key studies in conformity

Question 1

what are the two main reasons why we may conform

Answer 1

its either because of ISI or NSI

Question 2

what are some key studies related to conformity

Answer 2

Jenness(1932), Sherif(1936), Asch(1951)

Question 3

what was the aim for Jenness(1932)

Answer 3

to examine whether individuals will change their opinion in an ambiguous situation, in response to a group discussion

Question 4

what was the method for Jenness(1932)

Answer 4

• he used an unclear situation that involved a glass bottle with 811 beans
• he had a sample of 26 who had to individually estimate how many beans are in the bottle
• participants were then divided into groups of 3 and asked to provide a group estimate through discussion
• then after the discussion they were asked to estimate alone again to see if they would change their answer

Question 5

what was the results for Jenness(1932)

Answer 5

• Jenness found that nearly all the pps had changed their answer
• the females changed their answers on average more than the males
• this demonstrates the converging opinions of the pps

Question 6

what is the conclusion for Jenness(1932)

Answer 6

The results suggest that pps changed their original results because of ISI, as they believed the group answer would be right

Question 7

what type of conformity were the jenness pps showing

Answer 7

they were showing internalisation, as they changed their opinion publicly and privately

Question 8

what was the aim of Sherif(1935)

Answer 8

he conducted an experiment with the aim to prove that people conform to group norms when they are put in unclear situations

Question 9

what was the method of Sherif part 1

Answer 9

• he used a lab experiment
• he used the autokinetic effect: small spot of light projected onto a screen in a dark room will appear to move when it actually isnt moving
• when tested individually, the light actually moved a considerate amount
• the pps were then put into groups of 3, each person had to say answer out loud
• in the group, 2 estimates were close, one very different

Question 10

what were the results for sherif part 1

Answer 10

• the pps were unclear,, thats why they converged opinions
• the estimate that was diff to the rest converged to the majority of 2
• sherif said this showed that people will always tend to conform, rather than making individual judgments they always come to a group choice

Question 11

what was part 2 of Sherif(1935)

Answer 11

• in a follow up, he started with a group of people where the answer was same for all of them, they had decided a group answer
• then when individuals were taken from the group, their answers were very similar to the group answers
• this suggests that internalisation had taken place, they internalised the group norm

Question 12

what is the conclusion of sherif(1935)

Answer 12

• the reuslts show that in ambiguous situations, a person will look to others and conform/ adopt the group norm
• they would this in order to be right but lack info, so theyd observe someone more knowledgeable to get info off them
• this is ISI

Question 13

what was the aim of Asch(1951)

Answer 13

• he carried out an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform
• ## to find out the degree to which individuals would conform to a majority, when the answer was clearly correct

Question 14

what was the procedure for Asch(1951)

Answer 14

• he used a lab experiment
• 123 male US pps took part in the vision test
• groups of 6 to 8, with one real participant and the rest confederates
• the confederates had agreed beforehand about their responses
• the real pps were last or next to the last
• each person had to state the letter out loud
• there were 18 trials in total
• the confederates have the wrong answer on 12 trials (critical trials, where the confederate give the same wrong answer)
• Asch was interested to see if the real participant would conform to majority

Question 16

What were the independent and dependent variables in Asch(1951)

Answer 16

Independent variables: factor that is manipulated (confederates giving the wrong answer)
Dependent variables: factor that is measured (whether they gave the wrong answer and confirmed to majority)

Question 17

What is a control group

Answer 17

A standard to which comparisons are made

Question 18

How many people were in the control group for Asch(1951)

Answer 18

36 participants, there were 20 trials

Question 19

What were the results of Asch

Answer 19

• he measured the number of times each participant conformed to the majority
• about one third of the pps who were in the experiment conformed to the clear wrong answer and majority.
• over 12 critical trials, about 75 percent of pps conformed at least once and 25 percent never conformed
• in the control group, less than 1 percent gave the wrong answer

Question 20

What was the conclusion of Asch

Answer 20

He interviewed his participants, which is good, because you can find out why they conformed.
- most of the pps said they knew their answers were wrong but went along to fit in with the group
- this confirms that is was NSI, desire to fit in but they didn’t change their private views
- Asch’s study showed compliance in terms of agreeing publicly not privately