Asch And Variations Of Conformity Flashcards
Describe Asch’s study
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Method:
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Trials
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123 male participants were told they were going to be taking part in a visual comparison task.
They were in groups of 7-9.
In each group there was only one genuine (naïve) participant, all the other participant were stooges or confederates.
The participants were seated in a semi-circle and their task was to decide which one of the three comparison lines was the same length as the standard line.
They had to give their answer our loud, in the order they were seated with the naive participant always giving their answer second from last.
There were 18 trials. On 6 neutral trials all the stooges gave the correct answer but on the other 12 trials they all gave the same wrong answer (the critical trials). Asch wanted to see if the participant would conform to the wrong majority view.
What were the Aims of Asch?
To see to what extent would people conform to the wrong majority even when they know they are wrong (answer is unambiguous)
Findings of Asch
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on the 12 critical trials
the average conformity rate was 33% (the p’s agreed with the wrong answer a third of the time)
75% of the participants conformed at least once
so 25% never conformed
5% confirmed every time.
When participants were interviewed afterwards most say they conformed to avoid standing out(avoid rejection)- NSI
(some weren’t sure at difficult ones - ISI)
What type explanation for conformity could be used here? What type of conformity were Asch’s participants showing?
Asch’s participants showed evidence of compliance as they outwardly agreed with what the majority was saying whilst internally knowing that they were wrong, because they wanted to avoid rejection. This would be explained by normative social influence as people conformed because they had a ‘desire to be liked’.
Asch was further interested in the conditions that might lead to an increase or a decrease in conformity. He investigated these by carrying out some variations on his original procedure.
What three variations on his study did Asch investigate?
Group size of the majority
unanimity (social support)
task difficulty
What does research indicate about conformity rates and the size of the majority?
Why
conformity rates increase as the size of the majority influence increases, but comes a point where further increases in the size of the majority doesn’t lead to further increases in conformity
Asch
Two confederates produced 13% conformity,
three confederates produced 33%. Therefore it seemed that the bigger the group - the higher the levels of conformity.
However the addition of further confederates didn’t lead to any further increases in conformity.
This was because more confederates means more possibility of the naive participant becoming suspicious (collusion).
What variation of Asch’s original study investigated effects of unanimity?
Asch introduced a dissenter who disagreed with the others - sometimes the confederate gave the correct answer and sometimes he gave the wrong one (still dissagreeing)
The presence of a dissenting (disagreeing) confederate led to reduced conformity (whether they were giving a right or wrong answer) - with an average of 25% conformity.
(Informational social influence)
Why? we can share the possible disapproval or rejection by the group and we have someone to share the blame with.
Describe the variation of Asch’s study that investigated into the effect of task difficulty on conformity
Why?
Asch made the line-judging task more difficult by making the stimulus line and the comparison lines more similar in length. He found that conformity increased under these conditions.
as the right answer becomes less obvious.
This means that individuals will look to others for more guidance as to what the correct response is. ISI
What explanation of conformity can we use to explain the changes in conformity rates in all variations?
ISI
Evaluation of Asch
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Limitation: Biased Sample:
Limitation: low external validity: PERRIN AND SPENCER
Limitation: Ethical issues
Limitation: artificial tasks
Evaluation of Asch
Biased Sample
E: Only men were tested by Asch. Other research suggests that women might be more conformist - possibly because more concerned about and being accepted than men are.
E: The men in Asch’s study were from the United States, an individualist culture where people are more concerned about themselves rather than their social group. Similar conformity studies conducted in collectivist cultures (such as China where the social group is more important than the individual) have found that conformity rates are higher.
This shows that Asch’s findings may only apply to American men because he didn’t take gender and cultural differences into account.
Evaluation of Asch
Low external validity
PERRIN AND SPENCER:
Repeated study with engineering students
Only 1/396 trails a student conformed
May be Engineering student more confident with measuring lines therefore conformist
Different people responded differently in the study not due to conformity but their confidence in the lines than original sample.
But it is also possible that the 1950s (when Asch carried out his research) were an especially conformist time in America, and therefore it made sense to conform.
L: This is a limitation of Asch’s research because it means that the Asch effect is not consistent across situations and may not be consistent across time.
Evaluation of Asch
Ethical issue
E: In Asch’s study the participants were deceived about the nature of the study (participants were told the study was about visual perception) and the role of the other participants. It was not until the debrief that they were told the true purpose of the study.
E: deception - deceiving participants over what the study is about should be avoided wherever possible.
L: ps felt uncomfortable/ embarrassed
E: However, without deception the participants would’ve figured out aim - demand characteristics- results of the study less valid.
L: necessary
(lack of informed consent - unless participants know the aim and procedure and are fully informed about the study in using the right to withdraw, they cannot give informed consent. The deception in Asch’s study ruled out informed consent.
protection from harm - participants with low self esteem may have suffered significant after effects causing them to doubt themselves.)
Evaluation of Asch
Artificial tasks
Ps asked to compare a standard line against comparison lines, in order. Not a situation they would encounter irl -Situation and task was artificial
L: low ecological validity can’t be applied beyond study.
