Asch's Variations

• (1) Aim: To see how group size, affects the rate of conformity.
• Procedure:

  Asch varied the size of the majority from 1-15 confederates. The procedure was the same as in Asch's baseline experiment using the line comparison test.
• 2 confederates- 12.8%

  3 confederates- 32%

  15 confederates- 29%
• Results: When there was one confederate, the real participants conformed on just 3% of the critical trials. When the group size increased to two confederates, the real participants conformed on 12.8% of the critical trials. When there were three confederates, the real participants conformed on 32% of the critical trials (the same as Asch’s baseline experiment).
• As the majority increases the rate of conformity increases. We can see once it gets to 7 confederates, the graph states the conformity rate of 36.8%. After 7 confederates the graph plateaus .
• There is little conformity when there is 1 or 2 confederates.
• When under the pressure of 3 confederates, the conformity rate rose to 30%.
• The size of the majority is important for the rate of conformity, but only up to the optimal point. Once it reaches this point,(between 3 and 7 confederates) the graph plateaus.
• Conclusion: This study suggests that conformity reaches its highest level with just three confederates. Asch continued investigating group size and in one condition he used 15 confederates and found the rate of conformity slightly dropped. This could be because the real participants became suspicious of the experiment and not because the pressure to conform is less, in larger groups.
• Unanimity of the majority:

  Aim: To see what happens to conformity levels when the group’s unanimous position is broken.
• In the original study, all of the confederates gave the incorrect answer.
• In this variation, Asch had one of the confederates give the correct answer throughout the trials.
• All participants experienced the same line comparison test.
• Results:

  Conformity dropped considerably. When one confederate gave the correct answer on all the critical trials. This helped it drop to 5%.

  Therefore breaking the groups consensus was a main influence. The unanimity of majority was broken.
• Results: When the confederate gave the correct answer, conformity dropped to 5%. When the confederate gave the incorrect answer, conformity dropped to 9%.
• Conclusion: This shows that if you break the group’s unanimous position, conformity is reduced, even if the answer provided by the supporter, is still incorrect.
• Task Difficulty:

  Aim: To see how increasing the difficulty of the task affects conformity.
• Method: The same line comparison test was used but this variation made the task more difficult, by making the difference between the line lengths significantly smaller.
• Asch made the lines closer together, therefore making the task harder.
• Results: Participants gave more incorrect answers, increasing the rate of conformity.
• It was found that conformity to the majority increased. This suggests that increasing the task difficulty has had a significant impact on the rate of conformity.
• Conclusion: Conformity increased probably due to informational social influence (ISI), as people will look to others for guidance when they are unsure.