I Can’t Believe My Eyes: Conforming to the Norm
Solomon Asch's classic top 10 social psychology experiment shows that many of us will deny our own senses just to conform with others.
We all know that humans are natural born conformers - we copy each other's dress sense, ways of talking and attitudes, often without a second thought. But exactly how far does this conformity go? Do you think it is possible you would deny unambiguous information from your own senses just to conform with other people?
Have a look at the figure below. Compare the line on the left with the three lines on the right: A, B & C. Which of these three lines is the same length as the lonesome line on the left?
It's obviously C. And yet in a classic psychology experiment conducted in the 1950s, 76% of people denied their own senses at least once, choosing either A or B. What kind of strong-arm psychological pressure tactics made them do this?
The fascinating thing about this experiment was that its creator, renowned psychologist Solomon Asch, set out to prove the exact opposite. A previous experiment by Muzafer Sherif (see his well-known Robbers Cave experiment) had found that when people were faced with making a judgement on an ambiguous test, they used other people's judgements as a reference point.
This makes perfect sense. If I'm not sure about something, I'll check with someone else. But this is only when I'm not sure. The situation is quite different when I have unambiguous information, such as when I can clearly see the answer myself. Other people's judgement should then have no effect - or at least that's what Asch thought.
The experiment
To test his theory he brought male undergraduates, one at a time, into a room with eight other people who were passed off as fellow participants (Asch, 1951). They were then shown three lines with another for comparison, similar to the figure above. Participants were asked to call out which line - A, B or C - was the same length as the reference line. This procedure was repeated 12 times with participants viewing variations of the above figure.
What the participants didn't realise was that all the other people sat around the table were in on the game. They were all confederates who had been told by the experimenter to give the wrong answer. On half of the trials they called out the line that was too short, and on the other half the line that was too long.
The real experimental participant, who knew nothing of this, was actually the sixth to call out their answer after five other confederates of the experimenter had given the wrong answer.
Surprising findings
The results were fascinating, and not at all what Asch had been expecting:
- 50% of people gave the same wrong answer as the others on more than half of the trials.
- Only 25% of participants refused to be swayed by the majority's blatantly false judgement on all of the 12 trials.
- 5% always conformed with the majority incorrect opinion (we all know people like that, right?!)
- Over all the trials the average conformity rate was 33%.
Intrigued as to why participants had gone along with the majority, Asch interviewed them after the experiment. Their answers are probably very familiar to all of us:
- All felt anxious, feared disapproval from others and became self-conscious.
- Most explained they saw the lines differently to the group but then felt the group was correct.
- Some said they went along with the group to avoid standing out, although they knew the group was wrong.
- A small number of people actually said they saw the lines in the same way as the group.
The findings of this study were so startling they inspired many psychologists to investigate further. Here are a few of their findings:
- Asch himself found that if the participant only had to write down their answer (while others called theirs out) conformity was reduced to 12.5%.
- Deutsch and Gerard (1955) still found conformity rates of 23% even in conditions of high anonymity and high certainty about the answer.
- Those who are 'conformers' typically have high levels of anxiety, low status, high need for approval and often authoritarian personalities.
- Cultural differences are important in conformity. People from cultures which view conformity more favourably - typically Eastern societies - are more likely to conform.
A mixed blessing
The variations on the original theme go on and on, examining many possible experimental permutations, but the basic finding still remains solid. While there's no surprise that we copy each other, it's amazing that some people will conform despite the evidence from their own eyes. Imagine how much easier it is to encourage conformity when ambiguity levels are much higher, as they often are in everyday life.
Conformity itself is something of a mixed blessing. In many situations we need conformity. In fact, many aspects of our social lives would be much harder if we didn't conform to a certain extent - whether it's to legal rules or just to queuing in the post office.
The dangers of conformity are only too well-known, just take a look at the implications of Milgram's obedience experiments for a glimpse at what humans will do in the name of conformity. Sometimes it really is better if we think for ourselves rather than relying on what others say and do.
How does conformity affect us all?
It certainly bears considering how our own lives would be different if, one day, we decided not to conform, or even to suddenly start conforming. Would things get better or worse for you? Many people find their inability to conform is a real problem in their lives while others find it more difficult to break away and do their own thing.
» Read more of the top 10 social psychology experiments.
Reference
Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. Groups, leadership, and men, 177-190.
