Conformity Studies

Question 1

What was Asch’s baseline procedure?

Answer 1

• 1951 Asch devised an experiment to assess to what extent people will conform to the opinion of others
• he got 123 American male participants to pick one line out of three that was closest in length to a separate line
• participants were tested in groups of 6 to 8 with the only actual participant placed second to last or last

Question 2

What were the results of Asch’s procedure?

Answer 2

• he asked each participant to say which lines they though matched in length
• the confederates each said the same (scripted) incorrect answer and in 36.8% of the time the participant agreed with them

Question 3

What were the variables tested by Asch?

Answer 3

• in 1955 he extended his original study to investigate variables that might lead to an increase or decrease in conformity including:
  – group size (1-15 confederates)
  – unanimity (a different incorrect answer was given)
  – task difficulty (lines more similar in length)

Question 4

What is one strength of Asch’s research into conformity?

Answer 4

• strength of research support from Lucas et al (2006) who gave participants easy and hard maths problems and participants conformed more when problems were harder - reliable

Question 5

What are 3 limitations of Asch’s research into conformity?

Answer 5

• limitation that it is an artificial task and participants may have had demand characteristics - findings not applicable to everyday life
• limitation that all participants were American men - Neto (1995) said that women conform more and individualist countries conform less than collectivist countries - not generalisable
• limitation that its ethically poor as participants were told it was an eye test so they were lied to and deceived

Question 6

What was Zimbardo’s research into conformity of social roles?

Answer 6

• Zimbardo et al (1973) set up a mock prison of 21 male student volunteers under Stanford university
• participants were randomly assigned either a guard or prisoner role and were encouraged to conform to the role they received
• prisoners were given numbers, smocks and were actually arrested
• guards were given uniforms, batons and sunglasses for de-individuation

Question 7

What were the results of Zimbardo’s research into conformity of social roles?

Answer 7

• study was set to take place over 2 weeks but Zimbardo’s girlfriend at the time had to remind him that it had gone too far
• the guards constantly harassed the prisoners leading to the prisoners attempting a rebellion
• prisoners were depressed and anxious due to the guards’ behaviour becoming increasingly brutal and aggressive
• conclusion that social roles have a very strong influence on an individuals’ behaviour

Question 8

What are 2 strengths of Zimbardo’s research into conformity of social roles?

Answer 8

• strength that he had control over key variables including the participants - he chose ones that were emotionally-stable to try to rule out the effect of individual differences - increased internal validity
• strength that McDermott (2019) states that the prison reflected real life as 90% of conversations were about their prison life and referred to their time there as their ‘sentence’

Question 9

What are 2 limitations of Zimbardo’s research into conformity of social roles?

Answer 9

• limitation of lack of realism - Banuazizi and Movahedi (1975) argued that participants were just play-acting and performing based on stereotypes as one guard based his brutal behaviour on a character from a recently released film - lacking in validity
• limitation of ethically poor as prisoners were treated so badly that some had ongoing trauma and anxiety afterwards and the addition of ethical guidelines had to be put in place fro future studies in psychology