Conformity- types and explanations:

• STRENGTH FOR NSI:

  • evidence supports it as an explanation of conformity
  • For example, when Asch 1951 interviewed his pp 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%.
  • This is because giving answers privately meant there was 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 (i.e. NSI).
• STRENGTH:

  • research evidence to support ISI from the study by Lucas et al 2006
  • Lucas et al. found that participants conformed more often to incorrect answers when they were given when the maths problems which were difficult
  • This is because when the problems were easy the pp 'knew their own minds' but when the problems were hard the situation became ambiguous
  • The pp did not want to be wrong, so they 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.
• COUNTERPOINT:

  • However, it is often unclear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in research studies (or in real life).
  • For example, Asch (1955) found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant
  • The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI (because they provide social support) or they may reduce the power of ISI (because they provide an alternative source of social information). Both interpretations are possible

  Therefore, it is hard to separate ISI and NSI and both processes probably operate together in most real-world conformity situations.