Conformity Types, Asch Study & Cultural Influences in Social Psychology

CONFORMITY

The tendency to adjust one's thoughts, feelings or behaviour to match those of another person, or a group.

COMPLIANCE

Superficial and temporary conformity; agree on the surface, but privately reject the majority position; conformity stops once the group is no longer watching.

IDENTIFICATION

We go along with a group that we identify with so that we are accepted; a person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs, but only while they are in the presence of the group.

INTERNALISATION

We adopt the majority view as we accept it as right; it becomes our view; deep, genuine and long lasting, even when the group aren't watching.

INFORMATIONAL INFLUENCE

This form of influence produces conformity when we are uncertain about what is correct, or unsure of the right way to behave; we are motivated by the desire to be right, and look to others for guidance.

NORMATIVE INFLUENCE

This form of influence produces conformity when a person fears the negative social consequences of deviance; it occurs when we want to be liked and accepted by the group.

CULTURE

One of the factors influencing conformity.

GROUP SIZE

One of the factors influencing conformity.

UNANIMITY

One of the factors influencing conformity.

DEINDIVIDUATION

One of the factors influencing conformity.

SOCIAL LOAFING

One of the factors influencing conformity.

ASCH STUDY

A classic conformity study conducted in 1951 with a sample of 50 male university students.

METHOD OF ASCH STUDY

Participants entered a room with confederates and judged which line matched a target line, with the naive participant always seated second last.

RESULTS OF ASCH STUDY

76% of participants conformed to the confederates' incorrect response at least once.

DECEPTION IN ASCH STUDY

Necessary to ensure that the naive participant was unaware of the true nature of the experiment.

CRITICAL TRIALS

In the Asch study, there were 12 occasions where incorrect answers were given by the confederates.

NAIVE PARTICIPANT

The real participant in the Asch study who was unaware of the confederates' involvement.

MATCHING TRIALS

There were 18 matching trials in the Asch study.

PUBLIC CONFORMITY

Conformity that stops once the group is no longer watching.

PRIVATE CONFORMITY

Conformity that remains even when the group is not present.

ACCEPTANCE

The process of adopting the majority view as one's own.

GROUP PRESENCE

The condition under which identification occurs, changing both public behaviour and private beliefs.

UNCERTAINTY

A state that leads to informational influence and conformity.

Conformity Rate

The average rate of conformity (participants giving incorrect answers across critical trials) was 37%.

Nonconformity Rate

24% participants didn't conform at all over any critical trials.

Complete Conformity

5% of participants conformed on all 12 critical trials.

Control Condition

Asch used a control condition where one participant completed the task with no confederates present.

Error Rate in Control

Less than 1% of participants made errors in the control condition, suggesting the task was obviously easy.

Internal Validity

The low error rate in the control condition establishes internal validity, meaning the study was actually measuring what it intended to measure.

Temporal Validity

Temporal validity reflects the time context; the original study was done in 1951 during a particularly conformist era in the USA.

McCarthyism

The practice of making accusations of pro-Communist, anti-American disloyalty that resulted in a paranoid and conformist society.

Perrin & Spencer Study

A replication of Asch's experiment in the UK with engineering students, where only one student conformed in a total of 396 trials.

Neto Study Aim

To see if a replication of Asch's experiment got similar results when conducted in Portugal using a sample of female university psychology students.

Neto Study Results

59% conformed at least once; 41% did not; 28% conformed three to twelve times.

Individualistic Culture

In cultures like Australia, people are more concerned with themselves than the group, emphasizing personal freedom and self-determination.

Collectivist Culture

In cultures like Japan, people are more concerned with the group than themselves, emphasizing connectedness and interdependence.

Cross Cultural Reliability

Bond & Smith (1996) conducted a meta-analysis of studies using the Asch experimental paradigm, focusing on individualistic and collectivist cultures.

Conformity in Collectivist Cultures

Collectivist cultures had a significantly higher rate of conformity than individualistic cultures.

Countries with High Conformity

Countries like Japan, Hong Kong, and Fiji had higher rates of conformity than France, the UK, and the USA.

Participant Observations

During the experiment, participants exhibited behaviors such as twitching, shifting uncomfortably, coughing nervously, sweating, appearing anxious, turning red, and wringing their hands.

Reasons for Conformity

Participants expressed reasons for conformity such as 'I must have bad eyesight', 'I misunderstood the instructions', 'I didn't want to look stupid!', 'I didn't want to be an outcast', and 'I wanted to give a good impression of myself'.

Cultural Factors

The study by Neto highlights how cultural and situational factors can influence conformity rates.

Conformity and Survival

Conformity helped people to survive in the context of the 1950s USA.

Asch Experiment

The Asch experiment involved participants making judgments about line lengths in the presence of confederates.