Conformity and minority influence

Social psychology is about how individuals are influenced by others, so it would appear that the area of social influence should encompass the whole of social psychology. However the term is usually used to refer to the way that the judgements and attitudes of one individual are influenced by those of others, and has tended to focus on the areas of conformity and obedience. This may be due to the interest in these particular areas in the 1950s when, after the war, psychologists were setting up experiments to measure aspects of behaviour, which had been observed, often to destructive effect, during the war. These were notably conformity, compliance and obedience to authority figures.

Although we are often encouraged to think for ourselves, there are many forces at work to prevent us from doing so. To what extent are we influenced by factors like conformity and obedience in our everyday lives?

Activity

Research studies into conformity

Conformity can be defined as changing behaviour as a result of group pressures even though no direct request has been made to comply with the group.

The most significant study in the history of research into conformity is that of Solomon Asch (1951). Asch’s work was influenced by the studies of Muzafer Sherif (1935). The key difference between the two studies is that Sherif used a very difficult perceptual judgement task (judging the apparent movement of a small spot of light in an otherwise dark room). In contrast, the judgement that had to be made by participants in Asch’s study was clear and unambiguous. They were asked to compare the lengths of lines drawn on a card, a task that under normal circumstances resulted in almost 100% accuracy.

Rather than being seen as a single study, Asch’s study was really a whole series of investigations that used the same basic method (or paradigm).

References

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