Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsFamous ExperimentsExample ExperimentExperiment IdeasAdditional Tips

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Table of Contents

Famous Experiments

Example Experiment

Experiment Ideas

Additional Tips

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Conformity involves adopting certain attitudes or behaviors to fit in with a particular group of people. Conformity experiments can be interesting project ideas for a psychology class, in addition to just being fun to perform.

Here we share some conformity experiments that have sought to better understandhow people conform. These can be used as inspiration when developing our own experiments. We also provide a few questions that can help us come up with even more conformity experiment ideas.

Famous Conformity Experiments

Participants in these studies were told that they were in a vision experiment and asked to look at three lines of different lengths to determine which was the longest. They were then placed with a group that they thought included others in the study. In reality, the others were actually in on the experiment.

Biography of Solomon Asch

Other Conformity Experiments

One young man even turned repeatedly to every side, along with the rest of the group, and took off his hat when the others did.

Other conformity experiments that have been performed include:

A Conformity Experiment Example

Imagine that a student is in a math class and the instructor asks a basic math question. What is 8 x 4? The student knows that the correct answer is 32. However, when the teacher begins asking other students in the room for the answer, each one says that it is 27. How does the student respond?

This is a classic example of a conformity experiment in action. When the teacher finally gets to the student, does the student trust their own math skills and provide the correct answer or do they go along with the rest of the group and say that the answer is 27—even when they know that this is an incorrect response?

For some, thedesire to fit in and belongis so strong that they will provide an answer that they know is incorrect. This helps them avoid being considered an “outsider” to others in the group.

Conformity Experiment Ideas

One way to envision our own experiment is to consider some of the conformity experiments that have been performed in the past. It can also be helpful to consider a few questions we could answer in our own psychology experiment.

Here are some questions that may spark a few conformity experiment ideas:

Additional Conformity Experiment Tips

Performing a psychology experiment for class can be a bit intimidating. Before beginning, we should always talk with the instructor about ourexperiment ideasto be sure that we have permission to carry out our project. In some cases, we may have to submit our idea for review beforehand to receive permission to experiment with human participants.

Conducting conformity experiments is a great way to learn more about the impacts that groups can have on individuals. Playing around with certain variables can widen our understanding of how far people will go to fit in, making them good conformity experiment ideas to try.

How to Conduct a Psychology Experiment

3 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kim D, Hommel B.Social cognition 2.0: Toward mechanistic theorizing.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2643. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02643Sowden S, Koletsi S, Lymberopoulos E, Militaru E, Catmur C, Bird G.Quantifying compliance and acceptance through public and private social conformity.Conscious Cogn. 2018;65:359-367. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2018.08.009Howard J.Bandwagon effect and authority bias. In:Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes. 2018:21-56. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93224-8_3

3 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kim D, Hommel B.Social cognition 2.0: Toward mechanistic theorizing.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2643. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02643Sowden S, Koletsi S, Lymberopoulos E, Militaru E, Catmur C, Bird G.Quantifying compliance and acceptance through public and private social conformity.Conscious Cogn. 2018;65:359-367. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2018.08.009Howard J.Bandwagon effect and authority bias. In:Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes. 2018:21-56. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93224-8_3

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Kim D, Hommel B.Social cognition 2.0: Toward mechanistic theorizing.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2643. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02643Sowden S, Koletsi S, Lymberopoulos E, Militaru E, Catmur C, Bird G.Quantifying compliance and acceptance through public and private social conformity.Conscious Cogn. 2018;65:359-367. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2018.08.009Howard J.Bandwagon effect and authority bias. In:Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes. 2018:21-56. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93224-8_3

Kim D, Hommel B.Social cognition 2.0: Toward mechanistic theorizing.Front Psychol. 2019;10:2643. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02643

Sowden S, Koletsi S, Lymberopoulos E, Militaru E, Catmur C, Bird G.Quantifying compliance and acceptance through public and private social conformity.Conscious Cogn. 2018;65:359-367. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2018.08.009

Howard J.Bandwagon effect and authority bias. In:Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes. 2018:21-56. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93224-8_3

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