In Asch's study, conformity increased with the number of people in the majority—up to seven individuals . At numbers beyond seven, conformity leveled off and decreased slightly (Asch, 1955). The presence of another dissenter: If there is at least one dissenter, conformity rates drop to near zero (Asch, 1955).
Which factor increases the rate of conformity?
Several factors are associated with increased conformity, including larger group size, unanimity, high group cohesion , and perceived higher status of the group. Other factors associated with conformity are culture, gender, age, and importance of stimuli.
Which factor significantly decreased the likelihood of conformity?
“In a later experiment, Asch (1956) found that conformity greatly decreased if there was just one confederate who gave the correct answer —apparently, if participants knew that there was at least one other person whose answer agreed with their own, the evidence of their own eyes won out over the pressure to conform to ...
What aspect of culture tends to decrease rates of conformity?
Answer Expert Verified. The correct answer is high levels of individualism . In societies where high levels of individualism is the norm and very common, conformity rates tend to decrease.
In what way is compliance different from conformity?
The fundamental difference between conformity and compliance is that compliance involves people going along with an explicit request , whereas conformity involves people adhering to ‘unspoken rules'.
What are the factors affecting conformity?
Several factors are associated with increased conformity, including larger group size, unanimity, high group cohesion , and perceived higher status of the group. Other factors associated with conformity are culture, gender, age, and importance of stimuli.
Why was Asch's study unethical?
Although it is seen as unethical to deceive participants , Asch's experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results. ... In addition, Asch's participants were not protected from psychological harm and many of the participants reporting feeling stressed when they disagreed with the majority.
How can conformity be reduced?
Conformity is also reduced with the presence of an ally (Allen & Levine, 1968). Choosing groups of participants that share similar views may prevent individuals from feeling alone and thus staying quiet. Conformity is increased when an individual finds a task or topic difficult or confusing.
How can we prevent conformity?
Act or speak differently than the people around you. Choose not to eat dessert or drink when everyone else is. Make different choices than others. When you do those things, slow down enough to feel its impact on you.
What was Asch's hypothesis?
Asch hypothesized that when confederates (fake participants) uniformly gave a particular response in a group setting, the lone true participant would feel pressure to conform to the group consensus .
Who is most likely to conform to a group?
We are more likely to conform when the group is one we care about, when the group members are unanimous in their thoughts or behaviors, when the group has three or more members, and when we are members of collectivist cultures.
How does culture affect conformity?
A meta- analysis by Bond and Smith (1996) found that culture has significant influence on levels of conformity achieved by Asch-type conformity studies . They found that cul- tures with more dominant collectivist ideals tended to exhibit higher levels of confor- mity than individualistic cultures.
Why does conformity decrease with age?
The results indicate that conformity decreases with age in per- ceptually unambiguous tasks . Conflicting evidence from earlier studies can be attributed to task ambiguity in those studies. placed with a group of experimental “confederates” who behave as if they were also participants in the research.
What is example of conformity?
In some cases of conformity, a person's desire to fit in with a social group can interfere with the ability to make moral or safe decisions. One example is when a person drinks and drives because friends do it , or because friends assure that person he or she can safely do so.
Why do people conform?
People sometimes conform to groups because they are motivated to be liked (or at least not disliked) and believe that other members will feel more kindly toward them if they conform to rather than deviate from group norms. ... Another factor that increases normative influence is surveillance by other group members.
What are the similarities and differences between obedience and conformity?
Conformity is peer pressure , the individual was not asked to do, he just do it to go along with everyone else because the individual wants to be accepted. Obedience on the other hand comes from authoritative people such as teachers and policemen.
