Conformity
Monday, April 18, 2022 12:29 PM
Types of conformity Asch's Research Zimbardo's research
Kelman (1958) suggested there are 3 ways in which people conform. Asch (1951,1955) tested conformity by showing ppts two large white cards at a time. His aim was to measure the strength of the The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
Internalisation conformity effect using an unambiguous task. Zimbardo and his colleagues wanted to answer this question
- Occurs when a person accepts the group norms Procedure - Do prison guards behave brutally because they have sadistic personalities, or is it the situation that creates such behaviour?
- Results in both a private and public change of opinions and behaviour - Understand whether prison guards were brutal due to the uneducated personalities or whether their behaviour was a product of the environment
- One card was a 'standard line' and on the other card there were three 'comparison lines'. One of the three lines was the
- Permanent change because the attitudes have been internalised same length as the standard line, and the other two was substantially different Procedure
- The change in opinions and behaviour persist even when in the absence of other group members - Z set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University
- Ppts were asked which of the three lines matched the standard line
Identification - They advertised for students willing to volunteer and select those who were deemed 'emotionally stable' after extensive psychological testing
- 123 male American undergraduates
- Conforming to opinions and behaviours of a group because there is something within the group that we value - Each naïve ppt was tested individually with 6-8 confederates - The students were randomly assigned the roles of guards or prisoners
- Identify with the group as we want to be part of it - On the first few trials, the confederates gave the right answers, but on they then gave the wrong answer and make errors - To heighten the realism, the 'prisoners' were arrested in their homes by the local police and then delivered to the 'prison'
- Publicly change our opinions and behaviours, but don't privately change all of them - All confederates gave the same wrong answer - They were blindfolded, strip-searched, deloused, and issued a uniform and number
Compliance - The social roles of the prisoners and guards were strictly divided
- Ppts took part in 18 trials
- 'going along with others' in public, but there is no change in private opinions and behaviours - The prisoners' daily routines were heavily regulated, with 16 rules they had to follow which were enforced by the guards who worked in shifts, three at a time
- On 12/18 trials, the confederates gave the wrong answer
- Superficial change - The prisoners' names were never used, only their numbers
- A particular behaviour or opinion stops as soon as group pressure stops Findings - The guards had their own uniform, complete with a wooden club, handcuffs, keys and mirror shades
- Naive ppts have the wrong answer 36.8% of the time - The guards were told they had complete power over the prisoners
Explanations for conformity - 25% of the ppts didn't conform on any trials, 75% of ppts conformed at least once
Deutsch and Gerard (1955) developed a two-process theory, arguing that there are two main reasons people conform. They - When ppts were interviewed after, most said they conformed to avoid rejection (NSI) Findings
are based on two central human needs: the need to be right (ISI), and the need to be liked (NSI) - The guards took up their roles with enthusiasm, their behaviour became a threat to the prisoners' psychological and physical health
Informational social influence (ISI) Asch's variations - The study stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14
- Wanting to be correct in the presence of others Asch further investigated the conditions that might lead to an increase or decrease in conformity. He carried our variations of his - Within 2 days, the prisoners rebelled against their harsh treatment by the guards
- The need for certainty makes us seek information to reinforce our perception of a situation, so we look to see what original procedure. - Prisoners ripped their uniforms, and shouted and swore at guards, who retaliated with fire extinguishers
other people are doing. 1. Group size - The guards employed 'divide-and-rule' tactics by playing the prisoners off against each other, they harassed the prisoners constantly to remind them they
- We then compare ourselves with others and internalise their beliefs as ours - He wanted to know whether the size of the group would be more important than the agreement of the group were being monitored all the time
- ISI is a cognitive process because it's to do with what you think - Asch found that with three confederates conformity to the wrong answer rose to 31.8%, but the addition of further - After the rebellion was put down, the prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious
- ISI is most likely to happen in situations that are new to a person (so you don't know what is right) or situations where confederates made little difference - One prisoner was released on the first day because he showed symptoms of psychological disturbance
there is some ambiguity - Suggests that a small majority isn't sufficient for influence to be exerted , but there is no need for a majority of more than - Two more prisoners were released on the 4th day
