Variables affecting conformity

• Aschs conformity results (1)

  > aim - to investigate the effects of a majority opinion on individuals judgements

  > sample - 123 American male students

  Procedure -

  > ppts were individually placed into groups with 7-9 confederates

  > say which line was the same length as standard line X, ppts always second or last to answer

  > 12/18 trials confederates gave identical wrong answers

  > control group of 36 ppts
• Aschs conformity results (2)

  > On average the real ppts gave a wrong answer 37% of the time when a confederate was present

  > Post experiment interviews found that the majority of ppts conformed publicly not privately to avoid ridicule

  > Supporting NSI
• Group size

  > conformity rates increase as the size of a majority group increases. However, the size of the group stops having an effect on conformity once the group reaches a certain size

  • 1 confederate and 1 ppt - 3%
  • 2 confederates and 1 ppt - 13%
  • 3 confederates and 1 ppt 32%
  • conformity plateaus after this
• Unanimity

  > complete agreement from a group of people about an answer or a viewpoint

  • Original study - all the same wrong answer - 37%
  • 1 confederate give correct answer - 5.5%
  • 1 confederate gave different wrong answer - 9%

  > Dissenter breaks groups unanimous position and conformity decreases
• Task difficulty

  > Conformity increases when the difficulty of a task increases

  • Made lines more similar - conformity increased

  > Suggesting ISI plays a greater role as when task becomes harder conformity rates increase

  > As the right answer becomes less obvious we lose confidence in our own ability and are more likely to conform
• AO3

  :) RTS Lucas et al

  > easy and hard maths problems

  :( Lucas found more complexity then Asch suggested

  > ppts with high confidence conformed less then those with low confidence

  :( gender bias

  :( culture bias