conformity Flashcards
1
Q
who studied this
A
Asch (1951)
2
Q
explain the baseline study
A
- 123 American men were tested
- each participant saw two large white cards on each trial. The line x on the standard line and lines A B C on another card were the comparison lines. One line was always clearly the same length
- on each trial the participant had to say out loud which was the same as the x line.
- tested in groups of 6-8
- there were confederates there and all gave wrong answers.
- changed seating of where the participant had to sit- always last or next to the last in the group
3
Q
what were the baseline findings
A
- genuine participants agreed with confederates incorrect answers 36.8% of the time
- there were individual differences , 25% of the participants never gave a wrong answer therefore never confirmed.
4
Q
what were the variables investigated by asch
A
- group size- varied number of confederated from 1 to 15. Found a curvilinear relationship between group size and conformity rate. Conformity increased with group size but only up to a point. With three confederates conformity to wrong answers rise to 31.8% but the presence of more confederates made little difference. Soon levelled off Suggests ppl are very sensitive to views of others bc just one or two C was enough to sway opinions
- unanimity - introduced confederate who dusagreed with other confederates. Genuine participant confirmed less in the presence of a dissenter
- task difficulty- increasing difficulty of line judging task by making lines similar. Conformity increased. Natural to look to other people for help called informational social influence
