Conformity Flashcards
Asch + Zimbardo
Asch (1955)
Procedure
- 123 men judged line lengths.
- Confederates deliberately gave incorrect answers.
Asch (1955)
Findings
- Naïve participants conformed on 36.8% of the trials.
- 25% never conformed.
Asch (1955)
Variables
- Group size.
- Unanimity.
- Task difficulty.
Asch performed variations of his baseline study to see if conformity would increase or decrease.
Asch (1955) Evaluation
Evaluative Points
- Artificial Situation.
- Research Support.
- Limited Application.
Asch (1955) Evaluation
Artificial Situation
- Participants knew they were in a research study.
- Too many demand characteristics.
- The ‘groups were not very groupy’ (ie. didn’t resemble groups you might find in everyday life).
Participant’s behaviours were due to their response to demand characteristics and acting as they felt they were supposed to do. The study did not generalise to real world situations.
Asch (1955) Evaluation
Limited Application
- Participants were all American men.
- US is an individualist culture.
- Collectivist cultures (Eg. China) found conformity rates were higher.
- Women were found to be more conformist (Neto 1995).
Asch’s research tells us little about conformity in women and people from some cultures.
Asch (1955) Evaluation
Research Support
Lucas et Al. (2005)
- Lucas et Al. (2006) asked participants to answer maths questions of varying difficulty.
- 3 confederates’ answers were read before the participant’s.
- The participants conformed more when the questions were harder.
Asch was correct in saying task difficulty affects conformity.
Types and Explanations
Types
- Compliance.
- Identification.
- Internalisation.
Types and Explanations
Explanations
- Informational Social Influence.
- Normative Social Influence.
NSI Evaluation
Research Support
- (Asch 1955) when answers were written conformity dropped to 12.8%.
Writing answers removed normative group pressure.
ISI Evaluation
Research support
- (Lucas et Al. 2005) Participants relied on other people’s answers on more difficult msths problems.
Zimbardo (1971)
Procedure
Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
- 21 student volunteers randomly assigned guard or prisoner in a mock prison.
- Social roles created through uniforms and the guards had power over the prisoners.
- Supposed to last 14 days.
Zimbardo (1971)
Events
Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
- 1/3 guards became increasingly more brutal.
- Prisoners rebellion on day 2 was quickly put down.
- Prisoners became depressed.
- Study ended after 6 days.
Zimbardo (1971)
Conclusions
Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
- The participants conformed to their social roles.
Zimbardo (1971) Evaluation
Control
- All participants were emotionally stable and randomly assigned roles.
- This reduced the impact of dispositional variables.
- Increased internal validity.
The participant’s behaviour could only be due to the social roles they were assigned and more confident conclusions could be drawn.
Zimbardo (1971) Evaluation
Lack of Realism
- It was argued that the participants’ behaviour was based on stereotypes of how guards and prisoners were supposed to act.
- One guard admitted he based his behaviour on a character from the film ‘Cold Hand Luke’.
- Explains why prisoners rioted; that’s what prisoners do.
Findings of SPE tells us little about conformity to social roles in actual prison.
Zimbardo (1971) Evaluation
Counterpoint
Lack of Realism
- In 2019, it was argued the participants behaved as if the prison was real to them.
- 90% of prisoners’ conversations were about prison life.
- “Prisoner 416” explained how he believed the prison was real.
SPE did replicate the social roles of prisoners and guards in a real prison setting, giving the study a high internal validity.
Zimbardo (1971) Evaluation
Exaggerates the Power of Social Roles
- Zimbardo exaggerated the impact of social roles on behaviour.
- Only 1/3 of the guards behaved in a brutal mannor.
- An equal amount sympathised with the prisoners, offering cigarettes and reinstating privileges.
- Most participants resisted the situational pressures to conform.
Zimbardo overstated his view that SPE participants were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence of dispositional factors.
Zimbardo (1971) Evaluation
Ethical Issues
- Zimbardo had a duty of care to the participants.
- Prisoners were subjected to physical and psychological abuse (e.g. Guards put prisoners in “the hole”, which was a cupboard you could not sit down in).
- The parole system challenged the participants’ rights to withdraw.
- The participant names were revealed in the results.
Zimbardo (1971) Evaluation
Evaluative Points
- Control.
- Lack of Realism (+Counterpoint).
- Exaggerated the Power of Roles.
- Ethical Issues.
Asch (1955) Variations
Group size
- Varied group size from 2-16.
- Conformity increased up to 3 then levelled off.
Asch (1955) Variations
Unanimity
- The presence of a dissenter reduced conformity.
Asch (1955) Variations
Task difficulty
- Made line lengths more similar.
- Conformity increased when the tasks were harder (ISI).
Definition
nAffiliators
People who have a greater need for social relationships.
More affected by Normative Social Influence.
