Factors Affecting Conformity

Size of the Group

Lack of Group Unanimity (i.e. agreement)

Conformity tends to increase as the size of the group increases. However, there is little change in conformity once the group size reaches 4-5. With one other person (i.e. confederate) in the group conformity was 3%, with two others it increased to 13% and with three or more it was 32% (or 1/3). Because conformity does not seem to increase in groups larger than four, this is considered the optimal group size.

When one other person in the group gave a different answer from the others, and therefore the group answer was not unanimous, conformity dropped. Asch (1951) found that even the presence of just one confederate that goes against the majority choice can reduce conformity as much as 80%.

Difficulty of Task	Answer in Private
When the (comparison) lines (e.g. A, B, C) were made more similar in length it was harder to judge the correct answer and conformity increased, reflecting Asch’s results. When we are uncertain, it seems we look to others for confirmation. The more difficult the task the greater the conformity.	When participants were allowed to answer in private (so the rest of the group do not know their response) confomrity decreases. This is because there is less groups pressure and normative influence is not as powerful.
Anonymity (i.e. secrecy)	Status of Majority Group
When participants could write their answers down rather than announce them in public, conformity dropped. This suggests that individuals conform because they are concerned about what other people think of them (i.e. normative influence).	If someone is of high status (e.g. your boss) or has a lot of knowledge (e.g. your teacher), they might be more influential, and so people will conform to their opinions more (e.g. informational influence). The higher the status of the group the higher the level of conformity.