ↔️
One test separates them: **was there an order?**
Which pressure is this? ❓
A new employee notices that nobody in the office takes a full lunch break, so she starts cutting hers short. No one has said anything to her about it. Which is this?
- Conformity, because she is matching the group without being told to
- Obedience, because workplaces have rules
- Both equally, since a workplace has a hierarchy
- Neither, because she decided freely
What makes conformity stronger 🗂️
The specification wants **situation** and **personality** for conformity. These are the situational ones, described by direction rather than by numbers:
Match each change to what happens to conformity
- One other person breaks the group's unanimity
- The task becomes much harder to judge
- Answers are given privately rather than out loud
- The person happens to be an expert on the task
- conformity falls sharply
- conformity rises, as people assume the group knows better
- conformity falls, since there is no group to face
- conformity is lower, because they trust their own judgement
Which one is obedience? ✍️
An interactive activity.
What makes obedience stronger 🎖️
Again the specification wants **situation** and **personality**:
Which raise obedience? ✅
Select the TWO changes that would make obedience MORE likely.
- The person giving the order is in the room rather than phoning instructions in
- The person giving the order wears a uniform that signals their role
- Someone else present refuses to comply
- The full demand is made at the start rather than built up in small steps
Say which one is doing the work ⚖️
The specification asks for **personality** and **situation** on both conformity and obedience, and most answers list some of each and stop. That is worth about half the marks. **A strong answer says which is doing more work in the scenario in front of you**, and why. If the question describes a uniform, a prestigious setting and an order given face to face, the situation is carrying it. If it describes one person refusing while everyone else complies, personality has become the interesting part. **Locus of control** is worth knowing by name here. Someone with an **internal** locus sees outcomes as following from their own choices, and resists both pressures more readily; someone with an **external** locus sees outcomes as decided by circumstances or other people.
Preventing blind obedience 🪜
An interactive activity.
Name the factor 🧭
An interactive activity.
The summary 📝
_____ is changing your behaviour to match a group, with nobody ordering you to. _____ is following a direct order from somebody with authority. Conformity is strongest when the group is _____ in its view, and one person disagreeing reduces it sharply. Obedience is stronger when the authority is close by, wears a _____, and builds the demand in small steps. And someone with an internal _____ of control is more likely to resist both.
Your turn 📄
An interactive activity.