LS3 - Key Studies For Conformity Flashcards
Jennes (year?) Study Aim
1932, to examine whether individuals change their opinion in an ambiguous situation, in response to a group decision.
Jennes Study Method
Jennes filled a glass bottle with 811 white beans and sampled 26 students who individually estimated how many beans there were. Students were then divided into groups of 3 and asked to provide a group estimate through discussion, after which students answered again to see if their answer had changed.
Jennes Study Results (Stats)
Almost all students changed their original answers, the group range went down by 75%, showing the discussion affected conformity.
Jennes Study Conclusion
They changed their initial estimate due to ISI as they believed the group estimates were more likely to be correct, in comparison to their own.
Why Asch Did His Experiment
The correct answer was highly ambiguous in Jennes’ study, so you don’t actually know whether mans conformed, he made an experiment where there was an obvious answers, an incorrect answer means it would be clear that this was due to group pressure.
Asch (year) Study Aim
1951, to investigate the degree to which individuals would conform to a majority who gave obviously wrong answers where the answer was clear.
Asch Study Method
123 male US undergraduates participated in a ‘vision test’ using a line judgement task, Asch put 1 participant with 8 confederates , the real participant always answered last. There were 18 trials and 12 were critical. Asch was interested to see if the real participant wold conform to the majority view.
What Are Critical Trials?
Trials where the confederates gave the wrong answer.
Asch Study Results
On average 35% of participants conformed on the critical trials. 75% of participants conformed at least once and 25% never conformed. In the non critical trials less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer.
Asch Study Conclusion
When interviewed by Asch most participants said they knew their answers were incorrect, but conformed to fit in/not be ridiculed, confirming they complied due to NSI. Asch’s study shows compliance because they only agreed publicly and NSI because they wanted to liked and accepted rather than just liked.
