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Conformity (Majority Influence)
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“A change in behaviour due to real or
imagined pressure from other people”
Asch (1951)
– Will someone go along with an answer that is
obviously wrong?
– What is more important – being right or fitting
in?
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A research study of conformity to group
pressure
Asch (1951)
– 75% conformed at least once
– 5% conformed every time
– 25% never conformed
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When all the confederates gave the right
answer, the PPs made almost no errors
When the confeds gave the wrong answer,
the PP went along with it 37% of the time
Of the PPs:
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Why would someone go along with an
answer they knew to be wrong?
Asch (1951)
PPs reported conforming for different
reasons including:
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– Genuinely doubted own judgement
– Didn’t want to ‘upset the experiment’
– Fear of rejection by confeds
Factors that Affect Conformity
Size of majority?
– Not particularly important above 3 people
Unanimity of majority?
– More important – dissent reduces conformity
– More ambiguity gives higher conformity
Relative status of majority?
– Higher status leads to greater conformity
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Difficulty/ambiguity of situation?
Other Studies of Conformity
– Jenness (1932) – estimating the number of
beans in a jar
– Sherif (1935) – estimating how far a light
appeared to move
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Situations where there is no clear cut right
answer
Conformity Processes
Informational Influence
– Motivated by desire to be correct
Normative Influence
– Motivated by need to fit in with group
– Compliance
– Internalisation
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Leading to:
Conformity Processes
Informational
influence
Motivated by a desire
to be correct
Need for certainty
Subjective
uncertainty
Private beliefs are likely
to change along with
public behaviour
Refer to social
group
Internalisation
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Need for
information
Conformity Processes
Normative influence
Motivated by a desire
to be accepted
Need for
acceptance or
approval
Public behaviour is
likely to diverge
from private beliefs
Conflict between
self & group
opinion/behaviour
Compliance
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Power of social
group to reward or
punish