Asch's research

Question 1

What were Asch’s variations?

Answer 1

Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty

Question 2

What were the findings of Asch’s baseline study?

Answer 2

Participants conformed to an incorrect answer 36.8% of the time.

75% conformed at least once.

Question 3

Describe Asch’s group size variation.

Answer 3

Asch varied the number of confederates from 1-15.

Conformity increased with group size up to a point.

3 confederates: 31%
7 confederates: 36%

Question 4

Describe Asch’s unanimity variation.

Answer 4

Asch introduced a non conforming confederate called a dissenter.

When the dissenter gave a different incorrect answer, conformity fell to 9%.

When the dissenter gave the correct answer conformity fell to 5%.

Social support may reduce pressure to conform and allow independence.

Question 5

Describe Asch’s task difficulty variation.

Answer 5

Asch made the task more ambiguous by reducing the difference in line lengths.

As the task became more difficult, conformity increased.

This could be explained by informational social influence.

Question 6

Evaluation points.

Answer 6

+ Lucas et al. : research support for task difficulty.

• Lucas et al. : Individual differences e.g. confidence were not considered.
• Fiske: groups lacked representativity. Tasks were artificial.
• Neto: women are more likely to conform than men. Bond and Smith: collectivists are more likely to conform.