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Group Size Asch’s results showed that conformity was worse as the group grew up to the number 4 but after 4 people the amount of people who conformed didn’t increase. A possible explanation is that as more and more people start to have their own opinion a person may think that everyone else is just following each other and therefore they won’t want to copy.
Unanimity Unanimity is the complete agreement among the members of a group. From experimenting Asch concluded that it is difficult to be a minority of one, to stand against the group, even when you think you are right and everyone else is wrong. However, Asch also found that it takes only one person to disagree with the group’s judgment to significantly affect conformity. He found that when this happened the amount of conformity reduced by about 80%.
Social Loafing Social loafing refers to the tendency of an individual to make less effort when involved in a group activity than when working alone. Sometimes the presence of others in a group situation results in reduced performance. Generally, social loafers conform to their group, but with less effort. This is based on their belief that conforming will not make much of a difference in what the group decides, so they just go along with whatever the group agrees to or does. Experimental research findings indicate that people are less likely to ‘loaf’ in groups when the group consists of friends rather than strangers, but this depends on the extent to which the group’s decision or behavior is of importance to the individual. social loafing is less likely to influence conformity, if at all, when: •maximum effort from everyone in the group is essential for the group's goal to be attained •the group is valued by its members (for example, the group is made up of close friends) •the task is important, challenging or appealing to those performing it •the group is small •members of a group believe that it is possible for their individual performance to be judged in some way •other group members are not expected to perform well so social loafing might lead to failure on the task •those working on the task are women rather than men.
Informational Influence People are more likely to conform when they don’t know what the correct answer is but they want to be right, so they may just copy what other people are doing. ‘Wanting to be right and access to relevant information can influence us to conform.’
Culture Bond and Smith believed that the lowest conformity occurred in individualist cultures (North America and Western Europe) and the highest levels of conformity occurred in collectivist cultures (Asian or African).
Factors Affecting Conformity
Normative Influence Normative influence to conform occurs when our response in a group situation is guided by one or more social norms. When we’re aware of social norms for a particular situation it can be a powerful influence on both the likelihood that we will conform and the strength of conformity that occurs. A way of meeting these needs for acceptance and approval is to be as similar to others as possible. We learn from a very young age that when we conform it usually brings positive results and are more likely to be accepted.
Factors Affecting Conformity American psychologist Solomon Asch hypothesized that people would not conform in situations where they could clearly see what is correct and what is incorrect. Key factors that influence conformity have been proposed. These include: -The size of the group -Whether or not the group members are unanimous in their views -Whether the group is viewed as being a valuable source of information -Awareness of accepted standards about how one should behave (normative influence) -Cultural influence -Social loafing -Anonymity in a group (deindividuation)
