Conformity

• What is Conformity?

  A change in a persons behaviour or opinion due to pressure from peers.
• What is Asch's baseline study?

  • 6-8 participants with 1 genuine participant
  • Genuine participant agreed with confederates 36.8%
  • 25% never conformed.
• What was the procedure of Asch's baseline study?

  Which line (a, b or c) was the same length as x?
• What are Asch's varations?

  • Group size
  • Unanimity
  • Task Difficulty
• What happen with group size in Asch's varations?

  Conformity increased with group size. BUT, leveled off after 3 confederates at 31.8%
• What happened with unanimity in Asch's varations?

  Participants conformed less when a dissenter was present.
• What happened with task difficulty in Asch's varations?

  Conformity increased as line got similar.
• How does Lucas support task difficulty in Asch's varations?

  Participants completed easy and hard math questions. He found as questions got harder comformity increased. However, participants with confidence in maths comformed less. (conformity is complex)
• Why is Asch's varations unethical?

  Deception of participants.
• Why does Asch's varations have limited application?

  Asch completed the study on men whereas, Neto found that women are more likely to conform as they are more concerned with peer relationships.
• What is Complience conformity?

  When a person publically conforms but not privately.
• What is Internalisation conformity?


  When a person publically and privately conform.
• What is Identifaction conformity?

  When a person adjusts their views to fit into a group.
• What are the 3 types of conformity?

  • Complience
  • Internalisation
  • Identifaction
• What are 2 explanations of conformity?

  • Normative Social Influence (NSI)
  • Informational Social Influence (ISI)
• What is NSI?

  When a person comforms to the majority to gain social approval and avoid rejection.
• What is ISI?


  When a person has a desire to be correct so look to others for information.
• What explanation does Lucas (task difficulty) support?


  ISI as people conformed more when task was difficult
• What explanation does Asch support?

  NSI as people agreed with wrong people to fit in.
• Why is it hard to separate NSI and ISI?

  In Asch unaminity vartation could either be because:

  • NSI = social support
  • ISI = Source of information
• Why is individual differences an issue with Asch's varations?

  McGhee found people are more concered with being liked (NSI) than being right
• What is a social role?


  The part we play within groups, each having expectations.
• What is the procedure of Zimbardo's study?

  • 21 emotional stable men were either prisoners or guards
  • They were encouraged to conform by uniforms and intructions on how to behave.
• What did Zimbardo find?

  • Guards treated prisoners harshly
  • Prisoners rebelled and after they became depressed and anxious
  • All participants conformed to their roles
• How is Zimbardo's study controlled?

  Partcipants had to be emotionally stable so they could rule out individual differences.
• Why does Zimbardo's study lack realism?

  Banuzizi states they were play acting. However, Dermott aurgued they conformed as 90% of convosations where about prison life.
• Why did Fromm say Zimbardo exaggerated power?

  • 1/3 of guards acted brutally
  • 1/3 of guards acted peacfully