At a community centre, adults attended one of four emergency-practice sessions. Each session involved 40 adults who were tested separately, one at a time. The same actor used the same words to ask each adult to move from the foyer to a side room. Apart from the actor, each adult could observe only eight people working with the organisers and could not observe any of the other adults taking part. The adult saw all eight helpers respond before deciding whether to move. The actor's clothing and the behaviour of the eight helpers were varied.
| Actor's clothing | Behaviour of the eight helpers | Number of adults who moved to the side room |
|---|---|---|
| Centre safety uniform | All moved to the side room | 34 out of 40 |
| Ordinary clothes | All moved to the side room | 26 out of 40 |
| Centre safety uniform | All remained in the foyer | 21 out of 40 |
| Ordinary clothes | All remained in the foyer | 10 out of 40 |
Use your knowledge and understanding from across the psychology course to explain how far you agree with the following viewpoint:
“The results show that situational pressures, rather than free choice, determine whether people conform or obey.”
In your answer you should refer to the results in the table, situational factors in social influence and at least one other area of psychology.
76 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 4.2 Theories/Explanations, covering 4.2.1 Situational factors on conformity and crowds, 4.2.2 Situational factors on culture and obedience; criticisms, 4.2.3 Situational Factors research study: Bickman (1974), 4.2.4 Dispositional factors on conformity, crowds, morality, obedience, 4.2.5 Brain in dispositional factors; criticisms, and 4.2.6 Dispositional Factors research study: NatCen (2011). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.