Asch- variables affecting conformity

• aim of asch's study?

  The aim of Asch’s experiment was to research the influence of a majority group on how people conform.
• procedure of asch's study

  • To carry out his experiment he selected 123 male undergraduate volunteers,
  • he placed each one in a group with 5-7 confederates.
  • They were asked to sit around a table and were shown a standard length line followed  by 3 other comparison lines.
  • They were asked to call out which comparison line was the same as the first one with the participant always going second to last
• findings from asch's study

  • He found that over his 12 critical trials the conformity rate was 33%
  • he found that 75% conformed on at least one trial.
  • When he interviewed these participants they stated that they had conformed to avoid disapproval of the group.
  • However there were some individual differences as ¼ never confirmed.
• asch changing variables

  He also changed some of the variables in his study to see what effect this would have on conformity 

  1. Group sizes- when the size reached 3 or more participants conformity levels jumped to 30%
  2. Unanimity- when all of the group gave the wrong answer the participant was also likely to give the wrong answer, Percentage of wrong answers dropped to 5.5% when someone else gave right answer
  3. Difficulty of task- people were more likely to conform if task is difficult as they look to others to make sure they are correct especially if they had a lack of self efficacy.