The Solomon Asch conformity effect experiment shows the extraordinary lengths people with go to just to conform with other people’s behaviour.
The Solomon Asch conformity experiments were a series of social psychological experiments carried out by noted psychologist Solomon Asch.
The Asch conformity experiment reveals how strongly a person’s opinions are affected by people around them.
In fact, the Asch conformity experiment shows that many of us will deny our own senses just to conform with others.
We all know that humans are natural born conformers – we copy each other’s dress sense, ways of talking and attitudes, often without a second thought.
But exactly how far does this conformity go?
Solomon Asch conformity experiment
Do you think it is possible you would deny unambiguous information from your own senses just to conform with other people?
Have a look at the figure below.
Compare the line on the left with the three lines on the right: A, B & C.
Which of these three lines is the same length as the lonesome line on the left?
It’s obviously C.
And yet in Asch’s conformity experiment conducted in the 1950s, 76 percent of people denied their own senses at least once, choosing either A or B.
What kind of strong-arm psychological pressure tactics made them do this?
The fascinating thing about this experiment was that its creator, renowned psychologist Solomon Asch, set out to prove the exact opposite.
A previous experiment by Muzafer Sherif (see his well-known Robbers Cave experiment) had found that when people were faced with making a judgement on an ambiguous test, they used other people’s judgements as a reference point.
This makes perfect sense.
If I’m not sure about something, I’ll check with someone else.
But this is only when I’m not sure.
The situation is quite different when I have unambiguous information, such as when I can clearly see the answer myself.
Other people’s judgement should then have no effect – or at least that’s what Asch thought.
Procedure of Asch conformity experiment
To test his theory he brought male undergraduates, one at a time, into a room with eight other people who were passed off as fellow participants (Asch, 1951).
They were then shown three lines with another for comparison, similar to the figure above.
Participants in the Asch conformity experiment were asked to call out which line – A, B or C – was the same length as the reference line.
This procedure was repeated 12 times with participants viewing variations of the above figure.
What the participants didn’t realise was that all the other people sat around the table were in on the game.
They were all confederates who had been told by the experimenter to give the wrong answer.
On half of the trials they called out the line that was too short, and on the other half the line that was too long.
The real experimental participant in the Asch conformity experiment, who knew nothing of this, was actually the sixth to call out their answer after five other confederates of the experimenter had given the wrong answer.
Results of Asch’s experiment
The results of the Asch conformity experiment were fascinating, and not at all what Asch had been expecting:
- 50 percent of people gave the same wrong answer as the others on more than half of the trials.
- Only 25 percent of participants refused to be swayed by the majority’s blatantly false judgement on all of the 12 trials.
- 5 percent always conformed with the majority incorrect opinion (we all know people like that, right?!)
- Over all the trials the average conformity rate was 33 percent.
Explaining Asch’s conformity effect
Intrigued as to why participants had gone along with the majority, Asch interviewed them after the experiment.
Their answers are probably very familiar to all of us:
- All participants in the Asch conformity experiment felt anxious, feared disapproval from others and became self-conscious.
- Most explained they saw the lines differently to the group but then felt the group was correct.
- Some in the Asch conformity experiment said they went along with the group to avoid standing out, although they knew the group was wrong.
- A small number of people in the Asch conformity experiment actually said they saw the lines in the same way as the group.
Factors that influence conformity effect
The findings of the Asch conformity experiment were so startling they inspired many psychologists to investigate further.
Here are a few of their findings:
- Asch himself found that if the participant only had to write down their answer (while others called theirs out) conformity was reduced to 12.5 percent.
- Deutsch and Gerard (1955) still found conformity rates of 23 percent even in conditions of high anonymity and high certainty about the answer.
- Those who are ‘conformers’ typically have high levels of anxiety, low status, high need for approval and often authoritarian personalities.
- Cultural differences are important in conformity. People from cultures which view conformity more favourably – typically Eastern societies – are more likely to conform.
The variations on the Asch conformity experiment go on and on, examining many possible experimental permutations, but the basic finding of the Asch conformity experiment still remains solid.
While there’s no surprise that we copy each other, it’s amazing that some people will conform despite the evidence from their own eyes.
Imagine how much easier it is to encourage conformity when ambiguity levels are much higher, as they often are in everyday life.
Conformity is a mixed blessing
Whatever the results of the Asch conformity experiment, conformity itself is something of a mixed blessing.
In many situations we need conformity.
In fact, many aspects of our social lives would be much harder if we didn’t conform to a certain extent – whether it’s to legal rules or just to queuing in the post office.
The dangers of conformity, as in the Asch conformity experiment, are only too well-known, just take a look at the implications of the Milgram experiment for a glimpse at what humans will do in the name of conformity.
Sometimes it really is better if we think for ourselves rather than relying on what others say and do.
How does conformity affect us all?
It certainly bears considering how our own lives would be different if, one day, we decided not to conform, or even to suddenly started conforming.
Would things get better or worse for you?
Many people find their inability to conform is a real problem in their lives while others find it more difficult to break away and do their own thing.
Some social psychologists think the pressure to conform is even greater than that revealed in the Asch conformity experiment.
→ This post is part of a series on the best social psychology experiments:
- Halo Effect: Definition And How It Affects Our Perception
- Cognitive Dissonance: How and Why We Lie to Ourselves
- Robbers Cave Experiment: How Group Conflicts Develop
- Stanford Prison Experiment: Zimbardo’s Famous Social Psychology Study
- Milgram Experiment: Explaining Obedience to Authority
- False Consensus Effect: What It Is And Why It Happens
- Social Identity Theory And The Minimal Group Paradigm
- Negotiation: 2 Psychological Strategies That Matter Most
- Bystander Effect And The Diffusion Of Responsibility
- Asch Conformity Experiment: The Power Of Social Pressure
.
