Variables affecting conformity

Question 1

Outline the factors affecting conformity

Answer 1

Size of the group
Unanimity
Task Difficulty

Question 2

How did Asch research into the impact of group size?

Answer 2

Asch completed a number of variations using the same method where the size of the group playing an influence changed in size
2 people - 13%
3 or 4 people - 33%
4 or 5 people - 32%

When reported we say conformity increases as group size increases up until there are 5 people

Question 3

How did Asch research into the impact of unanimity?

Answer 3

If somebody else agrees with you or disagrees with the group, you are more likely to conform

Asch found conformity dropped to 5.5% when one of the confederates gave a different answer to the rest of the group that was correct

He found conformity reduced to 9% when a confederate went against the majority but gave the other wrong answer.

Question 4

How did Asch research into the impact of task difficulty?

Answer 4

If the task is easy, we are less likely to look to the group for guidance and conformity decreases

When Asch made the lines more similar in length and the answer was less obvious, participants were more likely to conform

Question 5

Strengths of variables affecting conformity

Answer 5

These concepts are all supported by research from Asch

High control over variables - Reliable

Question 6

Limitations of variables affecting conformity

Answer 6

There are no studies on a majority size of a greater scale (15+) which means we could question our group behaviour in everyday situations

Confederates may not have been convincing enough in the experiment and people may have guessed the aims - changing their natural behaviour

Cultural differences in conformity - Smith et al found that in Individualistic cultures conformity rates were 25%, whereas in collectivist cultures they were 37%, meaning there may be alternate factors