UNANIMOUS GROUPS SIZE AND THE LEVEL OF CONFORMITY Unanimous Groups Size and the Level of Conformity Marisa Covington Sociology 2010 06 Jennifer Triplet November 18 2013 1 UNANIMOUS GROUPS SIZE AND THE LEVEL OF CONFORMITY 2 Abstract I believe that there is a strong correlation between the number of people in a group and the level of conformity shown for the ideas behavior and actions of the group As a child when we were caught doing something out of our character because a friend was doing the same act our parents would usually ask Just because your friend Johnny did it does that mean you do it to The honest answer to that question is simply maybe and under the right circumstances As children we are brought up to conform to what others believe to be norms this can be seen in Churches Schools and even Social Events I seek to find out how true this is in a highly competitive performance based university setting UNANIMOUS GROUPS SIZE AND THE LEVEL OF CONFORMITY 3 Introduction In this paper I am purposing a research study that aims to prove that the number of group participants and the level of conformity do in fact have a correlation My research study proposal will be comprised of an in lab test which will be a large lecture hall that has a capacity near the amount of students within this experiment I believe since we are testing college students on conformity why not test them in a familiar area that is quite common I am immensely interested in the levels of conformity that can be caused because of group size specifically college student because I am a first year students and I sometimes find myself conforming to certain situations There have been many studies done before that used differing methods however Solomon E Asch did the most famous study in the Psychological Monographs Journal entitled Studies of Independence and Conformity I A Minority of One Against a Unanimous Majority Asch 1956 The goal of this social psychology experiment was to investigate to what extent does social pressure from a unanimous majority affect a persons actions decisions and willingness to conform The only issue with this study that I will directly point out is that Mr Asch used only male subjects however I propose that the subjects for this study be chosen at random yet simulating a ratio of women to men that is common in a classroom of such size Moreover I strongly agree with the statement made in the title it clearly state that the majority is unanimous which is critically important when studying conformity The subject of unanimity now leads me to another study that was conducted by Kevin James Spears Zollman through a research project done by Carnegie Mellon University Zollman 2010 Throughout this paper Mr Zollman talks about how social structure of the group can greatly affect conformity or the lack of unanimity the UNANIMOUS GROUPS SIZE AND THE LEVEL OF CONFORMITY 4 majority and the individual s probability to conform One of his major ideas backed up Zollman Asch s theories which was It is well known that humans will readily conform to the wishes or beliefs of others It was perhaps a surprise when Solomon Asch found that people will do this even in cases where they can obviously determine that others are incorrect Zollman 2010 Both Asch and Zollman agreed that critical part of making this experiment work is that the groups are consistent and unanimous Contrary to what I believe both Asch and Zollman believe that group size in it self doesn t matter much A study done by Rob Bond for the Group Processes Intergroup Relations Journal combats the idea that group sizes raises the level of conformity but instead just further solidifies what every is trying to be provoked Bond 2005 In the article Group Size and Conformity In Bond s article he state a quote from Asch which said Increasing the size of the majority will have no additional impact since the addition of further individuals who state the same views merely confirms that this is a representative sample Bond 2005 In opposition a study done many years before by Bibb Latan and Sharon Wolf suggested that group size is one of the most important catalysts for conformity In the article The Social Impact of Majorities and Minorities they state The larger the group the greater it s impact not just because the majority provide information about reality but also because of the majority s power to reward and punish Latan Wolf 1981 Bond 2005 Hypothesis If the size of a unanimous group increases independent variable then the level of conformity will increase dependent variable UNANIMOUS GROUPS SIZE AND THE LEVEL OF CONFORMITY 5 Methods To conduct my research on conformity pertaining to group size I will conduct an experiment with three different groups of college students between the ages of 18 23 All of the groups will have the same tasks time constraints and level of seriousness however the size of the groups will vary Group A B and C will have 150 students but only 25 test subjects The remaining students will be confederates who are being asked to perform a deviant act All of these students will be told that the test they are about to take will assess their mental ability and college readiness In each group a lesser number of students will take out their electronic devices such as cell phones and laptop computers In Group A 125 confederates will begin to pull out these devices after 15 seconds have passed In Group B 75 confederates will perform the same act after 15 seconds have passed In the final group Group C only 50 confederates will begin to pull out their electronics after the time period has elapsed It is my belief that the correlation between group size and conformity will best be shown using this experimental design The students have both a strong and conscientious reason to stay however they will also be given a compelling and persuasive motive to defy a norm that is expected of them This will give us a more realistic visual of the many different pressures that various group sizes can put on students on a day to day basis In conclusion many college students feel the pressure to conform on a regular basis This pressure to conform comes from many different sources such as professors students and other faculty members However many of those pressures in high performance and academic environment classroom lecture hall do not influence a student to question going against what is expected of them in that kind of intense UNANIMOUS GROUPS SIZE AND THE