Lesson 4: Variables Affecting Conformity

Question 1

1. Group size

Answer 1

• v little conformity if one or two confederates in majority
• but, if 3 confederates, confirms rates went up to 30%
• after that though, increasing group size had no effect on conformity rates
  Shows group size important up to a certain extent

Question 2

2. Unanimity of the majority

Answer 2

• when people agree with the same answer
• if one confederate gave right answer, conformity levels decreased from 33% to 5.5%
• if one confederate gave wrong answer, that was a different wrong answer to other confederates, conformity dropped from 33% to 9%
• only need one break in unanimous chain for conformity levels to drop

Question 3

3. Task difficulty

Answer 3

• when correct answer is less obvious, level of conformity increases
• Lucas et al found influence of task difficulty moderated by self-efficacy (how confident person feels)
• high self efficacy people dont feel the need to comply as much as they remained independent no matter how hard question