This mini-lesson covers the OCR Social Influence topic: conformity and Asch's study, obedience and Milgram's core study, the factors that affect each, and Bocchiaro's study of disobedience and whistle-blowing.
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Every fact here is anchored to a named study or theory on the OCR GCSE Psychology (J203) Social Influence topic. Press Start when you're ready.
Social influence · conformity
Conformity & Asch's study
Conformity is changing behaviour or opinion to match a group (majority influence).
Asch asked participants to match line lengths while confederates gave wrong answers.
Participants conformed to the wrong majority about one third (around 33%) of the time.
Conformity happens partly to fit in and partly because we doubt ourselves.
Quick check
Asch's finding
?In Asch's study, roughly what proportion of critical responses agreed with the wrong majority?
Social influence · factors
Factors affecting conformity
Several factors change how much people conform:
Group size — conformity rises with the majority up to about 3–4.
Anonymity — private answers reduce conformity.
Task difficulty — harder, less obvious tasks increase conformity.
Quick check
What raises conformity?
?Conformity tends to increase when a task is:
Social influence · Milgram
Obedience & Milgram's core study
Obedience is following a direct order from an authority figure. The OCR core study is Milgram (1963):
Participants were ordered to give increasing 'electric shocks' to a learner (actually an actor).
Around 65% continued to the maximum (apparently dangerous) shock when told to by the experimenter.
This showed ordinary people can obey authority even when it conflicts with their conscience.
Sort it
Sort: conformity or obedience?
Tap a term, then tap the group it belongs to.
🔁 Both / general
🪞 Conformity
🎖️ Obedience
Quick check
Milgram's finding
?In Milgram's core study, roughly what proportion of participants gave the maximum shock?
Social influence · Bocchiaro
Bocchiaro's study of disobedience
The OCR core study on disobedience is Bocchiaro et al (2012):
Participants were asked by an authority figure to do something unethical (recruit others to a stressful study).
Most obeyed; only a minority disobeyed, and even fewer became whistle-blowers who reported it.
It shows that resisting authority — and speaking out — is rarer and harder than people predict.
Link: Milgram shows how strong obedience is; Bocchiaro shows how rare active disobedience and whistle-blowing are.
Match it
Match the social-influence idea
Tap a description on the left, then its matching term on the right.
Statement
Answer
Quick check
Bocchiaro's study
?Bocchiaro's study is mainly about:
Social influence · evaluation
Evaluating Milgram and Bocchiaro
The core studies have strengths and criticisms:
Milgram: striking, standardised procedure, but serious ethical concerns.
Bocchiaro: shows disobedience and whistle-blowing are rare, but the situation was artificial.
Both reveal how strongly people respond to authority.