Normative social influence (NSI) three - One prisoner went on a hinger strike, the guards attempted to force feed him and then punished him by putting him in 'The hole'
- People conform because they fear being isolated and want to be part of a group 2. Unanimity - The prisoner was shunned by other prisoners
- Others are seen as having power to approve or disapprove of us - Asch wanted to know whether the presence of another, non-conformity, person would affect the naive ppts conformity - The guards identified more closely with their role, their behaviour became more brutal and aggressive with some appearing to enjoy the power they had over
- People don't want to appear foolish and prefer to gain social approval rather than be rejected the prisoners
- He introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others
- NSI is most likely to occur in situations with strangers where you feel concerned about rejection - The presence of a dissenting confederate meant conformity was reduced by 1/4, and it enabled the naive ppt to behave
- NSI may also occur with people you know because we are most concerned about the social approval of our friends more independently Conclusions
- Suggests the influence of the majority depends to some extent on the group being unanimous - The simulation revealed the power of the situation to influence people's behaviour
Evaluations 3. Task difficulty - Guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles within the prison, these roles were easily taken on by the ppts
Research support for ISI - Asch made the line-judging task more difficult by making the stimulus line and comparison lines more similar in length
- Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult - He found conformity increased when the stimulus and comparison lines were more similar in length Evaluation
- There was greater conformity to incorrect answers when the questions were more difficult - Suggests ISI plays a greater role when the task becomes harder because the situation is more ambiguous, so we are more Research support
- This was most true for students who rated their maths ability as poor likely to look to other people for guidance and assume we are wrong Orlando (1973) - investigated how conformity to social roles can influence people to behave in extreme ways
- The study shows that people conform in situations where they feel they don't know the answer, which is the outcome - Selected staff at a psych ward to play the role of patients on a ward for one week
predicted by ISI Evaluations - After 2 days, several mock patients experiences symptoms of psychological disturbance
- We look to others and assume they know better than us and must be right A child of its time - Most of the ppts became more anxious and depressed, they stated they felt trapped and isolated
Individual differences in NSI - Perrin and Spencer (1980) repeated Asch's original study with engineering students in the UK, 1 student conformity in 396 - The study had to be ended early because some ‘patients’ were losing their sense of self-identity
- Some research shows NSI doesn't affect everyone's behaviour in the same way trials Control
- People who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI than those who care more about being liked - May be due to the engineering students feeling more confident about measuring lines, and therefore were less conformist - strength of the SPE is that Z and his colleagues had some control over variables
- Those who have a need for association with others are described as nAffiliators - Also possible that 1950s America was very conformist compared to the UK, therefore it made sense to conform in America - Emotionally stable ppts were chosen and randomly assigned to the roles of prisoner and guard. This was one way in which the researchers tried to rule out
- nAffiliators are people who have a greater need for 'affiliation' as it was the social norm individual personality differences as an explanation of the findings
- McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students high in need for affiliation were more likely to conform. This shows - Limitation of Asch's research because it means the Asch effect isn't consistent across situations or time - If guards and prisoners behaved very differently, but were in those roles only by chance, then their behaviour must've been due to the pressures of the
that the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others. situation
ISI and NSI work together Artificial situation and task - Having control of variables is a strength because it increases the internal validity of the study
- Conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting ppt in the Asch experiment - Ppts knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with the demands of the situations (demand
- The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI (dissenter provides social support) or may reduce the power of ISI characteristics) Lack of realism
(alternative source of information) - The task of identifying lines was relatively trivial and therefore there was no reason to conform - Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) argued the ppts were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role
- Shows it isn't always possible to be sure whether NSI or ISI is at work - Fiske (2014) said 'Asch's groups weren't very groupy' - Their performances were based on their stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave
