The Psychology Book (71 page)

A group exerts
profound

A certain amount of

social effects
on its

conformity
serves

members.

important social functions.

People feel
compelled
to

conform in order to
fit in
.

Solomon Asch

Solomon Elliott Asch was a

pioneer in the field of social

psychology. He was born into

a Jewish family in Warsaw

(then part of the Russian

They will pretend or even

Empire) in 1907. At the age

convince themselves that they
agree

of 13 he emigrated to the US

with the majority
.

and studied psychology. He

received a PhD in 1932 from

Columbia University, where

he was influenced by Max

Wertheimer.

Their tendency to conform

Asch became a professor

can be
stronger
than their
values

at Swarthmore College in

or basic perceptions
.

1947, and worked closely with

Wolfgang Köhler. He held

visiting posts at Massachussets

Institute of Technology (MIT)

and Harvard, where he

how and to what extent people’s

demonstrated the principles of

supervised Stanley Milgram’s

attitudes were influenced by social

conformity, Asch contended

Ph.D., before moving to the

forces around them.

that—because there was no right

University of Pennsylvania.

Turkish psychologist Muzafer

or wrong answer to the task—no

His many awards include the

Sherif set out to answer similar

definitive conclusions could be

Distinguished Scientific

questions in 1935, using a visual

drawn. Conformity, he believed,

Contribution Award from the

illusion called the autokinetic effect,

could only be measured in terms

American Psychological

whereby a stationary spot of light

of an individual’s tendency to

Association. He died aged 88.

seen in a dark room appears to

agree with group members who

move. He told the subjects of his

unanimously give the wrong answer

Key works

study that he was going to move the

on a task that has an unambiguous

1951
Effects of Group Pressure

light and asked them how far they

solution. The simple perceptual task

Upon the Modification and

thought it had shifted. Tested in

that became known as the Asch

Distortion of Judgment

groups, the participants’ estimates

Paradigm was designed to offer this.

1952
Social Psychology

converged into a group norm,

1955
Opinions and Social

revealing that they used others’

The Asch Paradigm

Pressure

estimates as a frame of reference in

The experiment was conducted

1956
Studies of Independence

an ambiguous situation. Although

with 123 male subjects, each of

and Conformity

Sherif believed that he had

whom was put individually into a ❯❯

226 SOLOMON ASCH

group of five to seven “confederates”

Initially, Asch thought that only a

(people who were aware of the real

few of the subjects would comply

aims of the experiment but were

with the confederates’ answers.

introduced as fellow participants).

After all, the task was simple and

The group was shown one card

the answers obvious; during the

with a line on it, followed by

pilot study in which there was no

All the yielding subjects

another card with three lines

pressure to yield to an erroneous

underestimated the frequency

labeled A, B, and C, and asked

group, only three errors were made

with which they conformed.

which one of those three lines

out of 720 total trials. The results

Solomon Asch

was the same length as the line

of the actual study were surprising.

on the first card.

When surrounded by a group of

The room was always organized

people all giving the same

so that the subject would give

incorrect answer, subjects gave

either the last or the penultimate

incorrect answers on almost a

answer. Over the course of 18

third (32 percent) of the questions;

trials, confederates were instructed

75 percent of them provided an

to provide the correct answers

incorrect response for at least one

conformed on all critical trials,

for the first six, but then to give

question. One person complied

and 13 of the 50 participants

identical but incorrect answers

with the group giving a wrong

(26 percent) never conformed.

for another 12. This was to test

answer on 11 out of 12 trials.

The results proved that the

whether or not the subject would

Because the task was both simple

subjects themselves were highly

answer correctly or whether he

and unambiguous, these figures

consistent. Those who broke

would match his response to that

indicate a high degree of

away from the group opinion and

of the confederates when all gave

conformity by the subjects.

provided an independent answer

the same—incorrect—answer.

