Asch

• Study aim


  to examine the extent to which social pressure to conform from a unanimous majority affects conformity in an unambiguous situation.
• Study method


  - showed ppts 2 large white cards.

  - one had a standard line and on the other there were 3 comparison lines.

  - ppts were 123 American undergraduates.

  - groups contained 6-8 confederates and 1 true ppt.

  - on first few trials all the confederates gave the right answers but then started to make errors.

  - each ppt took part in 18 trials and 12 'critical trials' (confederates gave the wrong answer).
• Study findings


  - true ppt gave a wrong answer 36.8% of the time.

  - 25% of ppts didn't conform once.

  - 75% conformed at least once.

  - Asch effect - extent to which ppts conform even when the situation is unambiguous.
• Study conclusion


  - there are big individual differences in the amount to which people are affected by majority influence -> ppts conformed publicly, not privately.

  - most of the ppts said that they knew their answers are incorrect, but they went along with the group to fit in.
• Variables


  Group Size

  - with 3 confederates conformity to the wrong answer rose to 31.8%.

  - a small majority isn't sufficient for influence to be exerted.

  Unanimity

  - presence of a dissenting confederate meant that conformity was reduced by a quarter from the level it was when the majority was unanimous.

  - presence of a dissenter enables true ppt to behave more independently.

  Task Difficulty

  - by making the task more difficult - conformity increased.
• Asch's Sample is Biased (Weakness)

  - biased sample of 123 American man.

  - can't generalise to other populations.

  - can't conclude if they'd act the same.
• Asch's study lacks Historical Validity (Weakness)

  - research took place then conformity was arguably higher.

  - since 1950, numerous psychologists have attempted to replicate the Asch's study.

  - Perrin and Spencer using maths and engineering students found significantly lower levels of conformity.
• Ethical Issues (Weakness)

  - broke several guidelines including deception and protection from harm.

  - deliberately deceived his ppts - told they were taking part in a vision test not a study on conformity.

  - many ppts reported feeling stressed when disagreeing with the majority -> Asch interviewed all ppts following his study to overcome this issue.
• Asch's research is low in ecological validity (Weakness)

  - a line judgement task is an artificial task, which doesn't reflect conformity in everyday life.

  - task lacks mundane realism.

  - unable to generalise the results/