Asch On Conformity
Evaluate research (theories and/or studies) on conformity.
Conformity is the propensity to adjust one’s opinions, feelings or performance in ways that are in agreement with those of a specific individual or group, or with known standards about how a person should behave in certain situations (social norms). The recognized studies and theories on conformity are such as (Asch, 1951), (Sherif, 1935) and (Jenness, 1932).
Asch examined men in a university in the United States of America. He gave them the task to answer simple questions with the right answers obvious to them. He had all the other participants state the wrong answer.
His aim was to see if the participant would conform under the circumstance. This led 75% of the participants …show more content…
The method in this study offers demand characteristics due to the possibility of figuring out the aim. It is also low in ecological validity due to the situations being unnatural and not relatable to real life, however Asch argues that the group constellation is not artificial. The internal validity does not meet the standards of the public. that pointed out that he could have been studying something other than he claimed to be, such as eyesight. The external validity is also questioned due to the fact that the participants were all young, Caucasian males and that cannot be generalized to the rest of the world. The ethical problems of this study consist of there being no informed consent and there was no protection against psychological harm, such as humiliation and lack of …show more content…
When he tested the participants afterwards alone again they answered using the group norm. They appeared to have taken on that norm.
To conclude, participants were influenced by the answers of others. The answers became the same; they converged as they used information from other participants to help them.
This was a lab experiment that differs from Asch’s in a way that here it takes good eyesight to spot the light moving and to estimate how far it travels. However the answers were very clear to the participants in Asch’s study. Here another problem occurs, as mentioned before the examiner could have been studying something other than he claimed such as eyesight. Since there was no informed consent the participants were not protected from any psychological harm that may include humiliation and/or embarrassment. The participants could also have figured out the aim and caused demand
Conformity is the propensity to adjust one’s opinions, feelings or performance in ways that are in agreement with those of a specific individual or group, or with known standards about how a person should behave in certain situations (social norms). The recognized studies and theories on conformity are such as (Asch, 1951), (Sherif, 1935) and (Jenness, 1932).
Asch examined men in a university in the United States of America. He gave them the task to answer simple questions with the right answers obvious to them. He had all the other participants state the wrong answer.
His aim was to see if the participant would conform under the circumstance. This led 75% of the participants …show more content…
The method in this study offers demand characteristics due to the possibility of figuring out the aim. It is also low in ecological validity due to the situations being unnatural and not relatable to real life, however Asch argues that the group constellation is not artificial. The internal validity does not meet the standards of the public. that pointed out that he could have been studying something other than he claimed to be, such as eyesight. The external validity is also questioned due to the fact that the participants were all young, Caucasian males and that cannot be generalized to the rest of the world. The ethical problems of this study consist of there being no informed consent and there was no protection against psychological harm, such as humiliation and lack of …show more content…
When he tested the participants afterwards alone again they answered using the group norm. They appeared to have taken on that norm.
To conclude, participants were influenced by the answers of others. The answers became the same; they converged as they used information from other participants to help them.
This was a lab experiment that differs from Asch’s in a way that here it takes good eyesight to spot the light moving and to estimate how far it travels. However the answers were very clear to the participants in Asch’s study. Here another problem occurs, as mentioned before the examiner could have been studying something other than he claimed such as eyesight. Since there was no informed consent the participants were not protected from any psychological harm that may include humiliation and/or embarrassment. The participants could also have figured out the aim and caused demand