Conformity (Asche’s Study)

Question 1

What is social influence

Answer 1

The process by which our thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by other people either directly or indirectly

Types- obedience, conformity

Question 2

What is conformity

Answer 2

A type of social influence where individuals change their behavior or beliefs to match those of a group, usually to fit in or be accepted.

Question 3

Aim of Asche’s (1951)study

Answer 3

;Conducted a lab experiment) to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform even when the majority is obviously incorrect

Question 4

Procedure of Asche’s (1951) baseline/ original study

Answer 4

-Involved 123 male American undergraduate students who were told they were taking part in a Vision test.
-Each participant was placed in a room with seven confederates (actors who were in on the experiment and instructed to give predetermined answers).
-They were shown a standard line and three comparison lines (labelled A, B, and C) and asked to say aloud which comparison line matched the standard line in length.The real participant was always seated last or second to last, ensuring they heard the answers of the confederates before giving their own.
-In 12 out of 18 trials critical trials), the confederates were instructed to all give the same incorrect answer.

Question 5

findings of Asche’s (1951) baseline study

Answer 5

-32% of the responses conformed to the incorrect majority on the critical trials.
-75% conformed at least once.
-25% never conformed at all.

Question 6

Describe variation 1 of Asche’s (1951) study on group size

Answer 6

-Aim: To see if the size of the majority affects conformity.

-When there was 1 confederate, conformity was 3%.
-With 2 confederates, it rose to 13%.
-With 3 confederates, conformity increased to 32% (same as in the original study).
-More than 3 confederates didn’t significantly increase conformity further.

-Conclusion: A small majority is not sufficient to produce high conformity, but more than 3 has little added effect — group pressure plateaus.

Question 7

Describe variation 2 of Asche’s (1951) study on unanimity

Answer 7

-Aim: To test whether conformity is affected if one confederate disagrees with the majority.

-When one confederate gave the correct answer, conformity dropped to 5%.
-Even if the dissenter gave a different wrong answer, conformity still dropped to 9%.

-Conclusion: The presence of social support (breaking group unanimity) reduces conformity significantly, showing that unanimity is a key factor.

Question 8

Describe variation 3 of Asche’s (1951) study on task difficulty

Answer 8

-Aim: To investigate whether making the task harder would increase conformity.

-Asch made the line lengths more similar, making it harder to judge the correct answer.
-Under these conditions, conformity increased.

-Conclusion: When people are less confident in their judgment, they are more likely to look to others for guidance — this suggests informational social influence plays a greater role when the task is more ambiguous.

Question 9

Factors that affect conformity as found in Asche’s (1951) study

Answer 9

-Group size
-Unanimity
-Task difficulty

Question 10

Evaluation of Asche’s (1951) stdy on variables affecting conformity

Answer 10

-Support from other studies for the effect of task difficulty (Lucas et al)

-The situation and task were artificial
-Findings have limited application
-Ethical issues

Question 11

Who supports the effect of task difficulty

Answer 11

Lucas et al

Question 12

What did Lucas et al find?

Answer 12

-asked participants to solve easy and hard math problems, with answers provided by three confederates.
-found that participants were more likely to conform to the incorrect answers when the problems were harder, suggesting that task difficulty influences conformity.

-This supports Asche in saying that task difficulty is a variable that affects conformity as when the problems were hard, they were more likely to to inform to the incorrect answers.

Question 13

Criticism of Lucas et al’s study

Answer 13

-However, they also discovered that participants with high confidence in their math abilities conformed less on difficult tasks compared to those with low confidence.
-shows that individual factors (like confidence) interact with situational factors (such as task difficulty) to affect conformity.

-This highlights that conformity is more complex tan Asch suggested, as individuals factors were not considered in his study,

Question 14

Why does Asche’s research raise ethical issues

Answer 14

Deception:
• Participants misled about true aim — told it was a vision test.
• Believed confederates were genuine participants.

Informed Consent:
• Due to deception, participants could not give fully informed consent.
• Violates modern ethical guidelines.

Psychological Harm:
• Potential for stress, embarrassment, or anxiety, especially when going against group.
• Discomfort heightened in public setting.

Debriefing:
• Participants were fully debriefed after the study.
• Many reported they had enjoyed the study, reducing long-term harm.

Conclusion:
• Deception was arguably necessary to measure genuine conformity.
• Still raises ethical concerns that would limit acceptability of the study today.

Question 15

Why is it a limitation that the study involved an artificial situation and task (methological issues)

Answer 15

Task was trivial:
-Judging line lengths → simple, meaningless, no real-world consequences.
-Lacks real-life relevance (e.g., moral/social pressure).

Low ecological validity:
• Lab setting = controlled but unnatural.
• Doesn’t reflect how people conform in real-world environments.
• Demand characteristics:Participants knew it was a study.May have conformed because they thought that was expected.

Unrealistic group interaction:
-Confederates = strangers, not real-life peers.
-Lack of genuine group dynamics or emotional pressure.
-Fiske (2014):Asch’s groups were not very groupy” → limited social realism.

Conclusion:
• Findings may not generalise to real-life conformity, especially where social or emotional stakes are higher.

Question 16

Why does Asch’s study have limited generalisability

Answer 16

Biased sample:
• All participants = male American college students from the 1950s.
• Lacks population validity → may not apply to:
Women, Other age groups, Different cultures, Other time periods

E.G Gender differences: Research suggests women may conform more (possibly due to greater concern for social relationships).

Cultural & historical context:
• Study took place in 1950s post-war America – a time of strong social conformity.
• Results may differ in modern or individualistic cultures.

Conclusion:
• Asch’s findings may not generalise to other populations or time periods, especially more diverse or contemporary societies.

Question 17

What group of people did Asch’s study focus on

Answer 17

Only American Males= low populational validity