Asch

Question 1

Baseline procedure for conformity

Answer 1

Asch

Question 2

Year for Asch

Answer 2

1951

Question 3

Asch’s procedure

Answer 3

-123 American men used
-Showed participants a standard line and then comparison lines
one of the 3 comparison lines was the same length as the standard line- other 2 were clearly wrong
participants were asked which line matched the standard
-First 2 trials - participants and confederate both gave correct answer
-Third trial - confederates gave wrong answer

Question 4

Asch’s findings

Answer 4

• Participants gave the wrong answer 36.8% of the time.
• Overall 25% of participants did not conform on any trails, which means 75% conformed at least once.
• When participant were interviewed afterwards most said they conformed to avoid rejection (NSI).

Question 5

Variables investigated by Asch

Answer 5

Group size, unanimity, task difficulty

Question 6

Asch - group size

Answer 6

‘Whether the size of the group would be more important than the agreement of the group’

Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates, thus increasing the size of the majority. Conformity increased with group size, but only up to a point, levelling off when the majority was greater than three. (curvilinear relationship)
3 confederates - conformity rose to 31.8% but no more confederates made a difference

Question 7

Asch - unanimity

Answer 7

‘Whether the presence f a non-conforming person would affect conformity’

-Introduced a confederate that gave the correct answer (dissenter)
Conformity decreased by 25%

Question 8

Asch - task difficulty

Answer 8

‘Whether making the task harder would effect conformity’

Conformity increased when task made harder and more ambiguous
Participants looked for guidance (evidence of ISI)

Question 9

Asch’s limitations

Answer 9

-Task and situation were artificial - no real life scenario
-Demand characteristics- knew they were in a study so acted how they thought they should
-Susan Fiske (2019) - groups were not “groupy” enough - all American men
-America is an individualistic culture - may have different results with other cultures (Bond and Smith (1996) - conformity was higher in China
-Neto (1995) - women would be more conformist

Question 10

Research to support Asch

Answer 10

Lucas et al (2006)
(Conformed as tasks got harder (ISI) showing that task difficulty is a factor of conformity)