QCE Psychology - Unit 4 - Social psychology

Socialisation, gender and group influence

Distinguish primary and secondary socialisation, compare theories of gender-role formation, and explain compliance, identification, internalisation, norms, conformity and obedience.

Part of the free QCE Psychology notes library for Unit 4: Social psychology.

Updated 2026-08-08 - 4 min read

QCAA official coverage - Psychology 2025 v1.3

Exact syllabus points covered

  1. Explain the difference between primary (i.e. family) and secondary (e.g. media, schooling) socialisation.
  2. Describe gender and compare social learning, cognitive developmental and biological theories of gender role formation.
  3. Describe group social influence, with reference to compliance, identification and internalisation.
  4. Describe the effect of status, roles and power on social behaviour.
  5. Explain how obedience, conformity and social norms (as described by Cialdini et al. 2006) lead to behaviour change.
  6. Appreciate that the presence of others affects the way we behave.
  7. Appreciate that research in social psychology is conducted in the context of cultural and historical movements and events, and that this affects both the relevance of the research and the perspective of the researchers.
  8. Explore the relative contributions of different factors to gender role formation.
  9. Discuss whether, and to what extent, social media is changing the nature of relationships.

Social behaviour is shaped through ongoing interaction with families, institutions, groups and culture. Strong explanations distinguish the process of influence from the depth of private acceptance.

Social influence from public compliance to internalisation

Original Sylligence diagram for psychology social influence continuum.

Social influence from public compliance to internalisation

Primary and secondary socialisation

Primary socialisation occurs mainly through close early relationships such as family, where language, norms and basic roles are learned. Secondary socialisation occurs through wider institutions and contexts such as schools, peers, workplaces, media and religious or community organisations.

The distinction is about source and context, not an age cutoff. Family influence continues later, and digital media can shape early development.

Gender and gender-role formation

Gender includes psychological and social identities, roles and expectations associated with gender. Three syllabus theories emphasise different mechanisms:

| Theory | Main mechanism | Evidence to seek | Limitation if used alone | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Social learning | modelling, reinforcement and vicarious consequences | behaviour changes with models and social feedback | can understate active cognition and biology | | Cognitive developmental | changing concepts and self-categorisation guide behaviour | age-related reasoning and category use | can understate social power and variation | | Biological | genes, prenatal hormones and neural development contribute | biological associations and developmental evidence | association does not make roles fixed or culturally universal |

A defensible response compares contributions and interactions. It does not imply that one theory explains every individual or that observed group averages determine identity.

Three depths of group influence

Compliance is public behavioural change without necessary private acceptance, often to gain reward or avoid disapproval. Identification occurs when behaviour or belief supports a valued relationship or group membership. Internalisation occurs when the belief is accepted as personally valid and can persist without the group's presence.

These are not always permanent stages. A person may comply in one setting and internalise a related norm later.

Conformity, obedience and social norms

Conformity is change in response to actual or imagined group pressure. Obedience is behaviour in response to a perceived authority's command. Status, roles and power affect who can set expectations and impose consequences.

Cialdini and colleagues distinguish:

  • descriptive norms: what people appear to do
  • injunctive norms: what people appear to approve or disapprove

A message can backfire if it says undesirable behaviour is common, because the descriptive norm may normalise it even while the message condemns it.

Worked example: identify the mechanism

Social media and relationships

Social media can increase contact, visible norms and access to models, but can also change comparison, surveillance and audience size. Whether it changes the nature of a relationship depends on platform features, use patterns, relationship type and cultural context.

Research is historically situated. Platform algorithms and norms change faster than many studies, so conclusions should specify the population, platform and period.

Try it yourself

Common exam traps

  • treating primary socialisation as finished after childhood
  • presenting gender-role theories as mutually exclusive certainties
  • using compliance, conformity and obedience as synonyms
  • calling a descriptive norm an instruction
  • inferring internalisation from one public action
  • assuming online influence affects every relationship in the same way

Sources

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