Explanations for Conformity

• Informational Social Influence - :) RTS Jenness

  > participants asked to individually estimate the number of jelly beans in a jar, decide on a group estimate, then have another private guess

  > participants second guess was significantly closer to group estimate

  > supports because the task was ambiguous and, as the participants were unsure of the answer, they sought information from their group and changed their answer to be right
• Informational Social Influence - :( Jenness lacks ecological validity

  > study took place in an artificial environment

  > difficult to generalise the findings to real life examples of ISI - people may be less likely to conform in real life as there may be consequences for their actions

  > reducing the external validity of research into ISI
• Normative Social Influence - :) RTS Asch

  > participants asked to state which line (A,B or C) was closest in length to stimulus line X

  > confederates answered first and gave an incorrect answer

  > found that participants conformed and said the same wrong answer 37% of the time

  > supports because the task was unambiguous, and participants later said they knew the answer but conformed to avoid ridicule
• Normative Social Influence - :( Asch = gender bias

  > only males were tested

  > difficult to generalise to females - they may be more conformist as they are more concerned about social relationships and being liked by their peers (Neto 1995)

  > reduces external validity of research into NSI