Conformity and Independence

1951

Solomon Asch (1907–1996)

The events of World War II left many thoughtful people worried about the future of human freedom. Many Germans had cooperated with the Nazi regime in the effort to eradicate so-called undesirables. In the United States, massive resources were devoted to propaganda both at home and abroad to assuage fears and generate support for the war effort. For Solomon Asch, a young Jewish professor, these events raised questions about the importance of social influence on our ability to think for ourselves.

After the war, Asch’s research turned to consensus building, independence of thought, and conformity, all considered within a social context. He published his first studies on conformity and independence in 1951. He later explained this body of work in a popular article written for Scientific American (1955): “Life in society requires consensus as an indispensable condition. But consensus, to be productive, requires that each individual contribute independently out of his experience and insight.”

In order to examine the impact of social groups on independence and conformity of thought, Asch recruited male undergraduates for a study of perceptual judgment. Each subject was shown a line of a certain length and asked to choose which of three lines of varying lengths was the same as the original line (only one matched). Alone, the subjects were almost invariably correct, but when asked in the presence of other students, all of whom were working with Asch, 38 percent chose the incorrect line when the other students did so. Asch varied the conditions in several ways, including having one “partner” who agreed with the subject; this greatly reduced the errors, thus indicating that social support is important in maintaining independence despite group influence to conform.

Although the majority of textbooks describe Asch’s research as conformity studies, Asch actually found greater support for independent thinking. His results also confirmed his theoretical work on the importance of understanding persons within the context of the social field in which they make judgments.

SEE ALSO Gestalt Psychology (1912), Obedience (1963), Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)

The mass roll call of Nazi SA, SS, and NSKK troops in Nuremberg, Germany, on November 9, 1935, presents a startling image of conformity at its worst.