Variables Affecting Conformity

Question 1

Who was a major researcher in variables affecting conformity

Answer 1

Solomon Asch

Question 2

When was Ash’ study

Answer 2

1956

Question 3

Who did Asch test in his study

Answer 3

123 male undergraduates who were asked to volunteer for a visual discrimination task.

Question 4

What was the procedure of Asch study

Answer 4

The participants were seated around a table and asked to look at three lines of different lengths. They took turns calling out which line they thought was the same length as the standard line. Unknown to participants, all the other people around the table were confederates. The real particpant always answered second to last

Question 5

What were the ‘critical trials’ in Asch study

Answer 5

On 12 of the 18 trials confederates were told to give the same incorrect answer

Question 6

What were the findings of Asch study

Answer 6

Of the 12 critical trials, the participants conformed to the group on 33% of the trials. Asch also found individual differences in conformity rate. One quater never conformed, Half conformed on six or more of the trials, and one in twenty conformed on all twelve of the trials.

Question 7

How did asch confirm that the correct line was unambigous

Answer 7

In a control study without the confederates giving the wrong answers particpants made mistakes roughly 1% of the time

Question 8

What did Asch find when studying the affect of group size on obedience

Answer 8

Found very little conformity when the group size was just one or two confederates. With three confederates conformity jumped to 30% and from here the size of the majority didn’t increase the levels of conformity substancially

Question 8

When might group size influence conformity more substancially

Answer 8

Campbell and Fairey suggest the importance of group size depends on the type of judgement being made, as when there isn’t an objectively correct answer, so the larger the majority the more likely an individual will be swayed

Question 9

What happened when the unanimity of the confederates was broken up

Answer 9

Conformity levels dropped from 33% to 5.5%. If the dissenter gave a different wrong answer conformity rose to 9%.

Question 10

What happened if the task was made more difficult

Answer 10

Conformity rose. Lucas et al investigated further and found that the influence of task difficulty depended on the participants self-efficacy (self-confidence)

Question 11

How does the time period that Asch’s study took part in cause issues It

Answer 11

It took place in 1956, during the second red scare while america was in the grip of McCarthyism, so people were more likely to conform. Perrin and Spencer attempted to repeat the study in the UK and got one conforming response out of 396 trials. A study of youths on probation with probation officers as confederates, found got similar results to Asch, confirming that conformity was higher when the percieved costs of conforming were higher.

Question 12

Who got one conforming response out of 396 trials

Answer 12

Perrin and Spencer

Question 13

Who suggested that the importance of group size depended on the type of judgement being made

Answer 13

Campbell and Fairey

Question 14

Who found the the influence of task difficulty depended on self efficacy

Answer 14

Lucas et al

Question 15

Why might the conclusions of Asch study be positive for humanity

Answer 15

Important to remember that only one third of critical trials resulted in a conformist answer, so these findings do not conclude that humans are overly conformist, and instead displayed a commendable tendency for participants to stick to what they believed to be their correct judgement (independance)

Question 16

Why might confederate acting be an issue for variables affecting conformity

Answer 16

It would have been difficult for confederates in Asch study to be convincing while giving the wrong answers, which would have seriously impacted the validity of the study. Mori and Arai overcame this issue by replacing confederates with participants wearing identical glasses with special polarising filters, whilst a fourth participant wore glasses with a different filter. This meant that all looked at the same stimulus but saw different things. Found that female results matched the original study while male ones did not

Question 17

How is gender bias present in asch’s study (to be added to another para)

Answer 17

Asch study was done on all male particpants, and Mori and Arai found differing results for men and women. Possible gender bias in assuming men and women conform the same

Question 18

Who used goofy glasses to test if asch’s confederates were convincing actors

Answer 18

Mori and Arai

Question 19

Suggest how cultural differences impacted Asch study

Answer 19

Research suggests results may difffer depending on which culture the study takes part in. Smith et al analysed the results of Asch type studies and found conformity rates of 25% in individualistic cultures and 37% in collectevist cultures. One possible reason for this is that conformity is seen more favourably in collectevist cultures, as a ‘glue’ holding communities together

Question 20

Who did an analysis of asch type studies across cultures

Answer 20

Smith et al