Evaluate research into conformity (6 marks)

A problem with Asch's study is that the task is fairly insignificant and therefore participants may have been more likely to conform. In a task that was more important, participants would have thought about it more and may have less likely conformed. This has an effect on the validity of the findings as Asch's results may not be able to generalise in all conformity situations.

A further problem with the validity of the findings is that the levels of conformity may be linked to the time in history where the study was conducted. Behaviour in the 1950's was greatly influence by McCarthiysm (a period of anti-communist feeling) where people were afraid to be different. This is supported by Perrin and Spencer (1980) who conducted a replication of Asch's study in the the 1970's. They only found one conforming response out of 396 trials. This is significantly lower level of conformity than Asch found suggesting that conformity is more likely if people are scared of being different.

Further research has also suggested that there may be cultural differences in conformity. In a meta-analysis, Smith and Bond found that conformist is higher in collectivist countries than it is in individualistic countries. This may be because in individualistic countries, people are independent and have their own views.. Whereas in collectivist countries, group harmony is important so people are more likely to follow the crowd. This is a problem for the validity of Asch's findings because they cannot be used to explain conformity cross culturally.

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Psychology - Conformity AQA