Asch's Research

Question 1

Asch research was to

Answer 1

Research group conformity

Question 2

Aschs Procedure

Answer 2

-123 American male undergrads
-places in groups of 6-8 confederates and 1 participant at the end
-participants were shown a standard line and 3 comparison lines one which was the same length as the comparison and 2 which were different
-When asked what was the correct answer, the confederates gave incorrect answers.
-18 trials in total with 12 of them having the confederates giving the wrong answers
-Confederates answers were unanimous and the answer was unambiguous

Question 3

Asch’s findings

Answer 3

-Participants gave wrong answers 36.8% of the time
-25% didn’t conform at all
-75% confirmed at least once
-Participants said they confirmed to avoid rejection
(NSI)

Question 4

Asch’s variations

Answer 4

Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty

Question 5

Group size

Answer 5

With 3 confederates conformity rose to 31.8% and any additional confederates didn’t make a significant difference
3 is the sweet spot

Question 6

Unanimity

Answer 6

The presence of a dissenting confederate reduced conformity by a quarter from when the majority was unanimous
Therefore the influence does somewhat depend on unanimity

Question 7

Task difficulty

Answer 7

The more ambiguous the answer the more conformity increased

Question 8

Culture bias

Answer 8

-Studies found that collectivist cultures like China show much higher levels of conformity since collective social roles are prioritised

-The theory can’t be generalized across cultures, only America

-Culturally relative

Question 9

Gender bias

Answer 9

-All 123 participants were male
-Research found that women are more conformist due to having more social relations and pressures placed on them

-Androcentric, can’t be generalized to women

• -population validity

Question 10

Research support task difficulty

Answer 10

-Lucas found that more people conformed to incorrect answers for difficult maths questions

-Supports task difficulty impacting conformity due to ISI

• +reliability

Question 11

Methodological issues

Answer 11

-Artificial situation
-15+ confederates decreased conformity
-Demand characteristics

-Means that people may have been going along with the assumed aims of the study since they are in a lab environment

• -IV