Key terms of social influence

The most reported error here: a scenario where somebody is told to act gets labelled conformity, or one where somebody copies the group gets labelled obedience. Test every scenario against one question — was a direct order given by someone in authority? If yes, obedience; if the only influence was the majority, conformity. The comparison, not the term, costs marks.

Asked for the difference between conformity and obedience, candidates write two definitions side by side, leaving the difference only implied — one mark of two. The second mark comes from a connective naming the axis: conformity is matching a majority with no order given, whereas obedience is following an order from an authority figure. Use whereas.

Asked what the bystander effect is, candidates answer diffusion of responsibility — a reason for it, not the effect. The definition states what is observed: a person is less likely, and slower, to help someone in need when others are present than when alone. Keep the term, the explanation and the evidence separate, and answer from the one asked about.

The named study of helping on an underground train is often written up as having found a bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility. It did not. Its safe conclusions: the ill victim was helped more than the drunk victim, and males helped more than females. A further correction: a same-gender helping claim is invalid, because all the victims were male.

State one feature of deindividuation does not want the definition. It wants a feature — that it occurs when a person is anonymous in a group, or that they feel less personally responsible. Read the verb: "state a feature" and "define" differ, and giving the whole definition where one feature was asked wastes the mark.

Asked to describe conformity for two marks, changing your behaviour to fit the group then doing what the group does so you fit in is one point twice. The second mark needs a different point — a distinguishing feature (no order given) or a consequence (the change can be public only, or genuinely believed).

Deindividuation is not just conformity. Conformity is matching the majority while knowing it is you; deindividuation is losing yourself — the sense of a separate, accountable person fades, usually through anonymity. It does not always cause harm; it loosens restraints and the situation decides what follows.

Two over-statements. "Nobody helps" — the effect is about likelihood, not certainty. It is comparative: an individual is less likely, and slower, to help with others present than alone. "The crowd is slow" — it is about the individual, not the group; each person is less likely to act as others increase. Late help from one of many fits the effect.