- Limitation because it means the findings don't generalise to everyday situations - One of the guards claimed he has based his role on a brutal character from the film 'Cool Hand Luke'
- Zimbardo pointed to evidence that the situation was very real to the ppts (however, as they believed it was real it increases both the internal and external
Limited application of findings validity of the study)
- Only men were tested by Asch - Quantitative data gathered during the procedure showed 90% of prisoners' conversations were about prison life
- Other research suggests women might be more conformist, possibly because they're more concerned about social - It seems the situation was real to the ppts, which gives the study a high degree of internal validity
relationships than men are (Neto, 1995)
Role of dispositional influences
- The men from Asch's study were from the United States, an individualist culture
- Conformity studied conducted in collectivist cultures have found that conformity rates are higher due to orientation of group - Fromm (1973) accused Z of exaggerating the power of the situation to influence behaviour, and minimising the role of personality factors
needs (Bond and Smith, 1996) - 1/3 of the guards behaved in a brutal manor. Another 1/3 were keen on applying the rules fairly. The last 1/3 actively tried to help and support the prisoners
Asch findings and details of his study - Shows conformity levels are sometimes higher than Asch found - Suggests Z's conclusion - that ppts were conforming to social roles - may be over-stated
- Asch's findings may only apply to American men because he didn't take gender and cultural difference into account - The differences in the guards' behaviour indicate that they were able to exercise right and wrong choices, despite the situational pressures to conform to a
role
Individual differences - Eagly and Carly (1981)
Lack of research support
- 148 studies of whether men and women differ in how easily they are influenced
- Showed that women are more persuasible and more conforming than men in a group - At the start of the study there were no ethical issues
- Although there was a debrief, Zimbardo failed to protect all his ppts
Confounding variable - any variable, other than the IV, that may have affected the DV so we can’t be sure of the true source of Consent - the ppts did consent, however not to the extreme that was presented within the experiment
changes to the DV. They vary systematically with the IV. Deception - zimbardo deceived all his ppts into thinking his experiment was safe, he also deceived himself
Extraneous variable - any variable, other than the IV, that may have an effect on the DV if it’s not controlled. They’re nuisance Withdrawal - zimbardo wouldn’t allow his ppts to withdraw from the study, until they began to go crazy
variables that don’t vary systematically with the IV. Anonymity - ppts remained anonymous during the study unless they wanted otherwise, however while being arrested in public it caused psychological harm
Demand characteristics - any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as Prevention of harm - zimbardo didn’t cause physical harm, however he caused psychological harm and didn’t attempt to prevent this
revealing the purpose of the investigation. This may lead to a participant changing their behaviour within the researcher situation.
Mundane realism - refers to how an experiment mirrors the real world. The stimulated task environment is realistic to the extent Zimbardo’s role
to which experiences encountered in the stimulated environment will occur in the real world. - Dual-role, the researcher and warden
Laboratory experiment - an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within the researcher manipulates the IV and - He may have caused investigator effects and biased research
records the effects on the DV, whilst maintaining strict control of the EV - He admitted that he lost his objectivity as the prison governor and got too involved
External validity - the degree to which a research finding can be generalised to, e.g. other settings, other groups of people and
over time Ethical issues
Reicher and Haslam (2006) - BBC prison study
- Carried out a partial replication of zimbardo’s study that was broadcasted on BBC TV
- The findings were different to Zimbardo’s and his colleagues
- The prisoners took control of the mock prison, which decreases the reliability and external validity of zimbardo’s findings
- Used social identity theory to explain their findings (Tajifel, 1981)
- They argued that guards failed to develop a shared social identity as a cohesive group but prisoners did, they actively identified themselves as members of a
social group that refused to accept the limits of their assigned roles
Monday, April 18, 2022 12:29 PM
Types of conformity Asch's Research Zimbardo's research
Kelman (1958) suggested there are 3 ways in which people conform. Asch (1951,1955) tested conformity by showing ppts two large white cards at a time. His aim was to measure the strength of the The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
Internalisation conformity effect using an unambiguous task. Zimbardo and his colleagues wanted to answer this question
- Occurs when a person accepts the group norms Procedure - Do prison guards behave brutally because they have sadistic personalities, or is it the situation that creates such behaviour?
