Research Into Conformity (Asch) Flashcards
Aim of Asch’s study (1951)
To investigate whether a majority can influence a minority in a situation which is unambiguous and the correct answer is obvious
Method: How many participants in total took part in the experiment?
123 male students
Method: Asch set uo a situation in whuch 7 people all sat looking at a display. Im turn, they said out loud which one if the three lines A, B, or C, they thought was the same length as stimulus X. Out of the 7 people, how many confederates were there?
All but one (1 genuine participant in each trail of the experiment, the other 6 were confederates)
Method: Where was the genuine participant in order to offer their answer on each trial?
The last or second to last.
Method: What were the comfederates instructed to do unanimously?
To give the same but WRONG answer.
Method: What was Asch interested in?
Whether participants would say what they thought was the correct answer, or go along with the minority decision.
Results: What was the percantage of the times genuine participants conformed during the critical trials in which confederates gave the same but wrong answer?
Approx
32% of trials overall (all responses were conformist)
75% of participants also conformed on at least one occasion
Results: What did many of the participants whi gave the wrong responses admit?
That they had yielded to the majority influnece because they didn’t want to stand out.
Results: What type of confirmity is this an example of and can you explain why?
Compliance because they publically agreed with the majority but personally disagreed and were just conforming to avoid group pressure.
Conclusion: What is the main conclusion of Asch’s study?
That a majority group can influence a minority to give an incorrect answer, even in an unambiguous situation in which the correct answer is obvious
Conclusion: What did Asch show convincingly?
That imaginary pressure to conform in terms of a majority influence is much stronger than had previously been thought.
