Conformity Flashcards
What is conformity?
Conformity is when you change your behaviour to fit into a group/social situation
Define the 3 types of conformity
Compliance- Most superficial level of conformity- least permanent. Publically change behaviours and beliefs to fit in with the group and revert back when in private
Identification- Private & publically change for the group when the group is no longer seen as ‘valuable’, behaviour MAY revert back
Internalization- Deepest & most permanent level of conformity- change your views even when the group isn’t present
Define 2 explanations of conformity
Normative Social Influence- NSI is a desire to be liked so you go along with the group to fit in and avoid ridicule
Informational Social Influence- ISI is a desire to be right when you are unsure on how to behave you conform to the group
What experiment is linked to conformity?
The Asch Line Experiment
What is the aim of the Asch line experiment?
To investigate the effect of a majority opinion on an individual’s judgment
What is the method of the Asch line experiment?
Lab experiment
What is the sample of the Asch line experiment?
123 American male students
What is the procedure of the Asch line experiment?
- Participants were individually placed into groups with 7-9 confederates
- They were shown 2 large white cards at a time. 1 card had the standard line ‘X’ and the other had 3 comparison lines (A,B,C)
- 1 comparison line is the same as ‘X’ and the other 2 comparison lines are clearly wrong
- Participants were asked to say which line (A,B or C) was the same as ‘X’. Participants were last or 2nd to last to answer
- On 12/18 trials (Critical trials), the confederates gave identical wrong answers
- A control group of 36 were individually tested without confederates
What are the findings of the Asch line experiment?
On average, the real participants gave a wrong answer 37% of the time when a confederate was present
What happened after the study?
Post-experiment interviews found that the majority of the participants conformed publically during the experiment, but not privately, as they wanted to avoid ridicule
What did Asch conclude?
This supports NSI as participants conformed publically, but not privately in order to be accepted by the group
What are the 3 variables affecting conformity?
Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty
Variable 1: Group Size
Conformity increases as the size of the group increases. However, group size stops affecting conformity once the group reaches a certain size
1 real ppts & 1 confederate- 3% Conformity
1 real ppts & 2 confederates- 13% Conformity
1 real ppts & 3 confederates- 32% Conformity. However, conformity plateaued after this
The size of the majority does have an effect on conformity but only to a certain point
Variable 2: Unanimity
Unanimity means a complete agreement from a group of people about an answer or viewpoint
The confederates all gave the wrong answer and conformity was 37%
However, when 1 confederate gave the right answer conformity dropped to 5.5%
if a ‘lone’ confederate gave an answer that was both different from the group and different to the correct answer, conformity dropped to 9%
When a dissenter breaks the group’s unanimous position conformity decreases
Variable 3: Task Difficulty
Conformity increases when the difficulty of the task increases
Asch made the stimulus line and comparison lines more similar, so the correct answer was less obvious, therefore, the task was harder
ISI plays a greater role when the task becomes harder. when situations are unclear, we are more likely to look to others for guidance
The right answer becomes less obvious we lose confidence in our own ability and are more likely to conform
