investigate effects of conformity to the majority when the task is unambiguous
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Method and Participants
lab experiment, with 123 American male students
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Procedure
In a group of 7-9, where only 1 student was the real subject (rest confederates), they were shown a series of lines. Confederates gave the same incorrect answer on 12 critical trials. Answer aloud. measured number of times p's conformed to majority.
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Results
32% of the participants conformed to the majority. 25% didn't conform at all. when 1 confederate in the group gave the right answer, conformity fell to 5%.
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Conclusion
people conform for 2 reasons: to fit in with the group (normative) and because they believe the group is better informed (informative)
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Application of Asch's study
some members of the jury may sway towards the opinions of the majoirty in order to avoid alienation from the social majority; they would rather conform than be the odd one out.
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Conformity
is when an individual gives up their personal views under group pressure, thus yielding to group pressure. This can be for two reasons:
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Infrmational Social Influence
they don't know the answer so look to the group for guidance
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Nomative Social Influence
individual outwardly conforms to avoid rejection from the group but inwardly disagrees.
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Majority Influence on jurors
Research with 225 juries showed that the guilty view at the begining led to guilty verdict 86% of the time, showing that majority has a powerful influence.
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