Studies

• The study used to test for conformity was Asch~
• Asch's conformity study was in 1956
• Asch used the Line Game to test for conformity
• The aim of Asch's study was to investigate if people would conform to the opinions of others to give an answer they knew to be wrong.
• Asch used a laboratory experiment with standardised procedures
• Groups of 7-9 people were shown sets of 4 lines, 1 control line and 3 other comparison lines. They were asked to state out loud which comparison line was the same length as the standard line. The correct answer was always clear - the task was not ambiguous. There was only 1 real (naive) participant in each group
• The other members of the group were confederates. Confederates were people who were told to act a certain way on behalf of the researcher. They were asked to give the incorrect response for 12 out of the 18 sets of lines
• Participants conformed to give the incorrect answer of the group 36.8% of the time. 76% conformed to the incorrect majority at least once. 24% of the participants resisted the pressure to conform
• The results showed that people conform to fit in with a group, even when they know they are giving an incorrect judgement
• Asch used 123 American male college students to participate