Asch's conformity research

• AIM AND METHOD


  AIM - to test whether people would conform to group pressure even if they were clearly giving the wrong answer in an unambiguous line task

  METHOD - 123 American male undergraduates shows series of lines - standard line and comparison line with one being the same length as the standard line - each test, 7 males seated in front of lines, all but one male confederates, one participant tested at a time - confederates unanimously gave same incorrect answer on 12 of 18 trials (critical trials) - true participant always last to answer
• FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION


  FINDINGS - mean conformity rate 37% - 5% conformed on every critical trial (most conformist) - 25% remained completely independent (didn't conform) going against majority and correctly answering on all 12 trials despite group pressure - control group of participants tested individually, only gave incorrect answers in 1% of trials

  CONCLUSION - participants said one reason they agreed with others was to avoid standing out from the crowd - concluded participants were showing compliance
• variables affecting conformity - unanimity 


  unanimity (extent to which all members of a group agree) - argued pressure to conform is highest when majority group are unanimous - Asch gave real participant a non conformist ally (dissenter) - dissenter sometimes gave correct answer and sometimes incorrect answer - presence of dissenter meant conformity rate dropped from 37% to 25% - concluded when unanimity is broken it's a major variable in reducing conformity
• variables affecting conformity - group size

  Asch found when there was a small group giving the wrong answer of 1 or 2 confederates, conformity rates were low - under pressure from 3 confederates, conformity rates increased to 32% - further size increase didn't increase conformity that much and beyond 7 confederates, conformity rate decreased slightly - concluded size is important but only up to a point
• variables affecting conformity - task difficulty

  argued if a situation more difficult (ambiguous) person more likely to conform because they're less confident in their own opinion and more likely to look to others for guidance on how to behave - Asch tested by making line judgement task more difficult - made the standard and comparison lines more similar in length and found conformity rate increased
• ASCH EVALUATION - well controlled

  controlled setting of a lab made it easy to control extraneous variables - Asch able to control lighting and lines used to ensure participants could clearly judge length of lines - high internal validity
• ASCH EVALUATION - easy to replicate


  controlled setting of a lab made it easier to repeat research in the same way, adjusting variables each time to test influence on conformity - Asch able to keep everything standardised but change variables like size of group or task difficulty - Asch could test which variables affect conformity the most to gain a better understanding
• ASCH EVALUATION - low ecological validity


  laboratory setting controlled but also fake as it doesn't represent real life - in real life people would usually be bale to question why others were giving incorrect answers but Asch didn.t allow participants to do this - may not generalise to real life conformity situations
• ASCH EVALUATION - high demand characteristics


  because participants are aware they were taking part in a study they may have behaved unnaturally - may have tried to please Asch by behaving in a way they thought they were intended to by conforming - lower internal validity