Conformity

• What is conformity?


  The tendency to change what we do, say or think in response to real or imagined pressure from a group.
• What are the 3 types of conformity?


  • Compliance
  • Identification
  • Internalisation
• What is compliance?


  • Changing behaviour to fit in with the group
  • Privately disagree
  • Publicly agree
  • Lasts only as long as the group is there
• What is identification?


  • Conforming because there’s something about the group that we value/ want to be like them
  • Public acceptance
  • Some private acceptance
  • Longer lasting
• What is internalisation?


  • Where the belief of the group becomes part of their own belief system
  • Private acceptance
  • Public acceptance
  • Most permanent form of conformity
• What are the 2 main reasons why people conform?

  • To be right (ISI- Informational social influence)
  • To be liked (NSI- Normative social influence)
• What is NSI also known as?

  Compliance
• What type of conformity involves ISI?

  Internalisation
• What is the name for pps who are ‘in’ on the study?

  Confederates
• What did Asch investigate?


  Asch investigated conformity - whether the majority could pressure a person to change their behaviour.
• What were pps required to do in Asch’s study?


  • Pps were asked to compare a standard line to comparison lines (ABC)
  • Pps were asked to call out in turn which of the 3 comparison lines matched the standard line
• How many trials did Asch do?


  18 trials in total
• How many trials did confederates give the wrong answer in Asch’s study? 


  12 out of 18 trials
• How many confederates were in each group in Aschs study?


  6-8 confederates
• What percentage of pps conformed at least once in Asch’s study?


  75%
• What percentage of people never conformed in Asch’s study?


  25%
• Was Asch’s study due to NSI or ISI?


  NSI - Need to be liked/ fit in
• What percentage of pps conformed overall in Asch’s study?


  36.8% or 37%
• What are the 2 factors affects conformity levels?

  • Situational factors- Things in the situation/ environment
  • Personality factors- Characteristics
• Is Asch a situational or personality study?

  Situational
• What are the situational factors that affected Asch’s study?

  • Size of the majority - Only 3 people required to make a difference
  • Unanimity of the majority - Dissenting confederate decreased conformity levels
  • Task difficulty/ ambiguity - Making the stimulus and comparison lines similar increased conformity
• What is a dissenter?


  Someone who also disagrees with the rest of the group
• How did Asch make the study more difficult?


  He made the lines more similar
• What is locus of control?


  The sense of control people have over the success, failures and events in their lives.
• What are the 2 personality factors affecting Asch’s conformity study?

  • High internal locus of control
  • High external locus of control
• What is high internal locus of control?


  Belief that their actions are their own choice and responsibility
• What is a high external locus of control?


  Belief that their actions result largely from factors outside of their control
• What traits do people with a high internal locus of control have?


  • Confident
  • Achievement oriented
  • Higher intelligence
  • Less need for social approval
• Are people with a high external locus of control more or less likely to conform?

  More likely
• What is Asch’s full name?


  Solomon Asch
• When did Asch conduct his study?


  1951