Explanations Of Conformity

Question 1

What was the aim of Aschs study

Answer 1

To see if p.t conform to a majority influence in an unambiguous situation

Question 2

What was the sample of Asch (1951) study

Answer 2

123 American undergraduate students who were all male

Question 3

What was the procedure of Aschs study into conformity

Answer 3

He believed they were taking part in a vision test. In the experiment room there was 7 male student p.t looked at 2 cards and matched the vertical lines.

All the p.t were confederates except the one who sat second from last who was a real p.t

Confederates have unanimous answer on 12 of the 18 trials (critical trials)

Question 4

What were the findings of Aschs research (1951)

Answer 4

P.t gave a wrong answer on 37% of the time

P.t conformed on 32% of the critical trials

5% conformed everytime

In post-experiment interviews, some p.t stated they actually believed the confederates or change their answer as they couldn’t bare being in the minority

Question 5

What was the conclusion of Aschs study into conformity

Answer 5

Even when a situation is ambiguous, people still conform to strong group pressure. Also appears to be different reasons for conforming

Question 6

A strength of Asch (1951)

Answer 6

P: Aschs study was carried out in a lab setting
E: this means it was carefully controlled with good control over extraneous variables
E: Any change in results was therefore due to the change in the IV and its effect on the DV
L: this shows that it was the social pressure to conform from the unanimous majority in an unambiguous situation that led to people conforming

Question 7

What is a limitation of Asch (1951) and his research into conformity

Answer 7

P: Asch used a biased sample of 123 male students from America
E: the findings therefore can’t be generalized to other populations
E: we are unable to conclude if female students would’ve conformed in a similar way
L; as a result, Aschs sample lacks population validity

Question 8

What are the two explanations of conformity

Answer 8

Normative Social Influence (NSI)
Informational Social Influence (ISI)

Question 9

What is NSI

Answer 9

Where someone conforms because they want to be liked and accepted by the group

Question 10

What might a person do when experiencing NSI

Answer 10

Publicly change their behavior but privately disagree

Question 11

What type of social influence leads to compliance

Answer 11

NSI

Question 12

In what situation would NSI occur

Answer 12

To attain group membership and the approval of others

Question 13

What is ISI

Answer 13

Where someone conforms because they do not know what to do, but want to be correct

Question 14

What do people do when experiencing ISI

Answer 14

They follow the majority because they assume that the majority know what the right thing to do is

Question 15

Informational social influence tends to lead to what type of conformity

Answer 15

Internalization

Question 16

Why do people experience ISI

Answer 16

To attain group membership due to the belief of the group being right

It tends to occur when the situation is ambiguous and others are believed to be experts

Question 17

A strength of explanations of conformity

Answer 17

P: Aschs study into conformity provides research support for NSI
E: Asch found that many participants conformed to the incorrect majority opinion, even when the correct answer was obvious
E: in follow-up interviews p.t said they conformed to avoid the discomfort of disagreeing
L: this clearly shows that compliance had occurred as p.t conformed to ‘fit in’

Question 18

What is a limitation of explanations of conformity

Answer 18

P: individual difference may explain social influence
E: this means that the processes will not affect everyone’s behavior in the same way
E: for example, some people are less impacted by non-conformity known as non affiliates who don’t conform in situations of wanting to be liked
L: the explanation of conformity can therefore not be generalized to explain everyone’s behaviour