Conform: What We Can Learn From Solomon Asch

In 1952, Solomon Asch demonstrated humans' susceptibility to social pressure to conform. But that is not all that he found. 

Every psychology student has learnt about Asch’s conformity experiment and how he showed educated, well-meaning people can ignore their own physical senses to go along with a group. 

The setup was straightforward. A group of 8 people were shown 4 lines on a board. One standard line and three test lines. 

Each participant was asked which line among the test lines is the same length as the standard line. There were a total of 12 trials. 

The secret was that 7 of the 8 participants in the group were confederates who had been instructed to give an incorrect response beforehand. 

The remaining participant was called the “critical subject” and he was the main object of the study. 

Would the “critical subject” go with his own senses or conform to the group?

More than 75% of the “critical subjects” conformed. They ignored their own sensations to go along with what the people around them were doing. 

But that is not all!

Asch also found that around 25% of the participants rarely or never conformed with the group. He called them independents. 

After the study was completed, he interviewed some of these independents and found some unique characteristics in them

📌 Self-confidence

📌 Strong individual principles

📌 Practicing individualism

More than simply being a study of conformity, Asch also found that conformity is not done helplessly. Each of the participants had a choice. 

They were in conflict. They were overtly distressed due to the conflict but only a few people chose to believe in themselves while the others found comfort in conforming. 

We have these choices to make daily ourselves too. Think of the last time you were confused between doing what you wanted to vs what others wanted from you. 

What did you end up doing? 

What does that say about you?