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Conformity
Social Influence
•
How behavior is influenced by the social
environment and the presence of other
people. Three things are influences by
this:
1. Conformity
2. Obedience
3. Helping Behaviors
Conformity
• Adopting attitudes or behaviors of others
because of pressure to do so; the pressure
can be real or imagined
• People bring their attitudes or behaviors in line
with that of a group.
Social Norms
• Social Norms – typically we join groups that share
our social norms. These are the standards that you
share with your group.
• Social Norms are broken into 2 categories:
– Explicit Norms – Spoken or Written Rules
• School dress code, traffic rules
– Implicit Norms – Unspoken or unwritten rules
• How to dress so you fit in
• Social Norms can be good or bad:
– Good – Not talking during a movie, taking regular baths.
– Bad – Smoking, binge drinking
Solomon Asch (1907-1996)
• Social psychologist who researched
the circumstances under which people
conform
1907-1996
Asch’s Experiments
on Conformity
• Previous research had shown people will
conform to others’ judgments more often when
they were unsure of what the right answer was.
• Asch wanted to see how often would someone
conform with a group even when they knew the
group was wrong.
Asch’s Experiments
on Conformity
• All but 1 in group was
confederate
• Seating was rigged
• Asked to rate which line
matched a “standard”
line
• Confederates were
instructed to pick the
wrong line 12/18 times
1
Standard lines
2
3
Comparison lines
Asch’s Conformity Study
Asch’s Conformity Study
Asch’s Experiments on Conformity
• Results
– Asch found that 2/3 participants conformed to at least
one wrong choice during multiple trials.
– 1/3 went along with the group at least half the time
– ¼ went along with the group almost all the time.
– Most admitted they knew the answer was wrong but went
with the group anyways.
– Control group that responded alone (no group present)
chose correctly 99%.
Why do we conform?
2 general reasons for conformity
1. Informational social influence - Our
the desire to be correct
2. Normative social influence— Our
desire to gain social acceptance and
approval.
Why did so many of the participants
in Asch’s study conform to clearly
wrong choices?
– Subjects reported having doubted their own
perceptual abilities which led to their
conformance – didn’t report seeing the lines the
way the confederates had
–Is this Normative or Informational Social
Influence?
–Informational because they wanted to be correct.
Factors Increasing Conformity
•
•
•
•
The person feels incompetent or insecure.
The group has three or more people (8 is ideal).
The rest of the group is unanimous.
The person is impressed by the status of the
group.
• No prior commitments were made.
• The group is observing the person respond.
• One’s culture encourages conformity.
– Collectivists are more likely to conform.
Factors Decreasing Conformity
• When we have an ally in our dissent
from majority opinion, even if the
dissenter’s competence is questionable.
Effects of a Nonconformist
• If everyone agrees, you are less likely to
disagree HOWEVER…
• If one person disagrees, even if they give
the wrong answer, you are more likely to
express your nonconforming view
• Asch tested this hypothesis
– one confederate gave different answer from others
– conformity dropped significantly
Culture & Conformity
• In general, levels of conformity have steadily
declined since Asch’s original study of U.S.
college students in the 1950s
• Individualistic cultures tend to emphasize
independence, self-expression, and standing
out from the crowd; thus the whole notion of
conformity tends to carry a negative
connotation
• Collectivistic cultures, however, publicly
conforming while privately disagreeing is
regarded as socially appropriate tact or