Conformity: how groups of people influence other groups of people.
Asch’s Experiment- the predictions: Because of the relative ease of the task, participants would get 100% correct. Experts predicted this would not show conformity.
The Results: About 33% of the participants conformed. These blamed “poor eyesight” or blatant misjudgment.
What influences conformity? Positive correlation: Group Size, Cohesiveness, Gender. Negative correlation: Social Support No correlation: Race
So why does this happen? Two basic concepts of motivation here-
Normative Social Influence: Going along with others because of the desire to be liked.
Informational Social Influence: Going along with others because of the desire to be correct.
