Conformity

Question 1

What is conformity

Answer 1

Type of social influence

-matching behaviour and beliefs of others to fit in

Question 2

The presence of an ally

Answer 2

-if a confederate said the wrong answer, many people would conform and say the same as them

Question 3

Size of majority

Answer 3

More confederates who said the wrong answer meant more likely participant was to conform

Question 4

Task difficulty

Answer 4

-when a task becomes more difficult or answer is more ambiguous, levels of conformity increase

Question 5

Personality

Answer 5

People who were introduced to the concept of rebellion prior to experiment were less likely to conform

Question 6

Expertise

Answer 6

If people were considered an expert in the field relating to the task, conforming to the expect was more likely, regardless of whether they were giving the right answer or not

Question 7

Aim of Line study by Asch

Answer 7

Aim- investigate if people would conform to opinions of others and knowingly give the wrong answer

Question 8

Study design of this

Answer 8

• Laboratory Design conducted where there was a control of EVs
• consisted of American Male students

Question 9

Method

Answer 9

• groups of 7-9 people shown 4 lines, standard line and three comparison lines
• asked to say out loud which comparison line was the same line as the standard line, answer was clear
• only one real participant, rest were confederates

Question 10

Results

Answer 10

• 76% of participants conformed to the wrong answer at least once
• 24% resisted pressure to conform and said the right answer in every trial

Question 11

Strengths and weakness

Answer 11

• highly controlled
• results have been replicated many times, so study is reliable
• lacks ecological validity, environment was very artificial which may have caused them to behave in a certain way
• we cannot be sure that the behaviour displayed is typical of that seen in real life