asch’s research Flashcards
Aim
To examine the extent to which social pressure to conform from unanimous majority affects conformity in an unclear situation
Type of experiment
Lab
Variables
IV = confederate responses, DV= naïve participants responses
Sampling technique
Volunteer sampling
Participants
123 male American undergraduates
Method
- participants believe they were taking part in a vision test
– line judgement task with one real participant with 6 to 8 confederates
– Asked to state which of the 3 lines was the same length as a stimulus line
– Real participant was always seated next to last
– confederates gave the same incorrect answer on 12 out of 18 trials.
– Asch wanted to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view, even if the answer was clearly incorrect
Findings
32% conformed
74% conformed on at least one trial
26% never conformed
Conclusion
Asch interviewed his participants after the experiment and most went along with the group to fit in out of fear of being rejected
Factors affecting level of conformity – GROUP SIZE
P – individual more likely to conform when in a larger group
E – low conformity when group size of confederate was less than three, more than three and conformity rose by 30%
E – person more likely to conform if all members of the group are in agreementas it will increase their confidence in correctness of the group and decrease confidence in the right answer the optimal point is three as conformity doesn’t increase in groups larger than this
L – the majority must be at least 3 to exert an influence
Factors affecting level of conformity – UNANIMITY
P – individual more likely to conform when the group is unanimous
E – when joined by another participant who gave the correct answer conformity fell from 32% to 5%. If different answers are given it falls from 32% to 9%
E – the more unanimous the group is the more confidence. The participant will have that they are all correct so the participants answer is more likely to be incorrect.
Factors affecting levels of conformity – TASK DIFFICULTY
P – individual more likely to conform when the task is difficult
E – Asch altered the lines making the more similar in length. since it was harder to judge the correct answer conformity increased
E– when the task is difficult we are more uncertain so we look to others for confirmation so informational social influence can be applied here
Limitation – BIASED SAMPLE
P – only used American male undergraduates
E – can’t generalise the results to other populations like female students
I&D– shows beta bias
C – lacks population validity and further research is required to determine whether males and females conform differently
Limitation – LOW EXTERNAL VALIDITY
P – low external validity
E – line judgement to ask is artificial and doesn’t reflect conformity in everyday life so it lacks mundane realism
C – unable to generalise results to other real life situations of conformity due to lack of real life application
Limitation – LACKS TEMPORAL VALIDITY
P – lacks temporal validity
E –Asch’s research took place in the 1950s where in the US conformity was arguably higher. Perrin and Spencer replicated this study in 1980 and found significantly lower levels of conformity in engineering students.
I&D – explanations for conformity adopt a nomothetic approach as they attempt to provide general principles.
C – findings by Perrin and Spencer suggest conformity levels have changed over time so the study lacks temporal validity because the findings cannot be generalised across all time periods
Strengths
– Lab experiment so replication is easy and variables were strictly controlled.
– participants were debriefed and
– supports normative social influence as participants reported that they conformed to fit in and avoid rejection
What year was Asch’s line study conducted
1951
