-123 male American undergraduate were asked to participate in a "vision test"
method?
-one ppt per group all others were confederates
-ppts were shown cards and asked which line best matched the standard line
-in 12/18 criticaltrials the confederates would give the wrong answer to see if the pp would go against what was obviously the wrong answer and agree with the majority
Findings?
-37% would give the wrong answer and conformed to majority decision
-75% of ppts conformed to the incorrect group majority at least once
-only 25% of ppts did not conform at all
What was the conclusion
-Majority can influence a minority even in an unambiguous situation when the correct answer is obvious
Asch extended his baseline study to investigate the variables that might lead to an increase or a decrease in conformity:
-Group size
-unanimity
-task difficulty
Group size
-Asch varied the number of confederates from 1 to 15.
-Conformity rose to 32% with three confederates.
-The ppt feels more pressure to conform.
-However, increasing the majority beyond 3 did not increase conformity levels any further.
Unanimity
-Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates.
-Conformity dropped – from 32% to 5%
-The dissenter supports the ppt, increasing their confidence that they are correct (ISI) and leads to ppt feeling less need for social approval from group (NSI).
Task difficulty
-Asch increased the difficulty of the line-judging task by making the standard line and test lines more similar to each other in length. This made it harder for ppts to see the difference between lines.
-Conformity increased.
-Confidence in more difficult tasks decreases, so ppts looked to others for the answers – ISI.
