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social influence

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4 detailed 50-minute lessons with teaching scripts, worked examples, parent guides, and assessment criteria.

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Lesson Overview

Total Lessons: 4
Tier: Foundation and Higher
Duration: 50 minutes per lesson (200 minutes total)
Exam Boards: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CCEA

Learning Objectives

Prerequisites

Materials & Equipment

Lesson 1: Introduction: social influence

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Quick Recall

Write down everything you already know about social influence. Then check against the key terms: Psychology Exam Tips. Use a mini-whiteboard or paper.

Main Content (35 minutes)

Parent/Teacher Guide:
Before lesson: Read the script below. Pre-teach key vocab: Psychology Exam Tips.
If stuck: Re-read the revision notes (link above), then break the content into smaller steps.
Extension: See the Stretch & Challenge ideas in Lesson 4.
Teaching Script (35 mins):
Mins 0-5 - Hook: "Today: social influence. By the end you will be able to answer exam questions on it unaided. It connects to the rest of Psychology because the ideas here recur across the spec."
Mins 5-20 - Direct Instruction: Work through the core ideas below one at a time; after each, ask your student to explain it back in their own words.
Mins 20-30 - Guided Practice: Model the worked example together, then let your student attempt the first practice question with guidance.
Mins 30-35 - Independent Practice: 2-3 practice questions from Lesson 3 below, with immediate feedback.
First Look

Start with the revision notes summary, then attempt: Describe Asch's conformity experiment and evaluate its methodology.

Plenary (5 minutes)

Check Out

Your student states one thing they learned and one question they still have about social influence.

Lesson 2: Core Concepts: social influence

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Review Previous Lesson

Quick recap: write 3 key points from Lesson 1 on social influence. Check them against the notes below.

Main Content (35 minutes)

Key Fact: Conformity is changing your behaviour or beliefs to fit in with a group. Internalisation: genuinely accepting group norms (deep, lasting change). Identification: adopting group behaviour to gain membership. Compliance: going along publicly but not privately changing.
Key Fact: Asch's (1951) line conformity experiment: 75% of participants conformed at least once, giving a clearly wrong answer. Conformity increased with group size (up to 3) and unanimity, but decreased with a dissenting partner.
Key Fact: Milgram's (1963) obedience study: 65% of participants delivered the maximum 450V shock when instructed by an authority figure. Obedience increased with proximity of authority, legitimacy of the institution, and uniform.
Key Fact: Zimbardo's (1973) Stanford Prison Experiment: participants assigned as guards became abusive; prisoners became passive and distressed. The study showed how social roles can alter behaviour dramatically. Terminated after 6 days.
Key Fact: Factors affecting conformity: group size, task difficulty (harder tasks increase informational conformity), unanimity. Factors affecting obedience: proximity, location, uniform, buffers, and seeing others disobey.
Psychology Exam Tips: When evaluating social influence studies, always consider: ecological validity, cultural and historical bias, ethics, and real-world applications.

Practice (10 minutes)

Q: Describe Asch's conformity experiment and evaluate its methodology.

Answer: Asch showed 75% conformed at least once in a clearly wrong line-judgement task. Strengths: controlled, replicable, established key variables (group size, unanimity). Limitations: artificial task (low ecological validity), historically and culturally bound (1950s America), ethical issues (deception, stress).

Plenary (5 minutes)

Explain Back

Your student teaches the key points back to you without looking. Fill any gaps immediately.

Lesson 3: Application: social influence

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Quick Recall

Recall the key terms: Psychology Exam Tips. Define each in one sentence.

Main Content (35 minutes)

Parent/Teacher Guide: Let your student attempt each question alone first, then compare with the model answer. Award method marks for correct working even if the final answer is wrong.

Q1: Describe Asch's conformity experiment and evaluate its methodology.

Answer: Asch showed 75% conformed at least once in a clearly wrong line-judgement task. Strengths: controlled, replicable, established key variables (group size, unanimity). Limitations: artificial task (low ecological validity), historically and culturally bound (1950s America), ethical issues (deception, stress).

Q2: Explain why people obey authority, referring to Milgram's research.

Answer: People obey because: agentic state (people see themselves as agents executing orders), legitimacy of authority (uniform, institution), gradual commitment (each 15V increment is small), buffers (physical distance from the learner). Milgram showed that ordinary people can commit harmful acts when instructed by authority.

Q3: Evaluate the ethical issues in Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment.

Answer: Zimbardo's SPE raises serious ethical concerns: participants suffered emotional distress; lack of fully informed consent; Zimbardo acted as superintendent rather than researcher, losing objectivity; no right to withdraw initially. However, the study revealed powerful insights about how social roles influence behaviour.

Plenary (5 minutes)

Error Review

Review any questions answered incorrectly. Identify whether the error was knowledge, method, or reading the question.

Lesson 4: Exam Practice: social influence

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Command Words

Review what these command words require: state (one point), describe (say what happens), explain (say why), compare (both sides), evaluate (judgement).

Main Content (35 minutes)

Extended Answer

Extended question: Full-Mark Response Evaluate whether Milgram's research on obedience still has relevance today. <div class="

A grade 9 response will: describe Milgram's findings (65% obeyed to 450V); explain factors affecting obedience; evaluate methodology; discuss modern relevance (Burger 2009 found similar obedience with ethical safeguards; Hofling et al 1966 found real nurses obeyed unrealistic orders); conclude: Milgram's core finding - that ordinary people can obey harmful instructions - remains relevant.

Exam Tips: Conformity types: IIC - Internalisation (deepest), Identification (middle), Compliance (shallowest). | Asch = conformity (peer pressure). Milgram = obedience (authority). Zimbardo = social roles. | Dissenting partner reduces conformity dramatically - one person standing up makes it easier for others.
Common Errors: Watch Out! Students often make mistakes here. Wrong: People conform because they genuinely believe the group is right in every situation. Correct: People conform for different reasons depending on the situation: normative social influence (to fit in - leads to compliance) operates when the answer is obvious; informational social influence (because they believe the group knows better - leads to internalisation) operates when the situation is ambiguous.
Stretch & Challenge (Grade 8-9):
  • Synoptic links: explain how social influence connects to another Psychology topic you have studied
  • Real-world: research one real-world use or example of social influence
  • Critical: "What are the limitations of the models used in social influence?"

Plenary (5 minutes)

Assessment Criteria
  • Got it: Confident explanation + correct worked examples
  • Getting there: Main points OK, needs support with detail
  • Not yet: Confused on key concepts - re-run Lesson 2

Homework & Consolidation

Recommended Resources

🎓 Smart Lesson (Guided)