- Results in both a private and public change of opinions and behaviour - Understand whether prison guards were brutal due to the uneducated personalities or whether their behaviour was a product of the environment
- One card was a 'standard line' and on the other card there were three 'comparison lines'. One of the three lines was the
- Permanent change because the attitudes have been internalised same length as the standard line, and the other two was substantially different Procedure
- The change in opinions and behaviour persist even when in the absence of other group members - Z set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University
- Ppts were asked which of the three lines matched the standard line
Identification - They advertised for students willing to volunteer and select those who were deemed 'emotionally stable' after extensive psychological testing
- 123 male American undergraduates
- Conforming to opinions and behaviours of a group because there is something within the group that we value - Each naïve ppt was tested individually with 6-8 confederates - The students were randomly assigned the roles of guards or prisoners
- Identify with the group as we want to be part of it - On the first few trials, the confederates gave the right answers, but on they then gave the wrong answer and make errors - To heighten the realism, the 'prisoners' were arrested in their homes by the local police and then delivered to the 'prison'
- Publicly change our opinions and behaviours, but don't privately change all of them - All confederates gave the same wrong answer - They were blindfolded, strip-searched, deloused, and issued a uniform and number
Compliance - The social roles of the prisoners and guards were strictly divided
- Ppts took part in 18 trials
- 'going along with others' in public, but there is no change in private opinions and behaviours - The prisoners' daily routines were heavily regulated, with 16 rules they had to follow which were enforced by the guards who worked in shifts, three at a time
- On 12/18 trials, the confederates gave the wrong answer
- Superficial change - The prisoners' names were never used, only their numbers
- A particular behaviour or opinion stops as soon as group pressure stops Findings - The guards had their own uniform, complete with a wooden club, handcuffs, keys and mirror shades
- Naive ppts have the wrong answer 36.8% of the time - The guards were told they had complete power over the prisoners
Explanations for conformity - 25% of the ppts didn't conform on any trials, 75% of ppts conformed at least once
Deutsch and Gerard (1955) developed a two-process theory, arguing that there are two main reasons people conform. They - When ppts were interviewed after, most said they conformed to avoid rejection (NSI) Findings
are based on two central human needs: the need to be right (ISI), and the need to be liked (NSI) - The guards took up their roles with enthusiasm, their behaviour became a threat to the prisoners' psychological and physical health
Informational social influence (ISI) Asch's variations - The study stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14
- Wanting to be correct in the presence of others Asch further investigated the conditions that might lead to an increase or decrease in conformity. He carried our variations of his - Within 2 days, the prisoners rebelled against their harsh treatment by the guards
- The need for certainty makes us seek information to reinforce our perception of a situation, so we look to see what original procedure. - Prisoners ripped their uniforms, and shouted and swore at guards, who retaliated with fire extinguishers
other people are doing. 1. Group size - The guards employed 'divide-and-rule' tactics by playing the prisoners off against each other, they harassed the prisoners constantly to remind them they
- We then compare ourselves with others and internalise their beliefs as ours - He wanted to know whether the size of the group would be more important than the agreement of the group were being monitored all the time
- ISI is a cognitive process because it's to do with what you think - Asch found that with three confederates conformity to the wrong answer rose to 31.8%, but the addition of further - After the rebellion was put down, the prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious
- ISI is most likely to happen in situations that are new to a person (so you don't know what is right) or situations where confederates made little difference - One prisoner was released on the first day because he showed symptoms of psychological disturbance
there is some ambiguity - Suggests that a small majority isn't sufficient for influence to be exerted , but there is no need for a majority of more than - Two more prisoners were released on the 4th day
Normative social influence (NSI) three - One prisoner went on a hinger strike, the guards attempted to force feed him and then punished him by putting him in 'The hole'
