Solomon Asch Opinions And Social Pressure Summary
How Conformity Effects Independence In Solomon Asch’s article, “Opinions and Social Pressure”, he examines the willingness and ability of an individual to continue to follow their own judgment, even if it goes against a majority. The willingness of people to conform to a majority against their best judgment is a problem prevalent in our society today.
Regarding Asch’s experiments, he says that the tests, “demonstrate the operations of group pressure upon individuals”(143). Asch recruited a group of people and instructs them describe which line drawn on a sheet of paper they thought was the same length as another line. The majority group agrees on an incorrect answer, leaving one individual to choose between their own judgment and a group mentality.
Regarding Asch’s experiments, he says that the tests, “demonstrate the operations of group pressure upon individuals”(143). Asch recruited a group of people and instructs them describe which line drawn on a sheet of paper they thought was the same length as another line. The majority group agrees on an incorrect answer, leaving one individual to choose between their own judgment and a group mentality.