Variables affecting conformity Flashcards
What are situational variables?
Features of an environment that affect the degree to which individuals yield to group pressures.
How does the size of a group affect conformity as a situational variable?
Conformity rates increase as the size of a majority influence increases. Asch (1956) found that conformity was low when his paradigm was repeated with one naïve participant and two confederates to 32% with three confederates.
How does unanimity affect conformity as a situational variable?
Conformity rates have been found to decline when the majority influence is not unanimous. Th important factor would seem to be the reduction in the majority’s agreement rather than support for the individual being given support. Asch (1956) found that if there was 1 confederate who went against the other confederates, conformity dropped from 32% to 5.5%.
How does task difficulty affect conformity as a situational variable?
Greater conformity rates are seen when task difficulty increases, as the right answer becomes less obvious, Asch (1956) increased ask difficulty by making the comparison lines similar to each other. He found people were more likely to conform.
What are individual variables?
Personal characteristics that affect the degree to which individuals yield to group pressures.
How does gender affect conformity as an individual variable?
Research suggests that women conform more readily; it may be due to socialisation. Eagly et al (1981) suggested it was because women focus more on the quality of relationships and take more responsibility for building relationships so they may conform as an attempt to build interpersonal relationships.
How does mood affect conformity as an individual variable?
Research suggests that people conform more when they are happy. Tong et al (2008) found that participants were more likely to conform to wrong answers to maths questions when in a good mood rather than a neutral or a negative mood.
How does culture affect conformity as an individual variable?
People from different cultures have bee shown to conform more, possibly because some cultures are more uniform in their structure and have shared values among their members. Smith and Bond found that an average conformity rate amongst collectivist cultures, the average conformity rate was 14-39%.
