Variables Affecting Conformity

Question 1

Outline Group Size (3)

Answer 1

Conformity rates increase as the size of a majority group increases. However, the size of the group stops having an effect on conformity once the group reaches a certain size. When there was one real participant and one confederate conformity was 3%. When there were two confederates and one real participant conformity increased to 13%. When there were three confederates and one real participant conformity increased to 32%.However, conformity plateaued after this, suggesting that the size of the majority does have an effect on conformity but only to a point

Question 2

Outline Unanimity (3 marks)

Answer 2

Unanimity means complete agreement from a group of people about an answer or viewpoint. In the original Asch study the confederates all gave the same wrong answer and conformity was 37%. However when Asch varied his study and had one confederate give the correct answers throughout the research, conformity dropped to 5.5%. Asch then used a ‘lone’ confederate who gave an answer that was both different from the majority and different to the correct answer. In this variation it was found that conformity dropped to 9%. Asch concluded that when a dissenter breaks the group’s unanimous position conformity decreases.

Question 3

Outline Task Difficulty (3 marks)

Answer 3

Conformity increases when the difficulty of a task increases. In one variation of Asch’s research he made the stimulus line and comparison lines more similar in length so that the correct answer was less obvious and therefore the task was harder. When the difficulty of the task increased conformity rates increased. This suggests that Informational Social Influence plays a greater role when the task becomes harder. When situations are unclear, we are more likely to look to others for guidance. As the right answer becomes less obvious we lose confidence in our own ability and are more likely to conform.

Question 4

Discuss Variables affecting conformity (3 x AO3)

Answer 4

1. Research to support the variables affecting conformity was conducted by Lucas et al. He asked students to solve ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ maths problems. Participants were given three other answers from other ‘students’. The participants conformed more often when the problems were difficult rather than easy. Therefore, supporting Asch’s research into variables affecting conformity BECAUSE it suggests that when the task is harder, conformity increases.
2. However, Lucas et al’s study found that conformity is more complex than Asch suggested. Participants with high confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on the hard math’s problems than those with low confidence. This shows that an individual-level factor can influence conformity and interact with situational variables such as task difficulty. Thus, limiting Asch’s research into variables affecting conformity as he did not research the roles of individual factors.
3. Asch’s research into variables affecting conformity can be criticised as it is gender bias, as only males were tested. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings to females as it is suggested that females might be more conformist, regardless of the variable affecting conformity, because they are more concerned about social relationships and are more concerned with being liked by their peers. This weakens the external validity of research into variables affecting conformity.