Lesson 3 - Variables Affecting Conformity

Question 1

Asch (1951) Procedure

Answer 1

Placed a naive participant in a group of several confederates
Asked to look at standard line and determine which from the three test lines was most similar
Responses gave out loud
Answer obvious but confederates gave same wrong answer 12 out of 18 times
Naive participant gave response last or second last

Question 2

Asch (1951) Findings

Answer 2

1% chance of making genuine mistake
33% of responses were incorrect
75% of participants conformed at least once
25% of participants did not conform at all
5% of participants conformed every time
Majority trusted judgement but wanted to avoid disapproval

Question 3

Asch (1956)

Group Size

Answer 3

Changed group size
Groups with one confederate had 3% conformity rate
Groups with two confederates had 13% conformity rate
Groups with three confederates had 32% conformity rate
Little change reaching four or more confederates
Two people influence easy to resist but not three

Question 4

Asch (1956)

Task Difficulty

Answer 4

Adjusted task difficulty making test lines similar
Conformity increased - informational social influence
Answers looked uncertain leading to following group
Increased difficulty => increased social influence and conformity

Question 5

Asch (1956)

Unanimity

Answer 5

When group had unanimity (everyone agreed) conformity increased
When one confederate went against the rest, conformity dropped
Confederate giving correct answer, drop from 33% to 5% conformity
Confederate going against group but another wrong answer, drop from 33% to 9% conformity

Question 6

Asch (1951, 1956) Evaluation
Temporal Validity
Negative

Answer 6

Lacks temporal validity
Conducted 80 years ago
People potentially more conformist than now
Post-war attitudes that people should work together and consent rather then dissent may have affected results

Question 7

Asch (1951, 1956) Evaluation
Ecological Validity
Negative

Answer 7

Artificial situation
Conformity usually takes place in social context with people we know, not strangers
Lacks mundane realism (does not reflect real life)
Lacks ecological validity (cannot be generalised to real life)

Question 8

Asch (1951, 1956) Evaluation
Sample Bias
Negative and Positive

Answer 8

Gender biased - only male participants, cannot be representative of female behaviour
Culturally biased - only white Americans, not reflective of behaviour of other cultures
Study has been replicated with different samples and cultures and has proven to be reliable

Question 9

Asch (1951, 1956) Evaluation
Population Validity
Negative

Answer 9

Used volunteer sample
Behaviour may not represent that of a wider population
Lacks population validity
Cannot be generalised to wider population

Question 10

Asch (1951, 1956) Evaluation
Ethics
Negative

Answer 10

Deception, lack of informed consent (did not agree to study about conformity) and psychological harm (stressful and embarrassing situation)
Necessary to deceive participants to prevent demand characteristics => increased validity

Question 11

Asch Evaluation Points

Answer 11

Temporal Validity
Ecological Validity 
Sample Biased 
Population Validity 
Ethics

All Negative