Social pressure is a group’s influence on an individual’s behavior or judgment. In his classic study of conformity, Asch (1955) investigated the role of social pressure on individuals’ judgments of a perceptual task. In the task, experimenters showed groups of six to eight participants a vertical reference line and instructed them to pick (from three other lines) which line was most similar to the reference. One of the three lines was clearly correct, while the other two were clearly incorrect. Ideally, the task’s simplicity should have resulted in a low error rate: participants should have had no trouble answering correctly. However, unbeknownst to the (actual) subject, all but one of the participants in the trial was a confederate. The confederates
…show more content…
Thus, the individual differences between participants inspires further investigation. As mentioned in lecture, only 14% of the subjects consistently conformed to the group, while 24% never conformed (19/04/16). It seems plausible that the decision to conform involves personality differences, particularly in the traits of power and dominance. To investigate the role of power in this conformity task, I propose that replications of this study include a questionnaire in the beginning, to gauge the general personality type of participants beforehand. Additionally, since there is not much empirical support for the role of personality differences in conformity, subjects should be primed to elicit particular personality traits would evoke a more salient response. Since factors like affiliation need and fear influence conformity, and these relate to low power, the subject’s questionnaire result might be indicative of his or her actions throughout the trials (cite). Since there is evidence that power, fear, and affiliation need influence conformity, this change might produce compelling results (26/04/16).
While Asch exhaustively covered the effects of conformity in Caucasian, college-aged males, an interesting inclusion to the study might consist in the further investigation of intergroup variations. More specifically, one might incorporate differences in social class, educational level, gender, and ethnicity into measures of conformity. The original participants were all male and likely belonged to the same racial, social, and educational class. This lack if variability within subjects might mask or even inflate the true effects of the
Thus, the individual differences between participants inspires further investigation. As mentioned in lecture, only 14% of the subjects consistently conformed to the group, while 24% never conformed (19/04/16). It seems plausible that the decision to conform involves personality differences, particularly in the traits of power and dominance. To investigate the role of power in this conformity task, I propose that replications of this study include a questionnaire in the beginning, to gauge the general personality type of participants beforehand. Additionally, since there is not much empirical support for the role of personality differences in conformity, subjects should be primed to elicit particular personality traits would evoke a more salient response. Since factors like affiliation need and fear influence conformity, and these relate to low power, the subject’s questionnaire result might be indicative of his or her actions throughout the trials (cite). Since there is evidence that power, fear, and affiliation need influence conformity, this change might produce compelling results (26/04/16).
While Asch exhaustively covered the effects of conformity in Caucasian, college-aged males, an interesting inclusion to the study might consist in the further investigation of intergroup variations. More specifically, one might incorporate differences in social class, educational level, gender, and ethnicity into measures of conformity. The original participants were all male and likely belonged to the same racial, social, and educational class. This lack if variability within subjects might mask or even inflate the true effects of the