Variables affecting conformity Flashcards
What are the variables that affect conformity?
- group size
- unanimity
- task difficulty
Why does group size affect conformity?
- adding more confederates increases the size of the majority
- this increases conformity up to a certain point
How did conformity change when there was 1 confederate and 1 real ppt
4% conformed
(decrease)
How did conformity change when there were 3 confederates and 1 real ppts
31.8 conformed
(minor decrease)
What does the decrease in conformity show about the effect of group size on conformity?
as the group size increases so do levels of conformity
- results suggest there’s no need for a majority of more than 3 confederates because conformity was as high as when 6 confederates were used
What is unanimity?
the extent to which all the members of a group agree
What is a dissenter?
they disagree with the other confederates
How did conformity change when there was 1 confederate that always gave the right answer?
conformity decreases to 5.5%
How did conformity change when there was 1 confederate that gave a different wrong answer to the confederates?
conformity decreased to 9%
How did conformity change when there was 1 confederate who sometimes gave the right answer and sometimes the wrong answer?
conformity deceased to 25%
What does the decrease in conformity suggest about the effect of unanimity
suggests that breaking unanimity is a major factor in reducing conformity because when the ppt is given the support of a confederate, unanimity is disturbed. conformity levels drop
How was conformity affected when the task became more difficult
conformity increased
Why does conformity increase as the task becomes more difficult
It is harder to work out the correct answer and the situation is more ambiguous ppts look to other people for guidance and assume they are correct
(ISI)
What are strengths of the variables affecting conformity
- high control
- supported by research (task difficulty)
What are limitations of the variables affecting conformity?
- limited sample
- artificial task
- individual differences
Evaluate High control as a strength of variables affecting conformity
P: uses experimental method so has high control over extraneous variables and can establish cause and effect
E: Uses lab experiment so he can be confident that IV (task difficulty/grp size/ unanimity) is causing the DV (ppts answers)
E: Strength because we can be confident that results are not being affected by confounding variables and that we have internal validity.
Evaluate research support into task difficulty as a strength of variables affecting conformity
P: Research support from other studies for the effects of task difficulty
E: Todd Lucas et al asked their ppts to solve easy and hard maths problems. Ppts were given answers from 3 other students (confederates). The ppts conformed more often when the problems were harder
E: This shows that the claim that task difficulty affects conformity has validity
Evaluate a limited sample as a limitation of variables affecting conformity
P: low population validity
E: Ppts were American male students. The study could also be criticised for being gender biased and not representative of female behaviour. Other research suggests women may be more conformist because they’re more concerned about social relationships and being accepted
E: Limitation because results about task difficulty/ grp size/ unanimity may be difficult to generalise to the behaviours of others, for example, females or people that aren’t students. Therefore the study has low external validity
Evaluate the use of an artificial task as a limitation of variables affecting conformity
P: Low ecological validity
E: Ppts knew they were in a research study and may have gone along with what was expected, showing demand characteristics The task of identifying lines was trivial and there was no reason not to conform, and the task doesn’t reflect real life conformity
Fiske suggested that Asch’s group weren’t very ‘groupy’ and didn’t resemble groups we experience in everyday life.
E: Limitation because the results may be difficult to generalise to real-life situations of conformity such as making decisions among people they know or in situations where the consequences of conformity may be important. Thus the study has low external validity.
Evaluate individual differences as a limitation of variables affecting conformity
P: Research has found conformity to be more complex than Asch suggested
E: Lucas et al’ ‘s study found that ppts with high confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on hard tasks than those with low confidence
E: This shows that an individual-level factor can influence conformity by interacting with situational variables. Asch didn’t consider the role of individual factors which may limit the validity of his theory about factors affecting conformity
