Asch- conformity Flashcards
What did Sherif research?
Conformity using the autokinetic effect
What is the autokinetic effect?
The apparent movement of a stationary light in a darkened room
On how many trials did Asch’s confederates give the wrong answer?
12 out of 18
What percentage never conformed?
24%
Percentage that conformed at least once?
76%
Percentage that conformed on 1-3 trials
33%
Percentage that conformed on 10-12 trials
11%
What did all participants experience?
puzzlement and confusion
What are the two interpretations of Asch’s findigns?
Independence and yielding
how are people independent?
- Independence with confidence
* Independence without confidence (May turn into yielding)
What are the types of yielding
Distortion of perception,
distortion of judgement,
distortion of action
How did Asch say participants actively tried to make sense of the situation?
Politeness,
Alternatives,
Experiment,
Self-doubt,
Asch’s work explored the impact waht two facts?
Quality of the task and quality of group opposition
Why may Asch’s research may not be seen as an experiment?
No control condition
What was foudn with quality of the task when the lines were more obvious?
Little effect on the % of wrong responses.
Distortion of perception gone
What happened when there was one confederate adn 16 participants?
No quantitative impact
What happened when there were 9 confederates and 11 participants?
Particpants perceived strength from the support of each other
What did Moscovici argue this showed?
Minority influence
How does this show minority influence?
- 9 people who are going against the clear answer is a small proportion of everyone else in the world
- This is minority influence as perhaps everyone else in the world would agree with you but the minority of 9 is different
Types of conformity bias
Content of the task and opposition of the majority
What are the biases in content of the task?
No uncertainty, nothing to gain, personal relevance
What are the biases in opposition of the majority
No opportunity to discuss and resolve disagreement
What other factors affected conformity?
Age, gender, culture, decades
What is the group deficit model?
The ‘group deficit model’ became enshrined in two-process theories which differentiated between physical and social reality testing (Festinger, 1950) and informational and normative influence (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955)
What does normative influence lead to
Conformtiy
What does informational influence lead to
Conversion
What is referent informational influence? (Turner, 1981)
You conform because norms defines the membership in a group that is an important aspect of your self-concept.
