Types and explanations of conformity + variables affecting

• What were the aims of Asch's study?

  Solomon Asch (1951) devised a procedure to measure the extent that people conformed to the opinion of others, even in a situation when the others' answers were clearly wrong.
• What was the method of Asch's study?

  123 American male participants were tested individually, sitting last or next-to-last in a group of six to eight confederates They were shown two large cards. On one was a 'standard line: On the other were three comparison lines. One of the three lines was the same length as the standard and the other two were always clearly different. Each group member stated which of the three lines matched the standard. There were 18 'trials' involving different pairs of cards. On 12 of these (critical trials) the confederates all gave the same clearly wrong answer
• What were the findings of Asch's study?

  Asch found that the naive participants conformed 36.8% of the time. This shows a high level of conformity when the situation is unambiguous. There were individual differences, 25% of the participants never gave a wrong answer (i.e. never conformed). 75% conformed at least once. Asch conducted further studies where he showed that certain variables lead to less or more conformity.
• How was group size investigated by Asch?

  Procedure — Asch varied the number of confederates in each group between 1 and 15 (total group size between 2 and 16). Findings —the relationship between group size and level of conformity was curvilinear. If there were two confederates, conformity to the wrong answer was 13.6%. When there were three confederates, conformity rose to 31.8%. Above three confederates, conformity rate levelled off. Adding more than three confederates made little difference. Explanation — people very sensitive to opinions of other people because just one confederate was enough to sway opinion.
• How was unanimity investigated by Asch?


  Procedure — Asch introduced a dissenting confederate — sometimes they gave the correct answer and sometimes a different wrong answer (but always disagreed with majority). Findings — in the presence of a dissenter, conformity reduced on average to less than a quarter of the level it was when the majority was unanimous. Conformity reduced if dissenter gave right or wrong answer. Explanation — having a dissenter enabled the naive participant to behave more independently
• How was task difficulty investigated by Asch?

  Procedure — Asch made the line-judging task harder by making stimulus line and comparison lines more similar in length. Thus it was diffcult to see differences between the lines. Finding — conformity increased. Explanation — the situation is more ambiguous, so we are more likely to look to others for guidance and to assume they are right and we are wrong. This is informational social influence (see next spread) — it plays a greater role when the task becomes harder.
• What is a limitation of Asch's study? (artificial)

  P - One limitation is that the situation and task were artificial.

  E - Participants knew they were in a research study (demand characteristics). The task was trivial and there was no reason not to conform

  E - Also, Fiske (2014) argued 'Asch's groups were not very groupy' (not like real-life groups).

  L - This means the findings do not generalise to everyday life (especially those situations where the consequences of conformity are important).
• What is a limitation of Asch's study? (application)

  P - Another limitation is that Asch's findings have little application.

  E - Only American men were tested by Asch. Neto (1995) suggested that women might be more conformist, possibly because they are more concerned about social relationships (and being accepted)

  E - Also the US is an individualist culture and studies in collectivist cultures (e.g. China) have found higher conformity rates (Bond and Smith 1996). (See page 62 for note on individualist/ collectivist.)

  L - This means Asch's findings tell us little about conformity in women and people from some culture
• What is a strength of Asch's study? (other evidence)

  P - One strength is other evidence to support Asch's findings.

  E - Lucas et al. (2006) asked participants to solve 'easy' and 'hard' maths problems. Participants were given answers that (falsely) claimed to be from three other students.

  E - The participants conformed more often (agreed with the wrong answers) when the problems were harder.

  L - This shows Asch was correct that task difficulty is one variable affecting conformity.

  C - Conformity is more complex than Asch thought. Lucas et al.'s study showed that conformity was related to confidence (high confidence = less conformity). This shows that individual-level factors interact with situational ones. But Asch did not investigate individual factors.
• What is internalisation?


  When a person genuinely accepts group norms. It results in a private as well as public change of opinions/ behaviour. The change is usually permanent and persists in the absence of group members because attitudes have become part of how the person thinks (internalised)
• What is identification?


  When we identify with a group that we value, we want to become part of it. So we publicly change our opinions/behaviour, even if we don't privately agree with everything the group stands for.
• What is compliance?


  Involves 'going along with others' in public, but privately not changing opinions/behaviour. This results in only a superficial change and the opinion/behaviour stops as soon as group pressure ceases.
• What is informational social influence?


  ISI is about information, a desire to be right. Often we are uncertain about what behaviour or beliefs are right or wrong. You may not know the answer to a question in class, but if most of your class gives an answer, you go along with them because you feel they are probably right. ISI is a cognitive process — people generally want to be right. ISI leads to internalisation
• When does informational social influence occur?


  ISI is most likely in situations which are new or where there is some ambiguity, so it isn't clear what is right. It may happen when decisions have to be made quickly, when we assume the group is likely to be right.
• What is normative social influence?

  NSI is about norms, a desire to behave like others and not look foolish. NSI concerns what is 'normal' behaviour for a social group (i.e. norms). Norms regulate the behaviour of groups and individuals. NSI is an emotional rather than cognitive process— people prefer social approval rather than rejection. NSI leads to compliance.
• When does normative social influence occur?


  NSI is most likely in situations where you don't know the norms and look to others about how to behave. NSI occurs in situations with strangers if you don't want to be rejected. Or with people we know because we are concerned about the social approval of friends. It may be more pronounced in stressful situations where people have a need for social support.
• What is a strength of NSI? (research support)

  P - One strength of NS! is that there is research support

  E - Asch (1951) found many participants conformed rather than give the correct answer because they were afraid of disapproval.

  E - When participants wrote down answers (no normative pressure), conformity fell to 12.5%.

  L - This shows that at least some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by the group for disagreeing with them.
• What is a strength of ISI? (research support)

  P - Another strength is research support for ISI.

  E - Lucas et al. (2006) found participants conformed more to incorrect answers when maths problems were difficult (with easy problems, participants 'knew their own minds')

  E - For hard problems the situation was ambiguous (unclear) so they relied on the answers they were given.

  L - This supports ISI because the results are what ISI would predict.

  C - It is unclear if NSI or ISI operate in studies and real life. A dissenter may reduce the power of NSI (social support) or reduce the power of ISI (alternative source). Therefore ISI and NSI are hard to separate and operate together in most real-world situations.
• What is a limitation of NSI? (individual differences)

  P - One limitation is individual differences in NSI.

  E - Some people are concerned about being liked by others — nAffiliators who have a strong need for 'affiliation' (need to relate to other people).

  E - McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students who were nAffliators were more likely to conform.

  L - This shows NSI underlies conformity for some people more than for others — an individual difference not explained by a theory of situational pressures.