Skip to main content
  • 1315 Accesses

Asch, Solomon Eliot (September 14, 1907 – February 20, 1996), was an American Gestalt psychologist and apioneer in the field of social psychology, best known for his experiments on social influence and conformity.

Basic Biographical Information

Solomon Eliot Asch was born into aJewish family in Warsaw, Poland, in 1907. At the time, Warsaw belonged to the Russian Empire. In 1920, he moved to the United States with his family at the age of 13. He and his family lived in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where they taught themselves the English language by reading the works of Charles Dickens. Asch attended the College of the City of New York, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1928. He then went on to earn his master’s degree in 1930 and his Ph.D. in 1932 at Columbia University. While studying at Columbia, Asch was mentored and greatly influenced by psychologist Max Wertheimer, afounder of Gestalt psychology.

After studying at Columbia, he began his career asapsychology professor at...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 679.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 649.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Asch, S.E. (1946). Forming impressions of personality. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 41, 258–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asch, S.E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment. In H. Guetzkow (Ed.), Groups, leadership and men. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asch, S.E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193(5), 31–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asch, S.E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: Aminority of one against aunanimous majority. Psychological Monographs, 70 (Whole no. 416).

    Google Scholar 

  • Asch, S.E. (1987). Social psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Original work published 1952.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sally Capanzano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Capanzano, S. (2012). Asch, Solomon E.. In: Rieber, R.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_346

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_346

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0425-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0463-8

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

Publish with us

Policies and ethics