Asch's Line Study and Variations

This page details Solomon Asch's famous conformity experiment and subsequent variations:

Asch investigated whether people would conform to an obviously incorrect majority. Using 123 American male undergraduates, confederates gave wrong answers on 12 of 18 trials. Key findings:

• One-third of participants conformed on critical trials
• 75% conformed at least once

Variations of the study explored different factors:

• Perrin and Spencer tested temporal validity, finding only 0.25% conformity
• Increasing confederates from 3 to 15 slightly increased conformity (29% to 32%)
• Smith and Bond found higher conformity in Fiji compared to Belgium, demonstrating cultural differences
• Unanimity reduced conformity to 5% when a confederate "friend" was present
• Task difficulty increased conformity rates

Highlight: Asch's study is a cornerstone of social influence theory, demonstrating how people may conform even when the majority is clearly wrong.

Example: In Asch's experiment, participants had to match line lengths. Despite the correct answer being obvious, many still conformed to the group's incorrect responses.

Stanford Prison Experiment

This page summarizes Philip Zimbardo's controversial Stanford Prison Experiment:

Zimbardo aimed to investigate how readily people conform to social roles of prisoners and guards. Key aspects of the study include:

• 24 male volunteers randomly assigned as prisoners or guards
• Planned for 2 weeks but stopped after 6 days due to escalating abuse
• Prisoners given uniforms and numbers, guards given uniforms and accessories
• Both groups quickly settled into roles, with guards harassing prisoners and prisoners becoming submissive
• Some prisoners had to leave early due to distress

Evaluation points:

• Possible demand characteristics - participants may have been acting
• Lacks population validity
• Significant ethical issues
• Low face validity - could be investigating obedience rather than conformity
• Zimbardo's involvement may have influenced results
• Led to improved ethical guidelines for psychological research

Highlight: The Stanford Prison Experiment is a crucial study in social influence psychology, demonstrating the power of situational factors in shaping behavior.

Vocabulary: Demand characteristics refer to cues that may cause participants to behave in a way they think the researcher expects.

Page 6: Resistance to Social Influence

This section examines factors that can reduce conformity and obedience, including locus of control.

Definition: Locus of control refers to how much control people believe they have over their behavior.

Example: Conformity dropped to 5% in Asch's study when unanimity was broken, demonstrating the power of social support in resistance.

Vocabulary:

• Internal LOC: Belief in personal control over behavior
• External LOC: Belief that external factors control behavior