AO3

• One limitaion


  P-One limitation of Asch’s study is that it lacks generalisability.

  E-For example, Asch’s study recruited only male participants for his experiment.

  E-This means that the results from the study may only be able to explain how male individuals might respond to majority views, while females may react differently due to potential differences in

  emotional and social needs.

  L-This therefore makes the study not generalisable to the wider population in this world, providing limited explanation for conformity.
• 2nd limitation


  P-Lacks ecological validity

  E-For example, Asch conducted the study in an unrealistic environment: naive participants were grouped with strangers

  (confederates) in a lab and were asked to do an unrealistic task.

  E-This means naive participants’ behaviours in the experiment might not reflect how they would naturally behave in real life,

  because people may sometimes experience conformity when with people who they knew.

  L-This therefore lowers the ecological validity of the study, making the study providing limited explanation for conformity.
• 3rd Limitation


  P-One limitation of Asch’s study is that it deceived participants.

  E-For example, naive participants were not aware that the study is about conformity but thought it was a study about cognition.

  E-This means Asch did not provide participants an informed consent at the beginning of the study, when participants should be told the true aim of the study.

  L-This therefore makes the study less ethical as it breached the ethical guideline of conducting psychological research.