Asch Conformity

In what way does an individual’s change when s/he is part of a group?
Humans by nature are social creatures, therefore must have social behaviours, this suggests that individuals instinctively desire to be part of a group (Davis and Witte 1996). This contributed to the large amount of research and interest in the area of group behaviour. However there are difficulties in defining what exactly a group is. Definitions vary because of different ideas of what the purpose and nature of a group may have (Johnson and Johnson 2000). Cartwright and Zander (1968) (cited in Akert et al) define groups as just 2 or more people who interact with one another, and through interaction, influence each other’s behaviour. Whereas Rupert Brown (1988)(cited
Which support Asch’s initial results and therefore the providing Asch’s ideas and theory of conformity some amount of validity. Though Asch’s research is still relevant to society now and is theoretically important, the original research was conducted a long time ago, and may no longer be relevant in today’s society as much has changed since the 1950’. Bond and Smith (1996) suggested that conformity as a phenomena was decreasing and so this suggests that Asch’s research may have be relevant for its time however human behaviour appears to have change over a period of 40 years. Perrin and Spencer suggested that Ash’s research was a ‘child of its time’ as in 1950’s America it was normal to conform, so doing so in an experiment was nothing out of the ordinary. Perrin and spencer went on to conduct exact replicas of Asch’s study with engendering, chemistry and math university students, they concluded that individual didn’t conform as on only 1 occasion out of 396 trails did a participant agree with the majority(referenced in McLead). This change of levels of conformity was attributed to a cultural change (referenced in Keegan). These results could contribute to the decent in research into conformity more recently and the lack of contemporary research. The majority of research into conformity was
193(5) PP 31-35 [Online] Available at: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/terrace/w1001/readings/asch.pdf [Accessed 10 December 2012]
Asch, S.E., (1956) ‘ Studies of Independence and Conformity: . A Minority of One Against a Unanimous Majority.’ Psychological Monographs: General and Applied. 70 (9) PP 1-70 [Online] Available from: http://libary.hud.ac.uk/summon [Accessed 4 December 2012]
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Banks, C., Haney, C., Zimbardo, P., (1973) ‘Interpersonal Dynamics in a simulated Prison’ International Journal of Criminology and Penology. 1 PP 69-97. [Online] Available at: http://www.prisonexp.org/psychology/42 [Accessed: 11 December 2012]
Betts, K. (2011) Social Psychology Eye. Available at: http://socialpsychologyeye.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/why-do-we-join-groups/ [Accessed 3 December