explanations of conformity evaluations

• NSI


  Normative social influence - conformity due to a desire not to be rejected by the group for disagreeing with them
• Evidence supporting NSI


  • When Asch interviewed participants, some said they conformed because they felt self-conscious giving the correct answer and they were afraid of disapproval
  • When participants wrote their answers down, conformity fell to 12.5% because giving answers privately meant there was no normative group pressure
• Giving answers privately


  Reduces conformity because there is no normative group pressure
• This shows that at least some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by the group for disagreeing with them
• ISI


  Informational social influence - conformity due to a desire not to be wrong, so relying on answers given by others
• Evidence supporting ISI


  • Lucas et al. found that participants conformed more often to incorrect answers they were given when the maths problems were difficult
  • This is because when the problems were easy the participants knew their own minds but when the problems were hard the situation became unclear, so the participants didn't want to be wrong and relied on the answers they were given
• This shows that ISI is a valid explanation of conformity because the results are what ISI would predict
• It's often unclear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in research studies, as both interpretations are possible. Both processes probably operate together in most real world conformity situations
• NSI doesn't predict conformity in every case
• Individual differences in conformity


  • Some people are greatly concerned with being like others (nAffiliators) and are more likely to conform
  • McGhee and Teevan 1967 found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform
• This shows that NSI underlies conformity for some people more than others, and there are individual differences in conformity that cannot be fully explained by one general theory of situational pressures