Solomon E. Asch: Conformity Of Normative Social Influence
Solomon E. Asch was a pioneer of social psychology; Solomon was born in Warsaw, Poland on September 14, 1907, came to the United States in 1920 and received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1932. Asch had explored studies in psychology dealing with gestalt, relation-orientated approaches to perceptions, association, learning, thinking, and metaphor. Solomon Asch’s most famous experiments had been the conformity experiment (About Solomon Asch).
Conformity – the change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard (King, 446). Also, conformity affects individuals in both positive and negative ways. Conformity is very powerful in the social era, following the gesture of others, cooperating with the recent fashion trend, …show more content…
walking into an elevator full of people, and etc.
Solomon Asch tested conformity at Swarthmore College in 1951 by having a participant in a group of people whose task was to match line lengths in groups of eight to ten. This is a task of involving the discrimination of lengths in lines. There is a pair of cards: on the left is a card with one line, the given line, and on the right has three lines different in length (Dr Dewey). Tasks for each of the individuals was to announce which of the three lines was closest in length to the given standard length. Though, the group of people were told to give the correct answer the first couple of times then switch by saying the same incorrect answer up until the participants turn (Danko).
Thirty-seven out of fifty participants had gotten their answer incorrect due to following the groups displaying the incorrect answer, even though the answer was obvious. Afterwards the participants were interviewed, most of them had said they did not believe the answers they had given, but went along with the group for fear of being an outcast. Though, a few of them had said they did believe the group’s answers were correct (Solomon Asch).
Biological may factor in conformity, such as oxytocin, the neurotransmitter and hormone associated with social bonding (King, 447). There had been a recent double-blind experiment, where participants were randomly assigned to receive oxytocin or a placebo and were all then place in groups to make social interactions about attractiveness of various symbols. Those that had received oxytocin had experienced more likeliness preferences matching the ratings of members of their groups, which is to conform (King, 447).
Another factor that partakes in conformity are two main psychological factors: informational social influence and normative social influence.
The informational social influence refers to the influence of other people that have on us because we want to be right. Whereas to the normative social influence it is the influence others have on us because we want them to like us (King, 447). In situations of conformity of informational social influence we may for example partake on it when working on group projects agreeing on one answer because we want to be correct. When it comes to the normative social influence we may for example partake on it when we dress a particular way or act a certain way to be favored, such as during a job interview.
In addition, there is evidence that conformity is greater in some cultures than others. There had been analyzed results of 133 studies that had used Asch’s line conformity experiment in seventeen countries. Afterwards, had been categorized each of the countries in terms of the degree to which it could be collectivist versus individualist; in conclusion found a significant relationship, that conformity was greater in more collectivist than individualist countries (“Person, Gender,” n.d.).
Overall, the Asch conformity experiment exhibits a great impact on the society. There are small gender differences in conformity. When it comes to social situations, men are more likely to hold their ground, become independent, and refuse to conform; whereas women, are more likely to conform and differ vastly in private social gatherings (“Person, Gender,”
n.d.).
Conformity – the change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard (King, 446). Also, conformity affects individuals in both positive and negative ways. Conformity is very powerful in the social era, following the gesture of others, cooperating with the recent fashion trend, …show more content…
walking into an elevator full of people, and etc.
Solomon Asch tested conformity at Swarthmore College in 1951 by having a participant in a group of people whose task was to match line lengths in groups of eight to ten. This is a task of involving the discrimination of lengths in lines. There is a pair of cards: on the left is a card with one line, the given line, and on the right has three lines different in length (Dr Dewey). Tasks for each of the individuals was to announce which of the three lines was closest in length to the given standard length. Though, the group of people were told to give the correct answer the first couple of times then switch by saying the same incorrect answer up until the participants turn (Danko).
Thirty-seven out of fifty participants had gotten their answer incorrect due to following the groups displaying the incorrect answer, even though the answer was obvious. Afterwards the participants were interviewed, most of them had said they did not believe the answers they had given, but went along with the group for fear of being an outcast. Though, a few of them had said they did believe the group’s answers were correct (Solomon Asch).
Biological may factor in conformity, such as oxytocin, the neurotransmitter and hormone associated with social bonding (King, 447). There had been a recent double-blind experiment, where participants were randomly assigned to receive oxytocin or a placebo and were all then place in groups to make social interactions about attractiveness of various symbols. Those that had received oxytocin had experienced more likeliness preferences matching the ratings of members of their groups, which is to conform (King, 447).
Another factor that partakes in conformity are two main psychological factors: informational social influence and normative social influence.
The informational social influence refers to the influence of other people that have on us because we want to be right. Whereas to the normative social influence it is the influence others have on us because we want them to like us (King, 447). In situations of conformity of informational social influence we may for example partake on it when working on group projects agreeing on one answer because we want to be correct. When it comes to the normative social influence we may for example partake on it when we dress a particular way or act a certain way to be favored, such as during a job interview.
In addition, there is evidence that conformity is greater in some cultures than others. There had been analyzed results of 133 studies that had used Asch’s line conformity experiment in seventeen countries. Afterwards, had been categorized each of the countries in terms of the degree to which it could be collectivist versus individualist; in conclusion found a significant relationship, that conformity was greater in more collectivist than individualist countries (“Person, Gender,” n.d.).
Overall, the Asch conformity experiment exhibits a great impact on the society. There are small gender differences in conformity. When it comes to social situations, men are more likely to hold their ground, become independent, and refuse to conform; whereas women, are more likely to conform and differ vastly in private social gatherings (“Person, Gender,”
n.d.).