Asch conformity Flashcards
(15 cards)
How many participants did Asch recruit and who were they?
123 American male students.
What task did participants complete in Asch’s study?
Identified the length of a standard line.
What was the role of confederates in Asch’s study?
Confederates gave correct answers for a few trials, then unanimously gave wrong answers in critical trials.
How many trials did each participant complete and how many were critical trials?
18 trials total; 12 were critical trials.
What percentage of the time did participants conform by giving a wrong answer?
36.8% of critical trials.
What percentage of participants never conformed?
25% never gave a wrong answer.
What percentage conformed at least once?
75%.
What does Asch’s study suggest about conformity?
People conform due to normative social influence—seeking social approval.
What is a criticism of Asch’s study regarding task realism?
The tasks were artificial and participants knew they were in a study (demand characteristics).
What did Fiske (2014) argue about Asch’s groups?
They weren’t very groupy like real-life groups, so findings may lack generalisability.
Why do Asch’s findings have limited application?
Only American men were tested—gender and cultural bias.
What did Neto (1995) say about gender differences in conformity?
Women may conform more due to concern about social relationships.
What did Bond and Smith find in their study of collectivist cultures?
Higher rates of conformity in collectivist cultures than individualist ones like the USA.
What study supports Asch’s findings on task difficulty?
Lucas et al. found higher conformity on harder math problems.
What conclusion did Lucas et al.’s study support?
Task difficulty affects conformity—supporting Asch’s conclusions.