- People conform because they fear being isolated and want to be part of a group 2. Unanimity - The prisoner was shunned by other prisoners
- Others are seen as having power to approve or disapprove of us - Asch wanted to know whether the presence of another, non-conformity, person would affect the naive ppts conformity - The guards identified more closely with their role, their behaviour became more brutal and aggressive with some appearing to enjoy the power they had over
- People don't want to appear foolish and prefer to gain social approval rather than be rejected the prisoners
- He introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others
- NSI is most likely to occur in situations with strangers where you feel concerned about rejection - The presence of a dissenting confederate meant conformity was reduced by 1/4, and it enabled the naive ppt to behave
- NSI may also occur with people you know because we are most concerned about the social approval of our friends more independently Conclusions
- Suggests the influence of the majority depends to some extent on the group being unanimous - The simulation revealed the power of the situation to influence people's behaviour
Evaluations 3. Task difficulty - Guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles within the prison, these roles were easily taken on by the ppts
Research support for ISI - Asch made the line-judging task more difficult by making the stimulus line and comparison lines more similar in length
- Lucas et al (2006) asked students to give answers to mathematical problems that were easy or more difficult - He found conformity increased when the stimulus and comparison lines were more similar in length Evaluation
- There was greater conformity to incorrect answers when the questions were more difficult - Suggests ISI plays a greater role when the task becomes harder because the situation is more ambiguous, so we are more Research support
- This was most true for students who rated their maths ability as poor likely to look to other people for guidance and assume we are wrong Orlando (1973) - investigated how conformity to social roles can influence people to behave in extreme ways
- The study shows that people conform in situations where they feel they don't know the answer, which is the outcome - Selected staff at a psych ward to play the role of patients on a ward for one week
predicted by ISI Evaluations - After 2 days, several mock patients experiences symptoms of psychological disturbance
- We look to others and assume they know better than us and must be right A child of its time - Most of the ppts became more anxious and depressed, they stated they felt trapped and isolated
Individual differences in NSI - Perrin and Spencer (1980) repeated Asch's original study with engineering students in the UK, 1 student conformity in 396 - The study had to be ended early because some ‘patients’ were losing their sense of self-identity
- Some research shows NSI doesn't affect everyone's behaviour in the same way trials Control
- People who are less concerned with being liked are less affected by NSI than those who care more about being liked - May be due to the engineering students feeling more confident about measuring lines, and therefore were less conformist - strength of the SPE is that Z and his colleagues had some control over variables
- Those who have a need for association with others are described as nAffiliators - Also possible that 1950s America was very conformist compared to the UK, therefore it made sense to conform in America - Emotionally stable ppts were chosen and randomly assigned to the roles of prisoner and guard. This was one way in which the researchers tried to rule out
- nAffiliators are people who have a greater need for 'affiliation' as it was the social norm individual personality differences as an explanation of the findings
- McGhee and Teevan (1967) found that students high in need for affiliation were more likely to conform. This shows - Limitation of Asch's research because it means the Asch effect isn't consistent across situations or time - If guards and prisoners behaved very differently, but were in those roles only by chance, then their behaviour must've been due to the pressures of the
that the desire to be liked underlies conformity for some people more than others. situation
ISI and NSI work together Artificial situation and task - Having control of variables is a strength because it increases the internal validity of the study
- Conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting ppt in the Asch experiment - Ppts knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with the demands of the situations (demand
- The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI (dissenter provides social support) or may reduce the power of ISI characteristics) Lack of realism
(alternative source of information) - The task of identifying lines was relatively trivial and therefore there was no reason to conform - Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) argued the ppts were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role
