Types of conformity
Internalisation - ISI
CONFORMITY Asch’s Baseline Study
• 123 American men saw two white cards
• The line labelled X on the first card was the standard line. On the
• Beliefs of group become part of your own beliefs Conformity is a type of social influence. other card there were three comparison lines A,B, and C. One of
• Internal and external change of behavior/beliefs Involves the change in belief or behavior the comparison lines were clearly the same length as X.
• Permanent change of view in response to real or imagined social • On each trail each participant said out loud which comparison line
Identification pressure. they believed was the same length as X
• Short term change of behavior and beliefs in the • The participants were tested in groups of 6 to 8
presence of a group • Only one participant was genuine, and seated last or second to
(+) Research support
• No changed internal personal opinion Lucas et al found a greater conformity when last in the group.
• Conforms to the demands of a role i.e. police maths problems were more difficult rather • The other participants were confederates and were told to give
officer or teacher than easy ones. Particularly with students the same incorrect answer. However the genuine participant
• Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Study who rated their own maths ability as poor. didn’t know the other participants were ‘fake’
Compliance - NSI • They found that on average, participants conformed 1/3 of the
(-) Artificial situation and task
• Going along with the group to gain their Lacks ecological validity time
approval/avoid disapproval On peoples perception of line lengths,
• Publicly agree but privately disagree doesn’t reflect the complexity of real life Asch extended his baseline study to test other variables that may
• Temporary change of view conformity. affect conformity:
• Asch’s study Participants knew they were in a study and • Group size – he tested groups from one to fifteen. He found that
may have responded to demand
characteristics
conformity increased with group size. Howeber it didn’t increase
Explanations for conformity with a group size larger than 4.
(-) Sampling issues • Unanimity – Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with
Informational social influence (ISI) Only carried out on American men the other participants, this caused the genuine participant to
• A person conforms because they want to be right - gender bias conform less. In the presence of a dissenter, conformity reduced
- lacks population validity
• Look for others who they believe have more info by up to 80%.
- other studies suggest women may be more
• When a person is unsure of a situation or lacks likely to conform therefore findings cannot
• Task difficulty – Asch found that conformity increased when tasks
knowledge be generalised got more difficult (lines made more similar in length). This is due
• Internalisation to informational social influence as you agree with others as you
Normative social influence (NSI) (-) Ethical issues - deception believe they have more information than you and are correct.
Participants told the study was about • Answer in private – when participants could answer in private, so
• A person conforms to fit in with the group
perception of lines. Weren't told that some
• They don’t want to feel left out or be judged of the participants were confederates. Could
the rest of the group cannot hear their response, conformity
• Compliance not give informed consent. However Asch did decreased. This is because there are fewer group pressures and
debrief at the end. no fear of rejection.
, Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
Aim: Investigate how readily people would conform
to the social roles of guard and prisoner in a role-
CONFORMITY TO SOCIAL ROLES
playing exercise that stimulated prison life.
Procedure:
• Set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University psychology building
• He advertised for students to participate in the study for 2 weeks
• Participants were randomly assigned either role of prisoner or guard
• Prisoners wore a uniform, and referred to by their number only
• Guard also had a uniform with whistles, handcuffs and dark shaded glasses (no eye contact)
• No physical violence was permitted
• Zimbardo observed their behavior and also acted as prison warden
Findings
• Within a very short times, both guards and prisoners settled into their roles, particularly the guards
• Within hours, the guards began to harass prisoners and abuse their power, which they seemed to have enjoyed.
• Prisoners also adapted to their roles too, by talking about prison issues and telling tales on each other to the guards.
Evaluation
• Real-life application – has changed the way US prisons are run. For example juveniles accused of crimes are no longer
housed before trial with adult prisoners due to risk of violence against them.
• Lead to the formal recognition of ethical guidelines – studies now must gain ethical approval before they are conducted. An
ethics committee must review whether the participants are at risk of physical or psychological harm.
• Ethical issues – lack of fully informed consent as it was unpredictable as to what would happen in the experiment.
Prisoners' experiences psychological harm, one participant had to be released after 36 hours due to uncontrollable
screaming, crying and anger. Experiment ended on 6th day. Prisoners also didn’t consent to being ‘arrested’ at home.
