Asch's Research

• Procedure:

  • Tested conformity by showing two large white cards at a time
  • On one card was a 'standard line' and on the other card there were three 'comparison lines'
  • One of the three lines was the same length as the standard and the other two were always substantially different
  • The participant was asked which of the three lines matched the standard
• Participants:

  • 123 American Male undergraduates
  • Naive participants were tested individually with a group of between 6-8 confederates
• On the first few trials all the confederates gave the right answers but then they started making errors
• All the confederates were instructed to give the same wrong answer
• Altogether each participant took part in 18 trials and on 12 'critical trials' the confederates gave the wrong answer
• Findings:

  • gave the wrong answer 36.8%
  • overall 25% of participants did not conform on any trials
  • 75% conformed at least once
  • when interviewed afterwards, most said they conformed to avoid rejection