Asch (1956)

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

Fine out how people would behave when given an unambiguous task where the answer was obvious. Would they be influenced by the behaviour of others, or would they stick firmly to what they knew to be right.

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

123 male American students were tested. Asch showed a series of lines to participants, all but one of them was a confederate. The confederates were instructed to give the same incorrect answers, the true participant was always almost last to answer.

Question 3

Results

Answer 3

13 out of 50 participants never conformed. The majority (75%) conformed at least once.

Question 4

Conclusion

Answer 4

This study showed a surprisingly strong tendency to conform to group pressures in a situation where the answer is clear.

Question 5

Evaluation: Strengths

Answer 5

This study has generated huge amounts of further research in conformity.

Question 6

Evaluation: Weaknesses
(4)

Answer 6

Lack of ecological validity, asking people to judge the length of a line is an insignificant activity, in a real life or more important situation conformity levels would likely drop.

Study was conducted in a highly conformist time in American society.

This study had a biased sample as all participants were male and belonged to the same age group and so the results cannot be generalised.

This study had some ethical issues, participants were not protected from harm, were deceived and experienced some distress.