Variables effecting conformity

• What was the aim in Asch’s (1951) original conformity research

  To see if participants conform to a majority in an unambiguous situation (where the correct answer should be obvious).
• what was the procedure in Asch’s (1951) original conformity research

  • 123 male American college students volunteered for a study on visual perception.
  • In the lab, seven male participants looked at two cards: a test card with one vertical line and a comparison card with three vertical lines of different lengths.
  • Participants took turns calling out which comparison line matched the test line.
  • All participants, except the second-to-last one, were confederates (accomplices of the researcher).
  • Confederates gave unanimous wrong answers on 12 out of 18 trials, called the critical trials.
• Findings of Asch’s (1951) original conformity research

  • On average, participants conformed to the unanimous incorrect answer provided by the confederates on 32% of the critical trials.

  • 74% of participants conformed at least once, meaning 26% never conformed.

  In post-research interviews, some participants stated they conformed because they believed the confederates were correct. In contrast, others stated they conformed because they did not want to risk being ridiculed or excluded by the group.
• Conclusions of Asch’s (1951) original conformity research

  Even when the situation is unambiguous, people still conform to group pressure. There also appears to be different reasons for conforming – wanting to fit in and wanting to be correct.
• Describe Asch’s variations of his original conformity research

  After his original conformity research, Asch conducted a series of additional studies to investigate the extent to which different variables affect conformity. These variables included: group size, unanimity and task difficulty.
• Describe Asch’s variations of his original conformity research on group size: How large the majority are.

  Procedures:

  Asch originally used a majority of six but varied the number of confederates to study the effect of group size.

  Findings:

  Conformity rates rose with group size but plateaued once the majority reached three, with no further increases.

  Conclusion:

  A small majority of three is sufficient for majority influence.
• Describe Asch’s variations of his original conformity research in Unanimity: The extent to which the majority agree

  Procedures:

  In Asch’s study, confederates gave unanimous incorrect answers on 12 of 18 trials. He then varied unanimity: one confederate gave the correct answer or a different incorrect answer.

  Findings:

  With a correct answer, conformity fell from 32% to 5.5%; with a different incorrect answer, it dropped to 9%.

  Conclusion:

  A unanimous majority has the strongest influence, but breaking unanimity reduces conformity.
• Describe Asch’s variations of his original conformity research Task difficulty: How ambiguous the correct behaviour/answer is

  Procedures:

  Asch increased task difficulty by making the stimulus and comparison lines more similar in length, making it harder to identify the matching line.

  Findings:

  Conformity rates rose as task difficulty increased.

  Conclusion:

  In ambiguous tasks, participants are more likely to rely on the majority for guidance.
• Evaluate research into variables affecting conformity and discuss what this tells us about why people conform

  • they provide information as to why people conform
  • they tell us about why people conform
  • they tell us about why people conform is that they take a nomothetic approach to investigating conformity, which may not be suitable.