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Updated for AQA 2025 Spec – Teaching from SEPTEMBER 2025 onwards

This resource is designed for teaching Resistance to Social Influence under the AQA A-Level Psychology (2025 Specification). It has been fully updated to meet the revised requirements, which expect students to describe social support and locus of control as explanations for resistance, apply research findings, and critically evaluate their effectiveness and limitations.

If you’re looking for the 2019 specification version of this topic, please visit my shop.

This fully editable lesson explores how situational (e.g. having an ally) and dispositional (e.g. personality traits like locus of control) factors help individuals resist pressures to conform or obey. Students are supported in developing strong AO1, AO2, and AO3 skills through guided discussion, scenario-based tasks, retrieval questions, and structured evaluation activities.

What’s Included:

• Fully Editable Lesson Slides – Covers all required content on social support and locus of control. Includes clear definitions, real research examples (Asch, Milgram, Holland, Twenge), symbolic illustrations, and engaging discussion prompts.

• Think, Pair, Share Questions – Thought-provoking prompts throughout the lesson encourage active student engagement and AO2 thinking. Includes scenario-based and real-life application questions.

• AO2 Concepts Task – Locus of Control in Action – Students analyse two fictional characters (Asgarth and Hyacinth) to identify their locus of control and predict who will resist social pressure. Includes a model answer for class discussion.

• Check-In Questions – Mid-lesson formative assessment slides that check students’ understanding of key terms, explanations, and research. Fully editable and timed for 2-minute review bursts.

• Evaluate It Task – Interactive activity where students classify AO3 statements as strength, limitation, or both. Includes a challenge question exploring the interaction between personality and situational factors.

• Evaluation Worksheet – Printable worksheet for identifying and explaining AO3 points related to social support and locus of control. Can be used for group work, homework, or revision.

• Exam Practice Questions – Includes a 4-mark AO1 question and an 8-mark extended writing question (outline and evaluate locus of control). Scaffolded with planning space and model paragraph examples.

• Plenary Discussion Task – Students link resistance to social influence with other psychological approaches, encouraging cross-topic connections and deeper understanding of individual behaviour.