7/24/2019 Essay 1 Vrajesh Padhiar Copy

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Vrajesh Padhiar

EWRT 1A

Prof. Emily Benson

Social Influences That Changes Your Views

In the article Opinions and Social Pressure, a social psychologist at Rutgers Universitynamed Solomon Asch conducted an experiment to find out how social influences such as

group pressure can change an individuals opinion. These investigations were conducted in

the early 1950s, with help of Aschs associates. From his experiment, he concluded that

individuals are very likely influenced to think differently by their peers despite initially

thinking that they are correct due to their education and experience.

In Aschs experiment, college students were placed in groups that ranged from seven

to nine students, and were told to sit inside a class for a psychological experiment. The

experimenter informed them that they would be comparing the lengths of lines on a card.

Two large white cards were shown to the students, with one card displaying a single verticalblack line and the other displaying three vertical lines. Among the three lines, one of them

was the same length as the black line on the other card. The students started by answering in

the order they were seated- where they chose the same matching line during the first few

trials. On the third and forth trial, one student disagreed with everybody else. As a result of

the rest remaining unanimous with their choices, the dissenter became worried and hesitant as

the disagreements went on during the trials. Before the experiment, the experimenter

instructed the other students to give the wrong answers. However, unaware of the plan, the

dissenter felt that he was answering incorrectly. To reduce the chance of the dissenter feeling

like everyone was up against him, the instructed students answered correctly. This resulted in

12 incorrectly answered trials out of a total of 18 in each series.

When given the choice to either act independently or conform to the majority, a

significant number of subjects chose to fall in with the mass. On average, people make

mistakes matching the lines one percent of the time. However, when pressured by a group,

the subjects chose the wrong line 36.8 percent of the time. During the trials, the results of

participants choices varied with one quarter of them answering independently and the rest

agreeing with the majority. When the participants did agree with the majority, they generally

went with the conclusion of I am wrong, they are right. Nevertheless, at times they yielded

to avoid mutilating the results.

Asch wondered if an influence such as the size of the majority or its unanimity wasmore important, resulting in the experiment being changed to examine this aspect. In one

series, the size of the opposition ranged from 1 to 15 people, showing a clear trend. During

the experiment, a subject was lightly swayed when an individual who disproved his answer

confronted him. Despite being somewhat criticized, he continued to answer correctly in most

of all the trials. The pressure became extensive when the opposition was increased to two,

where the minorities accepted the incorrect answer 13.6 percent of the time, followed by

rising to 31.8 percent when the opposition was increased to three. Increasing the size of the

majority did not increase the pressure to answer differently, which shows that the size of the

opposition is vital only to a certain point. When the individual found another subject who

started agreeing with him, they felt warmth and closure resulting in being inspired withconfidence.

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When the experiment was changed to an instructed individual who disagreed from the

majority and the subject, this in effect had the dissenter who controlled the choice of mistakes

followed by the subjects leaving the majority. When this occurred, the subjects mistakes fell

to 9 percent when he chose the line that was obviously unlike the normal one. Asch

concluded from this experiment that the dissents themselves made everyone moreindependent.

The following experiment started with a partner who answered correctly on the first

six trials but then he joined the majority, causing an increase in the subjects mistakes.

Previously with his support, the subject battled pressure. Another condition was changed

where the partner would leave the group during the experiment and the subject carried on

during the partners absence. When the partner returned, it increased the number of mistakes.

Agreement in general is required in society, however, when someone agrees, it is done

from the factors of their experience and views. Asch has established that in our society,leaning towards agreement where brainy young aged individuals raise a concern when they

are prepared to call white black. The current state of the education system alarms us not only

with questions, but also encourages us to not underestimate an individuals capabilities for

independence.