, SOCIAL INFLUENCE
CONFORMITY:
Asch’s research:
Asch’s baseline procedure
Devised a procedure to assess to what extent people will conform to the opinion of others
even in a situation when the answer is certain (unambiguous)
123 American men were tested, each in a group with other apparent pps. They saw line X
and then line A B and C and one is clearly same length as X.
Pps tested in groups of 6-8, only one pps was genuine and was always seated last or next to
last. All other pps were confederates and gave wrong answers. On average, genuine pps
agreed with confederates 36.8% of the time.
Variables
Group size: varied the no. of confederates from 1-15. Found conformity increased with
group size but only up to 3 confederates, then presence of more made little diff. suggests
most people are very sensitive to views of others because 1 or 2 confederates was enough
to sway opinion.
Unanimity: introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates. One
variation they gave the correct answer and another they gave a diff. wrong answer. Genuine
pps conformed less often in presence of a dissenter. Suggests that influence of majority
depends largely on it being unanimous.
Task difficulty: made X and comparison lines A B and C more similar in length, harder to see
difference in lines. Conformity increased, answer is ambiguous.in these circumstances it is
natural to look to others for guidance and assume they are right (informational social
influence)
Evaluation:
Artificial situation and task: pps knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with
what was expected (demand characteristics). Task was relatively trivial and therefore no reason not
to conform. Means findings do not generalise to the real-world situations.
Limited application: Asch’s pps were American men. Other research suggests that women may be
more conformist, more concerned about social relationships and being accepted. Also, US is
individualist culture. Similar studies in collectivist cultures found higher conformity rates. Means
Asch’s findings tell us little about conformity in women and other cultures.
Research support: from other studies for effects of task difficulty. Lucas asked their pps to solve
‘easy’ and ‘hard’ maths questions. Pps were given answers from 3 other students (confederates). Pps
conformed more when the problems were harder showing Asch was correct in claiming the task
difficulty is one variable affecting conformity. However, Luca’s study found that conformity is more
complex than Asch suggests. Pps with more confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on
hard tasks than those with low confidence. Shows that an individual-level factor can influence
conformity by interacting with situational variables.
CONFORMITY:
Asch’s research:
Asch’s baseline procedure
Devised a procedure to assess to what extent people will conform to the opinion of others
even in a situation when the answer is certain (unambiguous)
123 American men were tested, each in a group with other apparent pps. They saw line X
and then line A B and C and one is clearly same length as X.
Pps tested in groups of 6-8, only one pps was genuine and was always seated last or next to
last. All other pps were confederates and gave wrong answers. On average, genuine pps
agreed with confederates 36.8% of the time.
Variables
Group size: varied the no. of confederates from 1-15. Found conformity increased with
group size but only up to 3 confederates, then presence of more made little diff. suggests
most people are very sensitive to views of others because 1 or 2 confederates was enough
to sway opinion.
Unanimity: introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates. One
variation they gave the correct answer and another they gave a diff. wrong answer. Genuine
pps conformed less often in presence of a dissenter. Suggests that influence of majority
depends largely on it being unanimous.
Task difficulty: made X and comparison lines A B and C more similar in length, harder to see
difference in lines. Conformity increased, answer is ambiguous.in these circumstances it is
natural to look to others for guidance and assume they are right (informational social
influence)
Evaluation:
Artificial situation and task: pps knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with
what was expected (demand characteristics). Task was relatively trivial and therefore no reason not
to conform. Means findings do not generalise to the real-world situations.
Limited application: Asch’s pps were American men. Other research suggests that women may be
more conformist, more concerned about social relationships and being accepted. Also, US is
individualist culture. Similar studies in collectivist cultures found higher conformity rates. Means
Asch’s findings tell us little about conformity in women and other cultures.
Research support: from other studies for effects of task difficulty. Lucas asked their pps to solve
‘easy’ and ‘hard’ maths questions. Pps were given answers from 3 other students (confederates). Pps
conformed more when the problems were harder showing Asch was correct in claiming the task
difficulty is one variable affecting conformity. However, Luca’s study found that conformity is more
complex than Asch suggests. Pps with more confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on
hard tasks than those with low confidence. Shows that an individual-level factor can influence
conformity by interacting with situational variables.
