ASCH’s REsearch
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Asch believed that the main problem with Sheriff’s (1935)
conformity experiment was that there was no correct
answer to the unambiguous experiment.
Asch (1951) devised an experiment whereby there
was an a virus answer to a line judgement task. If
the participant gave an incorrect answer, it would
be clear that this was due to group pressure.
AIMS OF STUDY:
Conformity = changing behaviour/beliefs to fit in with a group.
• Solomon Asch (1951) wanted to test conformity is an unambiguous situation (where answer is clear). He
was influenced by WWII, especially how ordinary people in Nazi Germany conformed to harmful norms.
• Aim: To see whether people would go along with an obviously incorrect majority, even when
correct answer was clear.
PROCEDURE:
Participants: 123 American male college students, all told it was a study of visual perception.
• Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity. Using the line judgement task, Asch put a naive
participants in the room with seven confederates.
• The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be be when presented with
the line task. The real participant did not know this and was led to believe that the other seven
participants were also real participants like themselves.
• Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A,B,C) was most like the target
line. The answer was always obvious. The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his
answer last. In some trails, the seven confederates gave the deliberate wrong answer.
There were 18 trials in total and the confederates gave the wrong answer on twelve trials. Asch was
interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view,
Results:
Asch measured the number of times each participant conformed the majority view.
On average, about one third (32%) of the participant in each trial went along and
conformed to the clearly incorrect majority. Three quarters of the participants
(75%) conformed on at least one trial.
That means 25% resisted completely so never conformed.
• Many admitted they knew the group was wrong, but didn’t want to
stand out.
• Some doubted themselves, thinking “maybe i misunderstood” (informational
influence.
Key Insight: People often conform publicly (to fit in) but not privately (they still
know the truth). Some people may also make up excuses like they couldn’t see
to make it seem they didn’t change their ideas because of others.
Conclusion: Even in simple, clear tasks, social pressure can strongly influence behaviour .
111111111111
111
Asch believed that the main problem with Sheriff’s (1935)
conformity experiment was that there was no correct
answer to the unambiguous experiment.
Asch (1951) devised an experiment whereby there
was an a virus answer to a line judgement task. If
the participant gave an incorrect answer, it would
be clear that this was due to group pressure.
AIMS OF STUDY:
Conformity = changing behaviour/beliefs to fit in with a group.
• Solomon Asch (1951) wanted to test conformity is an unambiguous situation (where answer is clear). He
was influenced by WWII, especially how ordinary people in Nazi Germany conformed to harmful norms.
• Aim: To see whether people would go along with an obviously incorrect majority, even when
correct answer was clear.
PROCEDURE:
Participants: 123 American male college students, all told it was a study of visual perception.
• Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity. Using the line judgement task, Asch put a naive
participants in the room with seven confederates.
• The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be be when presented with
the line task. The real participant did not know this and was led to believe that the other seven
participants were also real participants like themselves.
• Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A,B,C) was most like the target
line. The answer was always obvious. The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his
answer last. In some trails, the seven confederates gave the deliberate wrong answer.
There were 18 trials in total and the confederates gave the wrong answer on twelve trials. Asch was
interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view,
Results:
Asch measured the number of times each participant conformed the majority view.
On average, about one third (32%) of the participant in each trial went along and
conformed to the clearly incorrect majority. Three quarters of the participants
(75%) conformed on at least one trial.
That means 25% resisted completely so never conformed.
• Many admitted they knew the group was wrong, but didn’t want to
stand out.
• Some doubted themselves, thinking “maybe i misunderstood” (informational
influence.
Key Insight: People often conform publicly (to fit in) but not privately (they still
know the truth). Some people may also make up excuses like they couldn’t see
to make it seem they didn’t change their ideas because of others.
Conclusion: Even in simple, clear tasks, social pressure can strongly influence behaviour .
