Asch's Studies on Majority Influence
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Asch produced a variety of studies, one of which concentrated on the estimation given by of a group of participants. The participants were required to state which of a variety of parallel lines were the longest. There was a degree of ambiguity as the lines were of similar length.

In the control experiment, there were no confederates to distract the participant. In the non-control experiment, there were a number of confederates and a single participant. In turn, each of the group were required to state which of the lines was the longest. The partipant was the penultimate to answer, and as such heard a variety of incorrect answers.

In the control experiment, only 1 percent of trials resulted in an error. In the non-control experiment, 75% of participants made at least one error.

Although Asch was generally concerned with how one can resist majority influence and pressure, his experiments are generally deemed to be demostrative of the power of majority influence.

Other Notes in this Category

1. Asch's Studies on Majority Influence
2. Dual Process Theory - Normative and Informational Influence
3. Groupthink - Irving Janis (1972;1982)
4. Moscovici and Minority Influence
5. Turner's Self-Categorisation Theory

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