factors in conformity

describe task difficulty and link to asch

asch’s task was easy, everyone could see which line was longer. if the task was more difficult, asch found that conformity increased. stimuli being more similar made it less embarrassing to conform

describe beliefs, and link to hornsey (2003)

in a conformity situation, everyone interprets a situation differently as there are cognitive differences between individuals. hornsey found that if someone had a strong belief about an issue they are less likely to conform.

describe group similarity and link to abrams (1990)

we are more likely to conform to people we feel we share characteristic with. this is because we feel more pressure to fit in and be liked by those similar to us. abrams found higher conformity rates in friend groups than strangers.

describe group unanimity and link to a variation of asch

we are less likely to conform when we have an ally present in the group, we feel less pressure to fit in as we have social support. a variation of asch, with a confederate ally found conformity rates dropped to 5.5%

describe gender and link to mori and arai

females are more likely to conform, because women tend to take a more communal role and promote group unanimity. men are more comfortable maintaining independence. mori and arai (2010) found higher conformity rates in women than men.

describe group size with reference to a variation of asch

we are more likely to conform when we are in a larger group. this is because we feel immense pressure to conform from many people. asch found that when he increased participants to above three, there was a clear increase in conformity