2. asch - variables affecting conformity

Question 1

THIS IS NOT IN THE SPEC, BUT IT IS USEFUL

ASCH’S BASELINE PROCEDURE

Answer 1

• 123 American men were tested, each in groups of 6-8, where all others were confederates.
• Each saw 2 large cards, one with the standard line and one with 3 comparison lines, one always clearly the same length as the standard line.
• The other two were clearly wrong.
• On each trial the participant had to say out loud which comparison line was the same as the standard line.
• The participant was always seated last or second to last in the group.
• The confederated gave all the same incorrect answers in all trials.

The genuine participants did not know others were confederates.

Question 2

ASCH’S BASELINE FINDINGS

Answer 2

On average the genuine participants agreed with the confederates’ incorrect answers 36.8% of the time.
25% of the participants never conformed, meaning 75% conformed at least once.

Question 3

ASCH’S VARIATIONS

1 . GROUP SIZE

how, findings, suggests that…

Answer 3

Asch varied the number of confederates from 1 to 15. He found a curvilinear relationship between group size and conformity. Conformity increased with group size, but only up to 7. With 3 confederates, conformity rose to 31.8%.
This suggests that most people are very sensitive to the view of others, because just 2 confederates were enough to significantly sway opinion.

Question 3

ASCH’S VARIATIONS

2 . UNANIMITY

how, findings, suggests that…

Answer 3

Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates and gave the correct answer in one variation, and the other wrong answer in another. The participant conformed less often in the presence of a dissenter. Conformity levels dropped to as low as 5%, as the presence of a dissenter allowed the participant to behave more independently. This was even true when the dissenter gave the other incorrect answer.
This suggests the influence of the majority depends on it being unanimous.

Question 3

ASCH’S VARIATIONS

3 . TASK DIFFICULTY

how, findings, suggests that…

Answer 3

Asch increased the difficulty by making the standard and comparison lines more like each other.
This meant it became harder for the participants to see the differences between the lines.
Asch found that conformity increased, due to the situation becoming more ambiguous.
People look to others for guidance and assume they are right and themselves are wrong (ISI).

Question 4

AO3 - strength of Asch’s variables

research support for task difficulty - Lucas

Answer 4

There is support from other studies for the effects of task difficulty.
Lucas et al. asked their participants to solve ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ maths problems. Participants were also given answers that were falsely claimed to be from three other students. The participants conformed more often and agreed with the wrong answers when the problems were harder.
This shows that Asch was correct in claiming that task difficulty is a factor that affects conformity.

Question 4

AO3 - limitation of Asch’s situational variables

The task and situation were artificial (Fiske)

Answer 4

Participants knew they were in a research study and may have simply gone along with what was expected (demand characteristics). The task of identifying lines was relatively trivial and therefore there was no real reason not to conform. Furthermore, according to Fiske, Asch’s groups did not really resemble the groups that we experience in everyday life.
This means the findings do not generalise to real world situations, especially those where consequences of conformity may be important.

Question 5

AO3 - limitation of Asch’s situational variables

limited application - all american males (gender & culture bias)

Answer 5

Asch’s participants were American men.
Other research suggests that women may be more conformist, possibly because they are more concerned about social relationships and being accepted. Furthermore, the US is an individualist culture where people are more concerned about themselves rather than their social group. Similar conformity studies conducted in collectivist studies like China have found conformity rates in collectivist cultures is higher.
This means that Asch’s findings tell us little about conformity in women and people from other cultures.