Asch's Conformity Experiment: Procedure and Findings
The Asch conformity experiment is a seminal study in social psychology that explored the power of social influence on individual judgment. Conducted by Solomon Asch in 1951, this experiment provided crucial insights into conformity behavior.
Procedure:
The experiment involved 123 male American undergraduates. Each participant was placed in a group with 6-8 confederates individualssecretlyworkingwiththeresearcher. The task was simple: participants were shown a standard line and three comparison lines, and asked to identify which comparison line matched the standard.
Example: Participants might see a line that's 8 inches long thestandard and then be asked to match it to one of three lines measuring 6, 8, and 10 inches.
Initially, confederates gave correct answers, but then began unanimously providing incorrect responses. The key question was whether the naive participant would conform to the group's incorrect judgment.
Findings:
The results of the Asch conformity experiment were striking:
- Participants conformed to the incorrect group answer 36.8% of the time.
- Only 25% of participants never conformed.
- Many participants later reported conforming to avoid rejection.
Highlight: The high rate of conformity 36.8 despite the obvious nature of the correct answer demonstrates the powerful influence of social pressure.
Asch's Variations:
Asch conducted several variations to explore factors influencing conformity:
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Group Size: Conformity increased to 31.8% with just three confederates, with additional confederates having little further effect.
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Unanimity: Introducing a confederate who agreed with the naive participant reduced conformity by 25%.
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Task Difficulty: Conformity increased when the standard and comparison lines were closer in size, suggesting a greater role for informational social influence in more challenging tasks.
Definition: Informational social influence occurs when people rely on others for information about how to behave in ambiguous situations.
These findings from the Asch conformity experiment have had a lasting impact on our understanding of social influence and group dynamics.
