Variables Affecting Conformity Flashcards

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1
Q

What 3 variables did Asch research in 1956

A
  • group size
  • task difficulty
  • unanimity
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2
Q

What was the original procedure of Asch’s experiment (1951)

A
  • participant has to look at a ‘standard’ line and then decide which of the three other ‘test lines’ was the same length, without discussing it with another, giving their responses aloud one at a time

-> answer was obvious, but confederates gave the wrong answer (in 12/18 trials)
- naive participant always last / near the end, so they heard the other responses before giving their own

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3
Q

Asch’s original experiment findings (1951)

A

-> 33% of responses incorrect (chance of making an actual mistake = 1%)
-> 75% participants conformed in at least 1/18 trials
-> 5% conformed in every trial
-> 25% never conformed
- majority said they conformed to avoid group disapproval, but still trusted their own judgement

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4
Q

How did findings change after Asch changed group size (1956)

A

Groups with…
- 1 confederate = conformity rate of 3%
- 2 confederates = 13%
- 3 confederates = 32%

Little change to conformity when groups reached 4 (+) confederates

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5
Q

How did findings change when Asch changed task difficulty

A

-> he made the test lines more similar in length
-> level of conformity increased, possibly due to ISI impact
-> due to uncertainty = looking to others for confirmation

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6
Q

How did findings change when the group had unanimity

A
  • conformity increased
    -> however, when only one other person gave a different answer, conformity dropped

-> presence of just one who went against the majority reduced conformity to 5% from 33% (even when that confederate gave a different wrong answer to the rest of the group, conformity dropped to 9%)

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7
Q

AO3 - P1 (-) Lack of temporal validity

A

-study was conducted 80 years ago (doesn’t reflect modern)
- proven by Perrin & Spencer (1980) - when they repeated Asch’s original study on engineering students in the UK
- one student conformed in 396 trials
(however, this may have been as the engineering students were more confident)

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8
Q

AO3 - P2 + Highly controlled

A
  • included a ‘control’ (the original procedure), then the other groups which only changed one variable
  • therefore clear cause and effect relationship
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9
Q

P3 - AO3 (-) Limited Application

A

sample = white, American men
-> can’t be applied esp as women more conformist (Neto)
+ -> cannot be applied to other cultures collectivist cultures (China) are likelier to conform than individualist cultures (USA) due to a higher orientation to the group.
-> volunteer sample so the participants behaviour ≠ rep wider population so no population validity

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10
Q

P4 AO3 - Demand characteristics, ecological validity, mundane realism (-) (volunteer sample)

A

-> demand characteristics, (due to the volunteer sample)
-> task was artificial and unlikely to take place in real life + ‘groups’ didn’t resemble the groups we are in in everyday life
(conformity usually takes place in a social context, often with people we know (rather than strangers) we can say that the study lacked both mundane realism, and ecological validity)

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11
Q

P5 AO3 - Ethical issues (-)

A
  • deception (as participants did not know about the confederates, and thought that they were taking part in a test of perception
  • lack of informed consent (as they don’t know they were taking part in a conformity study),
  • psychological harm (as they were put in a stressful and embarrassing situation.
    -> debrief happened + deception necessary to minimise demand characteristics, but still unethical / not fully justified
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