However, not a single participant

did not succumb to the majority

even over many trials, while

those who chose to comply with

In the Asch Paradigm experiment
, participants were

given a visual test. They had to decide which of the three

the majority seemed unable to

lines on the second card was the same length as the one on

break this pattern.

the first card. Each question was called a “trial” and there

were 18 trials in all.

Explanations

To get a deeper understanding

of his results, Asch interviewed

his subjects to find out why they

offered incorrect answers. Some

said they wanted to go along

with what they believed to be

the experimenter’s wishes and

avoid upsetting the overall

experiment. A few actually

wondered if they were perhaps

suffering from eye strain or were

seated at a misleading angle.

Some denied that they were

aware of having given incorrect

answers. Eventually, some

admitted to knowing their

answers were incorrect, adding

that they did not want to stand

out or appear different and foolish:

A

B

C

they wanted to fit in.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 227

Asch also spoke to the subjects

Asch discovered that if he allowed

who had maintained correct and

the participants to give their

independent responses, and found

answers privately, by writing

that they had not been unresponsive

them down on a piece of paper,

to the majority, but had been able

conformity noticeably decreased,

to recover from the doubt that they

and this held true even if the

A member of a

felt in order to give an honest

confederates were still giving

tribe of cannibals accepts

account of what they saw.

their answers aloud.

cannibalism as altogether

Asch performed variations on

fitting and proper.

the experiment to test what

Cultural norms

Solomon Asch

difference the size of the majority

Some psychologists hypothesized

group made to levels of conformity.

that Asch’s findings reflected the

He found that just one confederate

cultural climate of 1950s America

had virtually no influence on the

during McCarthyism, when dissent

subject’s conformity, two had only a

was seen as anti-American and

small influence, but three or more

people were imprisoned for their

encouraged a relatively stable

opinions. Later studies found

tendency to conform. Unanimity in

variations in levels of conformity.

bring about change. Moscovici was

the confederates’ responses was a

For instance, a study conducted

inspired to develop his own studies

more powerful factor; but even if

in the early 1970s (a time of liberal,

to demonstrate how a consistent

only one confederate offered an

progressive thinking in the US)

minority can affect the thinking

alternative answer, the subjects

found far lower rates of conformity.

of the majority.

were much more likely to provide

However, a study in the late 1970s

Although Asch acknowledges

an independent (and correct)

showed a return to higher rates.

that social life requires some

response. This finding highlights

Conformity rates for cultures

consensus, he also emphasizes

the power of even a very small

worldwide also differ. Researchers

that this is most productive when

dissenting minority. Furthermore,

found that individualist cultures

each individual contributes his

such as the US, the UK, and other

independent insight and experience.

Western European countries,

Consensus should not come out of

where personal choice and

fear or conformity; the fact that he

individual achievements are

found the tendency to conform was

valued highly, show lower levels

strong even among intelligent people

of conformity than collectivist

raised questions about societal

cultures such as Japan, Fiji, and

values and the quality of education.

African countries, where group

Asch’s conclusions note the

belonging is valued highly.

power (and danger) of social

Psychologists have criticized

influence to shape a person’s

Asch’s methods on the grounds

beliefs and behavior. If something

that he focused on a stripped-down

becomes normal for a group, social

version of group behavior that does

pressure will ensure conformity.

not feature much interaction

Inspired by Asch’s theory, Stanley

between participants, or that

Milgram’s experiment on obedience

he was more focused on the

showed that ordinary people are

individuals within a group than on

capable of cruelty when under

the group dynamic. Others wonder

pressure to conform.

if he overstated the power of the

However, the majority of

majority to influence the minority.

participants in Asch’s study, even

US Senator Joseph McCarthy

Serge Moscovici, in particular,

those who had conformed, stated

launched a Communist witch hunt

during the 1950s, generating an

disagreed with Asch’s analysis

that they valued independence

environment of fear and high levels

and argued that an active minority

of mind, leaving him optimistic

of political and social conformity.

could influence the majority and