Conformity

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people

Question 2

What did Asch study?

Answer 2

The extent to which individuals will conform to the opinion of others

Question 3

What was Asch’s baseline study?

Answer 3

123 American men tested. Each participant saw 2 cards. On one was line x. On the other were lines a,b,c. The participants had to say which comparison line was closest to x

Question 4

What were the 3 variables Asch tested for?

Answer 4

• Group size
• Unanimity
• Task difficulty

Question 5

How did Asch carry out the group size variation?

Answer 5

He varied the number of confederates from 1 to 15

Question 6

What did Asch find about group size on conformity?

Answer 6

Curvilinear relationship- conformity increased with group size, but only to a point. 3 confederates= conformity increased to 31.8%

Question 7

How did Asch carry out the unanimity variation?

Answer 7

He introduced a confederate who disagreed with the group

Question 8

What did Asch find about unanimity on conformity?

Answer 8

Conformity rates decreased in the presence of a dissenter. The influence of the majority depends on it being unanimous

Question 9

How did Asch carry out the task difficulty variation?

Answer 9

He increased the difficulty of the line judging task by making the stimulus line and comparison lines more similar to each other

Question 10

What did Asch find about task difficulty on conformity?

Answer 10

Conformity increased when the task became harder. Participants look to others for guidance in ISI

Question 11

What did Fiske say about Asch’s groups?

Answer 11

‘Asch’s groups were not very groupy’

Question 12

What are the strengths of Asch’s study?

Answer 12

• Research support (Lucas et al)

Question 13

What are the limitations of Asch’s study?

Answer 13

• Artificial situation and task (Fiske)
• Limited application
• Ethical issues
• Individual level factors (Lucas et al)

Question 14

LIMITATION-
I- Artificial task/situation

Answer 14

D- Participants responed to demand characteristics. Task was trivial- no reason to conform. Fiske- Asch’s groups were not very groupy (unrepresentative)
E- Means findings do not generalise to real-world situations

Question 15

LIMITATION-
I- Limited application

Answer 15

D- Participants were all American men. Research suggests women are more conformist (concern for social relationships and acceptance). US= individualist culture. Studies conclude collectivist cultures are more conformist
E- Means Asch’s findings tell us little about conformity in women and people in collectivist cultures

Question 16

STRENGTH-
I- Research support

Answer 16

D- Lucas et al asked participants to solve hard and easy maths problems. Participants were given answers from 3 other students. they conformed more when tasks were harder
E- Shows Asch was correct in claiming that task difficulty is a variable affecting conformity

Question 17

LIMITATION-
I- Individual level factors

Answer 17

D- Lucas et al’s study found conformity is more complex. Participants with high confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on hard tasks, than those with low confidence
E- Shows that individual-level factors can effect conformity

Question 18

LIMITATION-
I- Ethical issues

Evaluation extra

Answer 18

D- Knowledge gained through deception- believed research concerned line judgment, not conformity, believed other ‘participants’ were real
E- Cannot make an informed decision to take part