Asch & Conformity Flashcards
How many participants were in Asch’s study of conformity?
123
How many confederates was each participant tested with?
6-8
How many overall trials were there?
18
How many critical trials were there?
12
What percentage of the time did participants give a wrong answer during the critical trials?
36.8
What percentage of participants conformed at least once?
75
One weakness of the study is that it only applies to what American years?
1950s
The task the participants had to do was quite artificial. It was not a task they would do in everyday life. What does this mean the study lacks?
Ecological validity
What is Asch’s study more reflective of as a weakness?
Individualist cultures like the UK and USA. It doesn’t reflect collectivist cultures like China. Therefore it cannot be generalised to everyone.
What is one ethical issue of Asch’s study and what is one way he could have dealt with this?
Deception - the participants thought that they were taking part in a study about judging the lengths of lines when it was actually about whether or not they would conform to group pressure. One way he could have dealt with this would be to debrief participants at the end of the study, where he explained the true aims of the study and ensure they were not badly affected.
What is conformity?
Conformity is a form of social influence where people change their behaviour due to group pressure.
What did Asch conclude from his study?
Asch concluded that people are influenced by group pressure even when involved with a task that has a clear cut answer. However, Asch also found that people can resist the pressure to conform as the majority of people did not conform.
What was the aim of Asch’s study?
To investigate how people respond to group pressure in an unambiguous task.
