VrajeshPadhiar

EWRT1A
Prof.EmilyBenson
SocialInfluencesThatChangesYourViews
InthearticleOpinionsandSocialPressure,asocialpsychologistatRutgersUniversity
namedSolomonAschconductedanexperimenttofindouthowsocialinfluencessuchas
grouppressurecanchangeanindividualsopinion.Theseinvestigationswereconductedin
theearly1950s,withhelpofAschsassociates.Fromhisexperiment,heconcludedthat
individualsareverylikelyinfluencedtothinkdifferentlybytheirpeersdespiteinitially
thinkingthattheyarecorrectduetotheireducationandexperience.
InAschsexperiment,collegestudentswereplacedingroupsthatrangedfromseven
toninestudents,andweretoldtositinsideaclassforapsychologicalexperiment.The
experimenterinformedthemthattheywouldbecomparingthelengthsoflinesonacard.
Twolargewhitecardswereshowntothestudents,withonecarddisplayingasinglevertical
blacklineandtheotherdisplayingthreeverticallines.Amongthethreelines,oneofthem
wasthesamelengthastheblacklineontheothercard.Thestudentsstartedbyansweringin
theordertheywereseatedwheretheychosethesamematchinglineduringthefirstfew
trials.Onthethirdandforthtrial,onestudentdisagreedwitheverybodyelse.Asaresultof
therestremainingunanimouswiththeirchoices,thedissenterbecameworriedandhesitantas
thedisagreementswentonduringthetrials.Beforetheexperiment,theexperimenter
instructedtheotherstudentstogivethewronganswers.However,unawareoftheplan,the
dissenterfeltthathewasansweringincorrectly.Toreducethechanceofthedissenterfeeling
likeeveryonewasupagainsthim,theinstructedstudentsansweredcorrectly.Thisresultedin
12incorrectlyansweredtrialsoutofatotalof18ineachseries.
Whengiventhechoicetoeitheractindependentlyorconformtothemajority,a
significantnumberofsubjectschosetofallinwiththemass.Onaverage,peoplemake
mistakesmatchingthelinesonepercentofthetime.However,whenpressuredbyagroup,
thesubjectschosethewrongline36.8percentofthetime.Duringthetrials,theresultsof
participantschoicesvariedwithonequarterofthemansweringindependentlyandtherest
agreeingwiththemajority.Whentheparticipantsdidagreewiththemajority,theygenerally
wentwiththeconclusionofIamwrong,theyareright.Nevertheless,attimestheyyielded
toavoidmutilatingtheresults.
Aschwonderedifaninfluencesuchasthesizeofthemajorityoritsunanimitywas
moreimportant,resultingintheexperimentbeingchangedtoexaminethisaspect.Inone
series,thesizeoftheoppositionrangedfrom1to15people,showingacleartrend.During
theexperiment,asubjectwaslightlyswayedwhenanindividualwhodisprovedhisanswer
confrontedhim.Despitebeingsomewhatcriticized,hecontinuedtoanswercorrectlyinmost
ofallthetrials.Thepressurebecameextensivewhentheoppositionwasincreasedtotwo,
wheretheminoritiesacceptedtheincorrectanswer13.6percentofthetime,followedby
risingto31.8percentwhentheoppositionwasincreasedtothree.Increasingthesizeofthe
majoritydidnotincreasethepressuretoanswerdifferently,whichshowsthatthesizeofthe
oppositionisvitalonlytoacertainpoint.Whentheindividualfoundanothersubjectwho
startedagreeingwithhim,theyfeltwarmthandclosureresultinginbeinginspiredwith
confidence.

Whentheexperimentwaschangedtoaninstructedindividualwhodisagreedfromthe
majorityandthesubject,thisineffecthadthedissenterwhocontrolledthechoiceofmistakes
followedbythesubjectsleavingthemajority.Whenthisoccurred,thesubjectsmistakesfell
to9percentwhenhechosethelinethatwasobviouslyunlikethenormalone.Asch
concludedfromthisexperimentthatthedissentsthemselvesmadeeveryonemore
independent.
Thefollowingexperimentstartedwithapartnerwhoansweredcorrectlyonthefirst
sixtrialsbutthenhejoinedthemajority,causinganincreaseinthesubjectsmistakes.
Previouslywithhissupport,thesubjectbattledpressure.Anotherconditionwaschanged
wherethepartnerwouldleavethegroupduringtheexperimentandthesubjectcarriedon
duringthepartnersabsence.Whenthepartnerreturned,itincreasedthenumberofmistakes.
Agreementingeneralisrequiredinsociety,however,whensomeoneagrees,itisdone
fromthefactorsoftheirexperienceandviews.Aschhasestablishedthatinoursociety,
leaningtowardsagreementwherebrainyyoungagedindividualsraiseaconcernwhenthey
arepreparedtocallwhiteblack.Thecurrentstateoftheeducationsystemalarmsusnotonly
withquestions,butalsoencouragesustonotunderestimateanindividualscapabilitiesfor
independence.