Conformity

• Conformity is a change in a person's behaviour or attitude as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group.
• 3 types of conformity

  Compliance - Individual changes their behaviour and opinions to those of a group to be accepted and to avoid disapproval (public change).

  Internalisation - This is where you go along with the group because you agree both publically and privately, it has become part of your internal belief system.

  Identification - Individual accepts the attitudes of the group because they believe them to be right but also to be accepted by the group. Generally this will fade once you leave the group.
• Normative social influence – based on the desire to be liked, it occurs because we want to be accepted. It is most likely to result in compliance (temporary change).

  Research Support - Asch Line Study: pps were shown a target line and asked to select the line (out of three options) that matched its length. However, each group had confederates who intentionally selected the wrong line. The actual ppt was placed last or near the end in the order of responses. Asch found many pps conformed to the majority answer to avoid the discomfort of disagreeing with the group or standing out.
• Informational Social Influence – desire to be right, we generally want to feel our beliefs are correct. It is most likely to happen in an ambiguous situation. It is most likely to result in internalisation (permanent change).

  Research - Jenness found that nearly all the pps changed their original answer to be closer to a group answer when given another chance to estimate the number of beans in a jar, after they had engaged in a group discussion / Sherif - pps changed their estimate to be closer to the others when estimating the distance a light moved in a dark room.
• Asch's study into conformity

  Aim: If individuals would conform to a majority who gave an obviously wrong answer. Procedure: 123 Male Americans took part in a ‘visual perception’ task individually alongside 7 confederates. All were shown a line and 3 comparison lines and had to say which one matched the original. The ppt was one of the last to answer. On 12 of the 18 trials the confederates all gave the wrong answer. Findings: Pps conformed 37% of the time. Approx 75% of people conformed at least once. Conclusion: Most people do conform to fit in with a group.
• Asch's study variations

  Group size - Changed the number of confederates present starting at 1 and increasing. Conformity increases up until the majority group has 3 members and then it plateaus.

  Unanimity - Changed the agreement of the group by having one confederate give the correct answer. Conformity decreases to 5%.

  Task difficulty - Changed the lines by making them more similar in length. Conformity increased.
• Asch Study Evaluation

  Asch's methods are controlled which gives his study scientific credibility. However, this means it lacks mundane realism as task is not reflective of real life - low validity. It lacks temporal validity as it was conducted in the 1950’s at a time in America when people were afraid to be different (McCarthyism). Therefore the results may not be reflective of today’s levels of conformity. Perrin and Spencer replicated the study in the 1980’s in Britain and found less than 1% conformity suggesting the findings cannot be generalised.
• Zimbardo Study

  Aim: To investigate if people will conform to the social roles, prisoner and guard. Procedure: Advert in the newspaper for $15 a day. Male volunteer students responded and 24 rated most physically and mentally stable chosen. Randomly allocated to role of prisoner or guard. Zimbardo played the role of prison superintendent. Prisoners were picked up at home by police, finger prints and mug shots taken then transported to the mock prison in Stanford University. Guards given uniforms and items of power and prisoners wore smocks and given numbers.
• Zimbardo's Findings

  Both prisoners and guard conformed to their social roles. Prisoner’s rioted and the guards responded with fire extinguishers. Guards became authoritative and demanding and sadistic at times. Prisoners become submissive and many had mental breakdowns. 90% of the conversation recorded was about prison life. Conclusion - Situational factors affect behaviour and that people do conform to social roles.
• Zimbardo Evaluation

  Ethical issues – psychological harm to the prisoners with some people believing they had actually done something wrong. Lack of realism – many argue that the pps were acting on demand characteristics as Zimbardo told them how to act - lack of ecological validity. Real world application - useful implications on prison reform. Generalisability - Later research shows that people who volunteer for similar studies are more likely to have authoritarian personalities. High internal validity - high level of control.