Psychology of Social Situations: Conformity, Obedience, and Group Influence

AP Psychology· difficulty 3/5

A researcher replicates Asch's line-judgment task. Confederates unanimously give an obviously wrong answer before the real participant responds. Across 18 trials, the participant conforms on 9 of them. In a second condition, one confederate gives the correct answer; conformity drops sharply.

When the participant conforms despite knowing the answer is wrong, the conformity is most likely driven by:

  • A

    Informational social influence

  • B

    Group polarization

  • C

    Deindividuation

  • D

    Normative social influence

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Explanation

Normative influence is conformity to gain acceptance or avoid rejection, even when one privately disagrees. Informational influence is conformity because others are believed to have better information.

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