conformity - variables investigated by asch

Question 1

name the 3 variables asch investigated

Answer 1

• group size
• unanimity
• task difficulty

Question 2

describe procedure/findings for group size

Answer 2

procedure:
- varied no. of confederates from 1-15
results:
- found curvilinear relationship –> to a point
- with 3 confederates, conformity (wrong answer) rose to 32%
- presence of more = little difference

Question 3

describe procedure/findings for unanimity

Answer 3

procedure:
- introduced non-conforming confederate
- 1 variation: 1 confederate gave correct answer every time
–> conformity dropped to 5%
- 2 variation: 1 confederate consistently gave diff. but incorrect answer
–> conformity dropped to 9%

Question 4

describe procedure/findings for task difficulty

Answer 4

procedure:
- increased difficulty of line judging task - stimulus/comparison lines more similar
- harder for genuine participants to see
results:
- conformity increased

Question 5

16 marker: evaluation of asch’s variations AO1

Answer 5

3 variations: group size, unanimity & task difficulty
group size:
- curvilinear relationship to a point (3 confederates), conformity increased to 32%
unanimity (non-conforming confederate):
- 2 variations (1 = right answer, 2 = wrong answer) –> 1 = conformity decreased to 5%, conformity decreased to 9%
task difficulty:
- line judging task harder = conformity rose

Question 6

16 marker: evaluation of asch’s variations AO3

Answer 6

+)
P: other pieces of research that have replicated the findings
E: eg. lucas et. al (2006) asked the participants to solve easy/hard maths problems. they were given answers from 30 other students (not real). they conformed more often on the harder problems
T: this shows evidence that task difficulty is a variable affecting conformity

-)
P: other research counteracts his findings
E: eg. lucas et. al (2006) did support it to a point, however, it said how conformity is more complex than asch suggested as participants with high confidence in their maths abilities conformed less when more difficult
T: this shows that individual differences can influence conformity by interacting with situational variables

+)
P: limited application
E: all of asch’s participants were american men and other research suggests women may be more conformist possibly due to being concerned about social relationships and being accepted (neto 1995). also, the US is an individualist culture and similar confomrity studies done in collectivist cultures have found conformity rates are higher (bond & smith 1996)
T: thus, asch’s findings tell us little about conformity rates for women or people from other cultures

-)
P: lacks task validity
E: eg. the participants knew they were in a research study & may have displayed demand characteristics. also, the task of identifying lines was relatively trivial & there wasn’t really a reason not to conform. in addition, according to susan filke 2014, aschs groups did not resemble those we experience in everyday life
T: thus, the findings do not generalise to real world situations - especially where consequences of conformity may be important