| Key principles of the social area | - Human behaviour is influenced by the real or imagined presence of others
- The situation is often more powerful an influence on behaviour than individual personality |
| Strengths of the social area | - Improves our understanding of human behaviour
- Useful in a range of different settings
- Often high in ecological validity |
| Weaknesses of the social area | - Findings may not be true for all time for all places (as social situations can change over time)
- Difficult to stay within the ethical guidelines |
| Horizontal relationships | - The relationship of equals e.g. friends |
| Vertical relationships | - The relationships we have with our teachers or our employers, give us commands on how to behave |
| Conformity | - Wanting to belong and going along with the group |
| Informational influence | - Going along with the group as you think they know more than you |
| Normative influence | - Going along with the group as you don't want to stand out or be marginalised by the group
- Being marginalised by a majority can be an unpleasant place to be |
| Obedience | - Complying to an order from an authority figure |
| Types of obedience to authority | - Positive obedience
- Negative obedience |
| Positive obedience | - e.g. following road traffic rules |
| Negative obedience | - Following orders that go against conscience |
