Factors that might influence conformity

Cultural Factors. Differences between individualist cultures and collectivist cultures.

Historical Factors. The 1950's were more conformist that the 1960's and 1970's. Replication of Asch's study in later decades have found lower levels of conformity.

Individual Differences. Weather people are more likely to conform or not, for example, people with a high need for social approval and low self esteem are more likely to conform.

Gender Differences. Women are more orientated towards interpersonal goals, therefore appear to be more conformist in experimental situations.

Group Size. Conformity will increase as the amount of confederates rise. Asch found this when the number of confederates rose from 1 to 3. After this however, group size did not make much difference except if the answer was obviously wrong. In these cases the participants became suspicious.

Unanimity. This is a key variable in determining the liklihood of conformity. Asch found that if the naive participant had one supporter, they were less likely to conform.

Type of Task. If the task is difficult, or the participant is not quite sure what to do then conformity is more likely. However if the task is familiar, conformity is less likely.