Asch's line study

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

In 1951 Asch wanted to investigate whether people would conform to majority in situations where an answer was obvious

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

There were 5-7 people per group and they were all presented with a line (x) and three comparison lines. They had to say out loud which line matched the comparison line. In a group there was 1 real participant and the rest where confederates.

Question 3

Findings/Results

Answer 3

Asch found that 32% of real participants conformed when confederates gave the wrong answer.
75% conformed at least once.
- IN 1955 ASCH THEN EXTENDED HIS BASELINE STUDY TO INVESTIGATE THE VARIABLES THAT MIGHT LEAD TO AN INCREASE OR DECREASE IN CONFORMITY. These were: (below).

Question 4

Unanimity

Answer 4

Point: An individual is more likely to conform when the group is
unanimous.

Evidence-When one person gave a different answer to the group conformity dropped from 32% to 5.5%. If different answers are given, it falls from 32% to 9%.
Explanation: the more unanimous the group is, the more confidence the
participant will have that they are all correct, and therefore the
participant’s answer is more likely to be incorrect.

Link: Unanimity is vital in establishing a consistent majority view, which is
particularly important by providing normative social influence through
preventing any conflicting views arising

Question 5

Group size

Answer 5

Point: An individual is more likely to conform when in a larger group.

Evidence: There was low conformity when the group size of confederates were less than 3 - any more than 3 and the conformity rose by 30%.

Explanation: a person is more likely to conform if all members of the
group are in agreement and give the same answer, because it will
increase their confidence in correctness of the group, and decrease their
confidence in their own answer. Conformity does not seem to increase in
groups larger than four so this is considered the optimal group size.

Link: This shows that the majority must be at least 3 to exert an influence,
but an overwhelming majority is not needed in all instances to bring about
conformity.

Question 6

Task difficulty

Answer 6

Point: An individual is more likely to conform when the task is difficult

Evidence: For example, Asch altered the lines
making them more similar in length. Since it was harder to judge the
correct answer conformity increased.

Explanation: When the task is difficult, we are more uncertain of our answer so we look to others for confirmation. The more difficult the task the greater the conformity.

Link: This suggests that informational social influence is a major
mechanism for conformity when the situation is ambiguous and the
individual does not have enough of their own knowledge or information to
make an informed decision independently, and so has to look towards
others.