Asch’s Conformity Study

• What was the aim of Asch's (1956) Conformity Study?

  To test conformity and majority social influence in obvious situations
• What was the procedure of Asch's Conformity Study?

  • Deception: Participants were told the study was on "perception"
  • Sample: 123 male American college students
  • Group size: Groups of 6-7 with 1 real participant and confederates
  • Task: Match lines by length, answered second to last
  • Confederates gave wrong answers in 12 of 18 critical trials
• How many male American students participated in Asch's study?

  123 male American students
• What was the task participants had to perform in Asch's study?

  Match lines by length
• In how many trials did the confederates give wrong answers?

  12 out of 18 trials
• What was the conformity rate found in Asch's study?

  33%
• What percentage of participants conformed at least once in Asch's study?

  75%
• What was the error rate in the control group with no confederates?

  1% of the time
• What are the variables affecting conformity according to Asch's study?

  1. Group Size

  • 1 confederate: 3% conformity
  • 2 confederates: 13% conformity
  • 3 confederates: 32% conformity
  • No further increase beyond 3 confederates

  1. Unanimity of Majority

  • Unanimous wrong answers: high conformity
  • With one dissenter: conformity dropped to 5%
  • Mixed answers: 9% conformity

  1. Task Difficulty

  • Smaller line differences lead to more conformity
  • Ambiguity increases conformity due to informational social influence (ISI)
• What was the conformity rate with 3 confederates in Asch's study?

  32%
• How did the presence of a dissenter affect conformity in Asch's study?

  Conformity dropped to 5% with one dissenter
• What happens to conformity when task difficulty increases?

  Conformity increases due to smaller line differences and ambiguity
• What are the limitations of Asch's research?

  1. Child of Its Time

  • High conformity in 1950s US
  • Perrin & Spencer (1980) found only 1/396 trials conformed
  • Lacks temporal and historical validity

  1. Methodological Issues

  • Demand characteristics: participants aware of being studied
  • Lacks mundane realism: trivial task
  • Artificiality: findings may not generalize to everyday conformity

  1. Limited Application of Findings

  • All male sample; women might be more conformist
  • All from USA; higher conformity found in studies in China
• What did Perrin & Spencer (1980) find in their study related to conformity?

  Only 1 out of 396 trials conformed
• What is a methodological issue identified in Asch's study?

  Participants may try to please the experimenter due to demand characteristics
• Why is the task in Asch's study considered to lack mundane realism?

  Because identifying line lengths is a trivial task
• How might the findings of Asch's study not generalize to everyday conformity?

  Because the groups do not reflect real-life situations
• What did Neto (1995) suggest about gender differences in conformity?

  Women might be more conformist and concerned about social relationships
• How does conformity in studies conducted in China compare to Asch's findings?

  Conformity studies in China found much higher conformity