SI - variations affecting conformity (A) (AO3) Flashcards
What is a limitation of his study? - Results lacked temporal validity
===> Specific to 1950s America. Perrin and Spencer (1980) replicated Asch’s study with engineering students in the UK and only 1 student conformed in 396 trials, compared to 75% conforming once in Asch’s study in 1951. 1950s USA was an era of McCarthyism (paranoid hunt for communist infiltrators) so most people were social conformists out of fear. Asch effect might not be consistent over time
What is it worth noting about Perrin and Spencer’s (1980) replication?
The students were engineering and science students so the level of expertise may have affected conformity rates, not just the time period
What is a limitation of his study? - Doesn’t consider individual differences
===> Neto (1995) suggests females are more concerned with social relationships so are more conformist and Bond and Smith (1996) analysed results of 133 line study replications to find relationships demonstrating conformity levels are greater in more collectivistic countries. Asch’s research presents androcentric and culture biases, suggesting in other populations and sexes, conformity levels could be higher, results not generalisable to everyone/everywhere
What is a limitation of his study? - Most common behaviour wasn’t to conform
===> Naïve ppts. only conformed 36.8% of the time, meaning 63.2% of it, ppts. showed independent behaviour to resist majority group pressure. Griggs (2015) assessed popular introductory psychology texts and found coverage of Asch’s seminal work has become more biased and misleading. Asch’s experiment is part of a wider bias in social conformity to neglect the discussion of dissent
What is a limitation of his study? - Artificial task used in its methodology
===> This means it lacked mundane realism and isn’t reflective of everyday life. Consequently, results may lack ecological validity and must be generalised with caution to real-life situations, which are more complex and have serious implications.
What should we consider about it being a lab experiment though?
Being carefully controlled means that extraneous variables were limited and any change in results between conditions is due to the change in the independent variable and its effect on the dependent. Direct cause-and-effect relationship increases reliability