Internalisation - ISI
CONFORMITY Asch’s Baseline Study
• 123 American men saw two white cards
• The line labelled X on the first card was the standard line. On the
• Beliefs of group become part of your own beliefs Conformity is a type of social influence. other card there were three comparison lines A,B, and C. One of
• Internal and external change of behavior/beliefs Involves the change in belief or behavior the comparison lines were clearly the same length as X.
• Permanent change of view in response to real or imagined social • On each trail each participant said out loud which comparison line
Identification pressure. they believed was the same length as X
• Short term change of behavior and beliefs in the • The participants were tested in groups of 6 to 8
presence of a group • Only one participant was genuine, and seated last or second to
(+) Research support
• No changed internal personal opinion Lucas et al found a greater conformity when last in the group.
• Conforms to the demands of a role i.e. police maths problems were more difficult rather • The other participants were confederates and were told to give
officer or teacher than easy ones. Particularly with students the same incorrect answer. However the genuine participant
• Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Study who rated their own maths ability as poor. didn’t know the other participants were ‘fake’
Compliance - NSI • They found that on average, participants conformed 1/3 of the
(-) Artificial situation and task
• Going along with the group to gain their Lacks ecological validity time
approval/avoid disapproval On peoples perception of line lengths,
• Publicly agree but privately disagree doesn’t reflect the complexity of real life Asch extended his baseline study to test other variables that may
• Temporary change of view conformity. affect conformity:
• Asch’s study Participants knew they were in a study and • Group size – he tested groups from one to fifteen. He found that
may have responded to demand
characteristics
conformity increased with group size. Howeber it didn’t increase
Explanations for conformity with a group size larger than 4.
(-) Sampling issues • Unanimity – Asch introduced a confederate who disagreed with
Informational social influence (ISI) Only carried out on American men the other participants, this caused the genuine participant to
• A person conforms because they want to be right - gender bias conform less. In the presence of a dissenter, conformity reduced
- lacks population validity
• Look for others who they believe have more info by up to 80%.
- other studies suggest women may be more
• When a person is unsure of a situation or lacks likely to conform therefore findings cannot
• Task difficulty – Asch found that conformity increased when tasks
knowledge be generalised got more difficult (lines made more similar in length). This is due
• Internalisation to informational social influence as you agree with others as you
Normative social influence (NSI) (-) Ethical issues - deception believe they have more information than you and are correct.
Participants told the study was about • Answer in private – when participants could answer in private, so
• A person conforms to fit in with the group
perception of lines. Weren't told that some
• They don’t want to feel left out or be judged of the participants were confederates. Could
the rest of the group cannot hear their response, conformity
• Compliance not give informed consent. However Asch did decreased. This is because there are fewer group pressures and
debrief at the end. no fear of rejection.
, Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
Aim: Investigate how readily people would conform
to the social roles of guard and prisoner in a role-
CONFORMITY TO SOCIAL ROLES
playing exercise that stimulated prison life.
Procedure:
• Set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University psychology building
• He advertised for students to participate in the study for 2 weeks
• Participants were randomly assigned either role of prisoner or guard
• Prisoners wore a uniform, and referred to by their number only
• Guard also had a uniform with whistles, handcuffs and dark shaded glasses (no eye contact)
• No physical violence was permitted
• Zimbardo observed their behavior and also acted as prison warden
Findings
• Within a very short times, both guards and prisoners settled into their roles, particularly the guards
• Within hours, the guards began to harass prisoners and abuse their power, which they seemed to have enjoyed.
• Prisoners also adapted to their roles too, by talking about prison issues and telling tales on each other to the guards.
Evaluation
• Real-life application – has changed the way US prisons are run. For example juveniles accused of crimes are no longer
housed before trial with adult prisoners due to risk of violence against them.
• Lead to the formal recognition of ethical guidelines – studies now must gain ethical approval before they are conducted. An
ethics committee must review whether the participants are at risk of physical or psychological harm.
• Ethical issues – lack of fully informed consent as it was unpredictable as to what would happen in the experiment.
Prisoners' experiences psychological harm, one participant had to be released after 36 hours due to uncontrollable
screaming, crying and anger. Experiment ended on 6th day. Prisoners also didn’t consent to being ‘arrested’ at home.
