The capacity of one individual to influence the decision making

The capacity of one individual to influence the decision making of others within the same group has been a major worldwide phenomenon especially among adolescents. However, in the 1950s a famous psychologist by the name Solomon Asch conducted a powerful experiment which was aimed at determining the extent to which pressure from a dominant member of a group affected the decisions made by other participants. This piece of writing is therefore an attempt to criticize Asch's 1951 experiment on group conformity.

In order to fully understand the foundation of numerous criticisms on Asch's experiment let us therefore begin by giving out an overview.

Asch used a lab experiment to study male conformity, in this study fifty male students from a certain college in USA participated in a vision test. Using a line judgment, Asch put one true participant in a room together with about seven confederates, and each person in a room had to state which line among three lines (A,B, and C) was almost like a target line.

Get quality help now
writer-Charlotte
writer-Charlotte
checked Verified writer

Proficient in: Conformity

star star star star 4.7 (348)

“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”

avatar avatar avatar
+84 relevant experts are online
Hire writer

It was found that most of the real participants conformed to the view of the majority despite them giving wrong answers (BPS, 2006).

Having given out an overview of this study, let us now move a step further and look at its criticisms. To start with, according to BSP (2006) the study sample was too bias in the sense that all the participants in the experiment were male students who all belonged to the same age group. As such the results from such a study cannot be extended to females and other age groups apart from the one used.

Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper
Topic
Number of pages
Email Invalid email

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

"You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy"
Write my paper

You won’t be charged yet!

According to Brain (20) the Asch conformity experiment had no ecological underpinnings. This simply entails that the experiment and its major findings could not apply in most real life situations. This is because the environment under which the experiment was conducted was controlled and there was no room for influence from other factors such as emotions, morals and personal perception.

The next criticism on this subject matter, has to do with the age of people who took part in the experiment. Critics under this argument state that older participants would have provided better findings since they are more mature and have experienced different life situations. This is followed the fact that older people have a very strong mental capacity and there is a very higher possibility to stick to their own personal convictions as far as the

In conclusion, it can be stated that despite Asch's study being highly criticized, it has established a basic fundamental truth on the importance of studying peer pressure or group pressure as it is one of the primary catalysts of social problems.

Updated: May 19, 2021
Cite this page

The capacity of one individual to influence the decision making. (2019, Dec 11). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-capacity-of-one-individual-to-influence-the-decision-making-example-essay

The capacity of one individual to influence the decision making essay
Live chat  with support 24/7

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

get help with your assignment