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Discuss factors influencing conformity. (22)

Discuss (22) – A considered and balanced review, including a range of arguments, factors or hypothesis. Opinions and conclusions presented clearly supported by appropriate evidence.

Factors influencing conformity

Cultural factors

The theory of Cultural Dimensions
Individualism/Collectivism
Individualism on Conformity
Individual thoughts are encouraged, hence lower level of conformity
Collectivism on Conformity
Tendency to conform more easily because a harmony will be reached that way.

Bond and Smith – Asch’s Paradigm with different cultures (Conformity/Culture)
Experiment brief	Meta-analysis of 133 Asch's Paradigm study in 17 different countries around the world.
[F]	Individualist societies tend to have a lower rate of conformity (e.g. US, UK, France) Collectivist societies tend to have a higher rate of conformity (e.g. Hong Kong, Fiji, Brazil)
[C]	Displayed the effect of culture on conformity.
[E]	Emic approach: took care of the cultural differences around the world individually Evaluative points of Asch's Paradigm apply.

Unanimity

The likelihood of conformity increases when everyone agrees to a point.
Compare Asch’s Paradigm (original version) to a variation of Asch’s Paradigm.

Solomon Asch – Asch’s Paradigm Experiment (Conformity)
[A]	Investigate the existence of conformity.
[P]	Subject was placed into a room with 6 confederates and the experimenter. Subject was deceived that the 6 confederates were participants just like them. The subject was placed on the second last seat so they will be the second last to give an answer. The group of subject and confederates were asked to select the line on the second card that matched the line on the first card. There were 18 sets of cards in total, some of which had lines that were completely different in length, others are similar in length. Confederates were instructed to answer correctly on some of the cards but answer incorrectly for most.
[F]	75% conformed at least once to the wrong answer 32% conformed to more than half of the wrong answers 24% did not conform at all
[C]	Conformity happened Those who did not conform sparked further research
[E]	Ecological validity: Low, lab conditions. Controlled environment removed confounding variables. Meaningless stimuli. Gender bias, only male participants were used. Culture bias, only population of the US were used. Cannot be generalised to all population. Ethics: Deception, but subjects were debriefed.

Solomon Asch – Asch’s Paradigm variation (Conformity)
Experiment brief	Replication of the original Asch's Paradigm study. Except at points of the experiment, one confederate was instructed to disagree with majority, even if it was also a wrong answer.
[F]	Conformity rate dropped significantly.
[C]	Consistency and unanimity is crucial for conformity to happen.
[E]	Evaluative points of Asch's Paradigm apply.

Minority influences

A stem of the original conformity theory.
That a minority, if consistent enough, can influence the bigger group.

Moscovici and Lage – Shades of blue study (Conformity)
[A]	Investigate whether a minority group can influence a bigger group through conformity.
[P]	4 subjects were placed into a room with 2 confederates and the experimenter. Subjects were deceived that the 2 confederates were participants just like them. Subjects were asked to judge whether different shades of blue-green cards were blue or green. The 2 confederates were instructed to give the wrong answer consistently.
[F]	The minority of 2 confederates were able to influence 32% of the participants to give a wrong answer.
[C]	Uncovered an important element of conformity. Consistency of the group.
[E]	Offered an alternative view on the factors affecting conformity. Improved upon the theory of conformity and the original study (Asch’s Paradigm). Evaluative points of Asch's Paradigm apply.