Individual Differences and Historical Context
Conformity turns out to be way more complex than Asch originally thought. Lucas's maths study revealed that people with high confidence in their abilities were much less likely to conform, even on difficult tasks. This shows that individual differences interact with situational factors in ways Asch never considered.
Historical bias is another massive issue. When Perrin and Spencer replicated Asch's experiment in 1980 with British students, they found conformity in only 1 out of 396 trials - a dramatic drop from Asch's original results.
Interestingly, when the same researchers used young people on probation with probation officers as confederates, conformity levels matched Asch's 1950s findings. This suggests the perceived costs of not conforming matter enormously.
Context Matters: Asch conducted his research during McCarthyism in 1950s America, when going against the majority could have serious social consequences.
The historical bias means Asch's study has low temporal validity - his findings might not tell us much about why people conform in today's society, limiting its relevance for understanding modern behaviour.