1. SOCIAL INFLUENCE (ASCH) Flashcards
What is social influence?
Social influence is the process through which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours are changed by the presence or actions of others.
What is conformity?
Conformity is giving in to group pressure. It occurs when a person adopts the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours of others in a group, either in response to real or imagined pressure.
What was Asch’s baseline procedure?
Asch’s baseline procedure aimed to investigate if people would conform to majority social influence, even when the correct answer was obvious. Participants were shown a standard line and had to choose the matching line from three options. Confederates deliberately gave wrong answers to see if the participant would conform.
What were the results of Asch’s 1951 study?
36.8% of participants conformed on critical trials, with 25% never conforming. Most participants conformed to avoid rejection, even though they knew the correct answer.
What does “distortion of action” mean in the context of Asch’s study?
“Distortion of action” refers to the participants’ tendency to conform to the majority, even when they knew the right answer, to avoid ridicule or rejection.
What are some evaluation points for Asch’s study regarding its sample?
- Limited sample: Asch’s study used a sample of 123 male American students, which may not be representative of the general population, especially women or non-students.
- Low external validity: The results may not apply to other groups or cultures.
What is the limitation of Asch’s study in terms of ecological validity?
The study used an artificial task (line length comparison) that doesn’t reflect real-life conformity situations. Participants knew they were in a study, which could have led to demand characteristics.
How does Asch’s study maintain internal validity?
By using a controlled laboratory experiment, Asch could be confident that the independent variable (the confederates’ answers) caused the dependent variable (the participant’s answers).
What ethical issues are associated with Asch’s study?
Asch deceived participants by not revealing that confederates were involved. This violates informed consent, but the deception was necessary to maintain the study’s validity by preventing demand characteristics.
What is the historical bias in Asch’s study?
Asch’s study may be historically biased as it was conducted during the 1950s, a time when American society was strongly influenced by McCarthyism. This may have heightened conformity during that period.
How does cultural bias affect Asch’s study?
Asch’s findings may not be applicable to other cultures, as conformity rates differ. Research has shown that collectivist cultures tend to have higher conformity rates than individualistic cultures like the US.
What did Perrin and Spencer (1980) find in their replication of Asch’s study?
They found significantly lower levels of conformity in a British sample of engineering and science students, suggesting that conformity may be more pronounced in different historical or cultural contexts.
What is the significance of independent behaviour in Asch’s study?
While Asch’s study highlights conformity, it also shows that participants did not always conform. Two-thirds of the trials saw participants stick to their original answers, demonstrating independent behaviour despite group pressure.
What variables affect conformity according to Asch’s study?
- Group Size: Conformity increases with group size, but only up to a certain point.
- Unanimity: If one confederate breaks from the group, conformity decreases significantly.
- Task Difficulty: When the task is harder, conformity increases because people look to others for guidance.
