Solomon Asch''s classic ) had observed 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, eventhough 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 a number of psychology experts to investigate further. Here are a few of their findings:

• Asch himself observed 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 a number of 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. Posted by: Jerry    Source

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