Have you ever encountered a situation where a person suddenly changed their opinion under the influence of society? What, in your opinion, was the reason for this? Lack of negotiation skills, insufficient knowledge of the issue, a desire to please others, or an inability to critically assess the situation?

In this article, we will discuss such a popular phenomenon nowadays as conformism and the experiments dedicated to it.

The Essence of Solomon Asch's Experiment

Conformism is the ability of a person to adapt and accept ready-made standards and behavior patterns, as well as to unconditionally recognize existing norms, laws, and rules under the pressure of society or authorities.

American Gestalt psychologist of Polish origin, Solomon Asch, studied human behavior and their tendency to change their own opinions in favor of the majority.

The researcher hypothesized that when faced with an unequivocally incorrect group statement, people would be able to maintain their independence and not show conformity. Unfortunately, his experiment, detailed in the article Asch’s Conformity Experiment, showed the opposite.

Asch assembled a group of male students and divided them into subgroups of 8 people. The participants were presented with this experiment as a vision test.

According to the conditions, all group members were shown two cards: one with the main line X, and the second with three lines of different lengths (A, B, and C).

In total, Asch showed the subjects 18 pairs of cards with lines depicted on them. After each showing, he asked the students, "Which line from the ones presented on the second card corresponds in length to the line on the first card?"

By the experiment's terms, one line matched the length of the main line, which was noticeable to the naked eye. The test results seemed to be unanimous and predictable.

The catch was that 7 out of 8 subjects in each group were confederates. They were tasked to give 12 incorrect answers out of 18 (6 times to choose a longer line and 6 times a shorter one). The only real group member, of course, suspected nothing and always answered the questions second to last.

The psychologist aimed to check whether the subject could resist the opinion of the majority and maintain their point of view while giving the correct answer.

The experiment's results were disheartening: on average, about a third (32%) of the students caught in this situation agreed with the clearly wrong answer, joining the confederate group members.

In the 12 trials, around 75% of the people gave the wrong answer at least once in line with the confederate participants, and only 25% never agreed with the majority opinion.

Control tests showed that when taking this test alone, subjects gave correct answers 99% of the time, further confirming the theory of human conformity.

Experiment Results

At the end of the experiment, Solomon Asch and his team interviewed the subjects to find out the reasons for the large number of incorrect answers. It turned out that people who disagreed with the rest of the group members began to feel insecure, doubt their correctness, and experience fear of condemnation.

Participants were not willing to openly conflict with others, so they began to join the majority opinion, despite not being fully confident in its correctness.

Almost all subjects experienced an internal emotional conflict, not realizing on whose side the truth lies. Their choice was limited: either trust their eyes and go against the group or doubt their own correctness and join the majority opinion. This phenomenon has been called "conformity conflict."

Subjects can be roughly divided into two groups: the "independent" and the "submissive." Among those who did not succumb to group pressure, several types stood out:

Participants who firmly held their own views and were confident in their own correctness;
Participants who experienced emotional discomfort from the discrepancy of opinions, but continued to make demonstrative attempts to maintain individuality;
Participants who openly voiced their doubts and indecisiveness but ultimately gave the correct answers.

Among the subjects who joined the opinion of the fake group members, several types could also be distinguished:

Participants who assured everyone that they saw the lines exactly the same as the others;
Participants who saw the correct answer but considered their perception to be incorrect;
Opportunists who knew the correct answer but decided to join the group opinion to avoid attracting attention.

Solomon Asch concluded that people exhibit conformity for two main reasons: because they want to fit into the group and because they believe that the group is better informed than they are.

Many of the students who participated in the experiment were afraid to express their opinion or ask others why they chose that particular line segment. Such fears are caused by underdeveloped communication skills. The ability to ask the right questions and clearly formulate your own answers is one of the most important in the life of a modern person.

The online program "Best Communication Techniques" will help to establish the process of communication with absolutely anyone. With its help, you will learn not only to maintain a conversation on free topics but also to constructively resolve conflicts and achieve the desired in negotiations. By thinking critically and defending your point of view, you reduce the likelihood of falling into the conformity trap.

Solomon Asch identified a direct relationship between the number of confederates (people with opposite points of view) and the percentage of incorrect answers from the subjects. In the case where the experiment participant faces only one person, the likelihood of a conforming answer is significantly lower compared to a whole group of dissenters.

It is also interesting that the conformity of the subjects was influenced by the violation of unanimity among the confederates. As soon as one of them took the position of the subject and gave the correct answers with him, the percentage of incorrect answers decreased.

Of course, it is not worth drawing conclusions about the tendency to conform in all people based solely on one experiment. That is why Solomon Asch and his followers decided to continue their research.

Continuation of Research Supporting Solomon Asch's Theory

Continuing the study of this issue, the psychologist conducted a similar experiment in which real participants were asked to give answers in written form, while planted subjects continued to answer orally. The test results showed that the conformity of the subjects in this case decreased by 12.5% compared to the first experiment.

To definitively confirm his hypothesis, Solomon Asch conducted another test in which he changed the number of planted participants. Now, in a group of 17 people, only 1 was an assistant to the psychologist.

The sequence of the experiment remained the same, but the behavior of the group members changed. The real participants were confident in their correctness and did not take the opinion of the planted participant seriously, treating him with distrust and ridicule.

After Solomon Asch's research, a series of new tests began among the psychologist's followers who wanted to confirm his theory on human conformity.

Thus, Japanese scientists Kazuo Mori and Miho Arai conducted their own experiment, involving 104 people of both sexes. More details about this research can be read in the article No need to fake it: Reproduction of the Asch experiment without confederates.

Participants were divided into groups of 4 people. They were tasked with identifying equal-length segments, just as in Solomon Asch's study. However, instead of planted participants, special polarizing filter glasses were used this time, allowing the same image to be perceived differently.

Three group members had glasses with the same perception-distorting filter, creating a majority that gave incorrect answers. Unlike the previous experiment, this time they were just as confident in their correctness as the participant with normal lenses.

The results were quite interesting: only female participants showed conformity, similar to participants in Solomon Asch's experiment. Men did not succumb to the majority opinion and stuck with their own views.

Mori and Arai explained this fact with two reasons:

The upbringing of Japanese children (boys are cultivated from childhood to be independent and capable of defending their position);
Good relations between participants, which could have influenced their opinion.

According to the researchers, such an experiment is closest to real life, as we most often make important choices under the influence of close and familiar people.

Conclusion

Conformity is a phenomenon that representatives of all generations encounter. Despite a large amount of critical commentary directed at him, Solomon Asch and his followers were able to demonstrate people's tendency to change their opinions to conform to the majority for various reasons.

These experiments clearly show how important it is to develop critical thinking in oneself, which allows one to draw the correct conclusion and not be afraid to defend it before society. It's necessary to learn how to competently gather and analyze information, reason, compare various facts, and make logical judgments based on them, without succumbing to the opinion of the majority. In any case, these skills will be useful to absolutely anyone. We think you would agree with us...