conformity - asch's research

• Aschs procedure:

  • 123 participants, groups of 6 - 1 participant, 5 confederates
  • shown diagram of lines 18 times, see what line matches sample line - first diagram = everyone provides correct answers
  • after first = confederates provide wrong answers + volunteer is monitored
• Asch's findings:

  • 36.8% conformity
  • 75% conformed at least once
• reasons for conformity:

  • distortion of perception
  • distortion of judgement
  • distortion of action
• group size variation:

  • >3 confederates = more conformity
  • difference between 3-5 was negligible
• differences in proportion of majority variation:

  • dissenting confederate - conformity fell by 1/4
• difficulty of task variation:

  • conformity increased
  • suggests ISI is more influential when task is harder
• EVALUATION: child of its time - failed to replicated

  • Perrin + spencer replication with engineering students - 1 conforming participant in 396 trials
  • further research with youth on probation + probation officers - similar findings to asch - social dynamic was more akin to 1950s
  • findings lack temporal validity
• EVALUATION: artificial situation + task

  • may have been affected by demand characteristics - aware of being in experiment, change in behaviour
  • task = trivial - no major consequence if they chose to conform
  • lacks ecological validity - difficult to generalise findings beyond experiment settings
• EVALUATION: limited application

  • unrepresentative sample, all men - Neto suggest women would be more likely to conform
  • all american (culture bias) - Bond + Smith, conformity may be higher in collectivist cultures compared to individualist
  • lacks population validity
• EVALUATION: ethical issues

  • deceived about nature of experiment + confederates
  • may cause distress - uncomfortable or embarrassed during research
  • procedure wouldn't work without ethical issues