Deutsch, M. & Gerard, H. B. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol. 51, 629-36.
Join 22301 readers
- No related posts.
Hi!
Do you have the references for these 3 findings? I am particularly interested in the third one. -- Thanks.
Deutsch and Gerard (1955) still found conformity rates of 23% even in conditions of high anonymity and high certainty about the answer.
Those who are 'conformers' typically have high levels of anxiety, low status, high need for approval and often authoritarian personalities.
Cultural differences are important in conformity. People from cultures which view conformity more favourably - typically Eastern societies - are more likely to conform.
Here are the ones I can get my hands on easily:
1. Deutsch M & Gerard H B. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol. 51, 629-36.
2. This is a whole series of studies - I don't have the specific references. Try Google scholar to track them down.
3. Bond, M. H., & Smith, P. B. (1996). Cross-cultural social and organizational psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 47(1), 205-235.
Jeremy,
One correction: You state that "33% of people denied their own senses..."
Actually, 76% of the participants in Asch's study conformed at least once. The 33% refers to how often the participants on the whole conformed with the group.
Also note the distinction we make between "conformity" (going along) and "conversion" (changing one's mind, or actually believing what the majority believes).
Very telling is a study done by Baron, Vandello, & Brunsman (1996) that looked at factors such as importance and difficult of the task and rates of conformity. Regardless of the difficulty of the task, when the task was presented as unimportant, conformity to the group decision was moderate. When it was presented that the task was important, however, conformity on the easy task was extremely low, whereas conformity if it was difficult was extremely high.
In other words, the researchers concluded that the need for accuracy is a strong motivator to conform (or not conform).
Thanks Dr G., duly corrected!
Authoritarian personalities are more likely to conform? Very interesting, and exactly the opposite of what I'd expect.
I haven't read the studies but do they comment on the relationship between this test and similar looking optical illusions? I'd imagine my willingness to covert because there are more than a few line based optical illusions.
Nicholas, this experiment was actually inspired by another study in which optical illusions of a kind were used. People were very easily swayed in that experiment.
The idea of this one is that it shows that even when we have unambiguous information from our senses, we can still be influenced by other people.
A very interesting experiment, though I am not sure it is as conclusive as it appears at first. The experimenters seem to have assumed that the choices had equal value, that there was no disposition to choose a right or wrong answer.
Considering my own thought process in a similar situation (admittedly not very rigorous), there is known benefit to always giving the correct answer. There is however, a known benefit to giving the same answer as others; a 'bond' of sorts with others in the group which is a desirable social reward.
I would be curious to see what would happen if the same experiment were repeated with a very small monetary reward (one penny) for giving the correct answer. Under those circumstances, I would find it plausible that almost all of the participants would choose the correct answer.
Breaking it down in these terms would suggest that participants are simply trying to balance various self-interests and determining what might work best for them, given what they know of the situation.
Eh, grammatical mistakes in my comment above.
"there is -no- known benefit to always giving the correct answer".
Soonil, yes, there are a whole series of experiments looking at the different ways in which conformity can be manipulated by other motivators. Money is a good one, but I think you might be underestimating the power of conformity if you think a penny will be enough to get people to break the mould!
I have just read your all of the ten studies mentioned in this section and wanted to say how throughly i've enjoyed them. Exceptionally thought provoking this last study has really got my cogs turning. Thanks again, you've helped to wake a brain that has been dormant for two years!
I have a somewhat ironic note:
Everyone who left a comment implicitly agreed that the picture is unambiguous; is that because the article says so?
When I first glanced at the picture, my impression was that 'B' was the correct answer. I had to stare at it for a second or two before changing my mind. After that, it became more and more obvious that 'C' was the correct height, especially after reading the article and looking back at the picture again.
Henwelder, glad you liked them!
Daniel, it's a good point and they checked this in the study. Participants were asked to judge the lines without anyone else present. All of them chose the correct one.
As a result in the actual experiment the results can't be put down to ambiguity in the test.
The lines I've used above, as you point out, might be a little more deceptive.
When my dad was in fourth grade the teacher had written a number on the board and my dad thought it said one billion and some other kids thought it said one million. The teacher overheard and told the kids to stand up if they thought the number said one million. A few stood up, then some more, until the only one left sitting was my dad. He kept going over the number again and again in his head, but when he was about to give in, his teacher told all the kids who stood up that my dad was right.
I notice that to understand human is the best part of my life