- Shows it isn't always possible to be sure whether NSI or ISI is at work - Fiske (2014) said 'Asch's groups weren't very groupy' - Their performances were based on their stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave
- Limitation because it means the findings don't generalise to everyday situations - One of the guards claimed he has based his role on a brutal character from the film 'Cool Hand Luke'
- Zimbardo pointed to evidence that the situation was very real to the ppts (however, as they believed it was real it increases both the internal and external
Limited application of findings validity of the study)
- Only men were tested by Asch - Quantitative data gathered during the procedure showed 90% of prisoners' conversations were about prison life
- Other research suggests women might be more conformist, possibly because they're more concerned about social - It seems the situation was real to the ppts, which gives the study a high degree of internal validity
relationships than men are (Neto, 1995)
Role of dispositional influences
- The men from Asch's study were from the United States, an individualist culture
- Conformity studied conducted in collectivist cultures have found that conformity rates are higher due to orientation of group - Fromm (1973) accused Z of exaggerating the power of the situation to influence behaviour, and minimising the role of personality factors
needs (Bond and Smith, 1996) - 1/3 of the guards behaved in a brutal manor. Another 1/3 were keen on applying the rules fairly. The last 1/3 actively tried to help and support the prisoners
Asch findings and details of his study - Shows conformity levels are sometimes higher than Asch found - Suggests Z's conclusion - that ppts were conforming to social roles - may be over-stated
- Asch's findings may only apply to American men because he didn't take gender and cultural difference into account - The differences in the guards' behaviour indicate that they were able to exercise right and wrong choices, despite the situational pressures to conform to a
role
Individual differences - Eagly and Carly (1981)
Lack of research support
- 148 studies of whether men and women differ in how easily they are influenced
- Showed that women are more persuasible and more conforming than men in a group - At the start of the study there were no ethical issues
- Although there was a debrief, Zimbardo failed to protect all his ppts
Confounding variable - any variable, other than the IV, that may have affected the DV so we can’t be sure of the true source of Consent - the ppts did consent, however not to the extreme that was presented within the experiment
changes to the DV. They vary systematically with the IV. Deception - zimbardo deceived all his ppts into thinking his experiment was safe, he also deceived himself
Extraneous variable - any variable, other than the IV, that may have an effect on the DV if it’s not controlled. They’re nuisance Withdrawal - zimbardo wouldn’t allow his ppts to withdraw from the study, until they began to go crazy
variables that don’t vary systematically with the IV. Anonymity - ppts remained anonymous during the study unless they wanted otherwise, however while being arrested in public it caused psychological harm
Demand characteristics - any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as Prevention of harm - zimbardo didn’t cause physical harm, however he caused psychological harm and didn’t attempt to prevent this
revealing the purpose of the investigation. This may lead to a participant changing their behaviour within the researcher situation.
Mundane realism - refers to how an experiment mirrors the real world. The stimulated task environment is realistic to the extent Zimbardo’s role
to which experiences encountered in the stimulated environment will occur in the real world. - Dual-role, the researcher and warden
Laboratory experiment - an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within the researcher manipulates the IV and - He may have caused investigator effects and biased research
records the effects on the DV, whilst maintaining strict control of the EV - He admitted that he lost his objectivity as the prison governor and got too involved
External validity - the degree to which a research finding can be generalised to, e.g. other settings, other groups of people and
over time Ethical issues
Reicher and Haslam (2006) - BBC prison study
- Carried out a partial replication of zimbardo’s study that was broadcasted on BBC TV
- The findings were different to Zimbardo’s and his colleagues
- The prisoners took control of the mock prison, which decreases the reliability and external validity of zimbardo’s findings
- Used social identity theory to explain their findings (Tajifel, 1981)
- They argued that guards failed to develop a shared social identity as a cohesive group but prisoners did, they actively identified themselves as members of a
social group that refused to accept the limits of their assigned roles
