Evaluation

• Research support for NSI

  • Evidence supports
  • Some of Asch's participants said they conformed because they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer and they were afraid of disapproval
  • Conformity fell to 12.5% when participants wrote their answer down
  • This is because giving the answer privately means that there is no normative group pressure
• Research support for ISI

  • Research evidence supports (Lucas et al)
  • Participants conformed more often to incorrect answers they were given when the maths problems were difficult
  • This is because the situation became ambiguous so they relied on the other answers
• Individual differences in NSI


  • Limitation
  • NSI does not predict conformity in every case
  • Some people are greatly concerned with being liked by others
  • They are called nAffiliators - they have a strong need for 'affiliation'
  • McGhee and Teevan found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform
  • This shows that NSI underlies conformity for some people more than it does for others