Conformity Asch's research

Question 1

Procedure

Answer 1

-tested conformity in participants by using a line test.
-123 male undergraduates.
-they were asked which three of the lines matched the standard line.
-between 6-8 confederates which the naive ppt weren’t aware of.
-All the confederates were instructed to give the wrong answers.

Question 2

Findings

Answer 2

The naïve ppt gave the wrong answer 36.8% of the time. 25% did not conform and 75% conformed at least once. These results are referred to as the Asch effect where ppt conform even when the situation is unambiguous. When they were interviewed afterwards they said that they conformed to avoid rejection(Normative social influence)

Question 3

What three variations did Asch perform with his research.

Answer 3

1)group size
2)Unanimity
3)Task difficulty

Question 4

What happened with the variation in group size

Answer 4

With 3 confederates the conformity levels rose to 31.8%. Addition to further confederates made little difference. `
Shows that you need at least 3 to exert influence

Question 5

What happened with the variation in Unanimity

Answer 5

Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with the others (dissenting confederate). The presence of this confederate meant that conformity levels dropped by a 1/4. The dissenter allowed the naive ppt to be more independent. Suggests that the influence of the majority depends to some extent on the group being unanimous

Question 6

What happened with the variation in Task difficulty

Answer 6

Made the line judging task more difficult by making the lines more similar in length. Found that conformity increased. Suggests that Informational social influence plays a greater role when the task is harder. This is because we believe that the majority is right and we are wrong so we look for other people for guidance as we don’t know the answer.