1. Objectives:
To evaluate conformity (majority influence) research.

2. What do we need to consider in an evaluation?
Application to Real Life
Demand Characteristics
Validity
Reliability
Generalisability
Ecological Validity
Supporting/Conflicting Research

3. Evaluating Conformity Research
Read pages 164 – 165 and answer the following questions (try to use a PEE paragraph format):
Why can conformity research be criticised for lacking validity?
Why can Asch’s research be criticised ethically?
Why is McCarthyism a problem for Asch’s findings if we want to generalise them to the present day, and how do Perrin & Spencer (1980) support this point?
Do Asch’s studies actually show that people behave independently?
Outline the aims, procedure and results of Smith & Bond (1998), what does this study suggest is an important influence on conformity?

4. Summary
Perrin & Spencer (1980) replicated Asch’s study in the UK but could not find the same scale of conformity.
They concluded that Asch got the results he did because during the 1950s America was in the grip of McCarthyism, a strong communist period when people were scared to be different and conformity was highly valued

5. Perrin & Spencer
Also found that when conformity experiments were conducted on probation participants and confederates were probation officers, conformity was high like in Asch.
So conformity may only be high when perceived costs of non-conformity are high

6. Smith & Bond (1998)
Conducted a meta analysis of conformity studies across 17 countries. They established that collectivist cultures show significantly higher levels of conformity than individualist cultures. Levels of conformity have also declined since the 1950s the time of Asch’s research…………….why might this be?

7. Conformity or independence?
On 2/3 of trials where the majority gave the ‘wrong’ answer, the participant stuck to their original position and did not conform. This suggests that rather than being overly conformist, human beings are able to display independent behaviour even when they are faced with an overwhelming majority.

8. Real World applications
Pressure to conform particularly strong in juries
First vote of jury determines over 95% of cases (Tanford & Penrod 1986)

9. Validity Lines task is insignificant
Answering out loud as opposed to privately
Do the findings only tell us about conformity in certain circumstances?

10. You could conduct your own experiment into conformity

11. Do individuals conform?
Yes we do because...
No we don’t because...
It depends, because...

12. 5 Evaluation Points: ?
Come up with as many strengths and weaknesses as you can.
Now rank them from best to worst
What are the 3 most important evaluative points?