Asch study on variables affecting conformity

• Who were the participants in Asch's study?

  123 american male undergraduate students in groups of 6. Groups consisted of 1 true participant and 5 confederates
• Aim of Asch's study

  To examine participants response when put into groups with an unambiguous situation
• Method of Asch study

  - group was shown a standard line and 3 comparison lines

  - were asked to state which of the comparison lines was the same as the standard line. Naïve participant always answered either second to last or last.

  - 18 trials in total. 12 of these trials were critical, meaning the confederates gave the incorrect answer.

  - Asch observed how often participants would give the same incorrect answer as confederates.
• Results of Asch's study

  Participants conformed on 37% of critical trials

  25% never conformed

  75% conformed at least once
• Conclusions of aschs study

  Participants conformed to gain acceptance from others and their behaviour is majorly influenced even when the answer is unambiguous.
• How many conformed at least once?

  75%
• How many conformed in critical trials?

  37%
• Factors affecting- group size

  Conformity is more effective between 3-5 people in a group.

  For example when Asch conducted with only 1 confederate= 3% conformity rate

  2 confederates= 12.8%

  3 confederates= 37%

  15 confederates= 29% (as it was unbelievable that all stated the same answer)

  This occurs as there is more group pressure.
• Factors affecting- unanimity

  Individual will conform when the group is unanimous and give same answer.

  When Asch introduced another naive participant or instructed one confederate to give the correct answer, conformity fell to 5.5%.

  When confederate still gave incorrect answer but a different to majority, conformity fell to 9%.

  Shows when not in unanimity, participants feel less social rejection as it's diffused between two people.
• Factors affecting- task difficulty.

  Individual is more likely to conform when task is more difficult or answer is more ambiguous.

  When Asch made comparison lines more similar in length, conformity increased as informational social influence plays a role, because we are less confident in our answer.
• A03- Supports NSI

  POINT- One strength of Asch's research is that it supports normative social influence

  EVIDENCE- Asch interviewed participants after the study, where they stated that they conformed because they thought they would be ridiculed.

  EXPLAIN- this supports normative social influence, which states we conform as we fear social rejection.

  LINK- Thus, his study has high validity for psychological research to explain why we conform in group settings.
• A03- Lab experiment

  POINT- One strength is that his study was conducted in a lab setting

  EVIDENCE- Asch conducted his experiment where he could control extraneous and confounding variables. He strictly controlled lengths of lines etc

  EXPLAIN- Therefore, his study is easy to replicate, which increases the reliability of his findings as it reduces the likelihood of his obsereved findings being a 'one-off'.
• A03- Ecological validity

  POINT- One weakness of his study is that it may not relate to real life situations.

  EVIDENCE- Asch's research was based on peoples perception of lines. This task is artificial, so doesnt reflect conformity in everyday situations.

  EXPLAIN- Therefore, his research lacks undone realism and ecological validity as we cant generalise results to other situations.
• A03- Generalisation

  POINT- One weakness of Asch's research is his findings cant be generalised to the whole population

  EVIDENCE- Asch used 123 American male students in his study. This means his findings can only be applied to that target population. For example, women, or those in collectivist cultures may not have the same conformity rates.

  EXPLAIN- So, the results lack population validity, as they cant be generalised to different populations.