Most people think they make all decisions on their own, based on their own judgment. And public opinion serves as a guide for them rather than the main factor.
Is it so? Let's look at an example of one well-known psychological experiment.
It was conducted in 1951 by the famous American psychologist Solomon Ash. The purpose of the experiment was to assess the tendency of people to conformism, that is, to change their own views under the influence of the majority.
Ash described two types of behavior - conformal (people want to please the group, to be accepted by it) and non-conformal.
In the experiment, the subject saw a riddle like the one shown in the figure: “Which of the bands A, B, C is the same length as the X band? Take a moment to decide on the answer."
The catch was that the subject took the test along with other people who also looked at the drawing. They played the role of other subjects, but in fact were accomplices of the experimenter. These "subjects" in the experiment, one by one, claimed that the C line was the same length as X.
Three-quarters of the subjects in Asch's experiment gave a "conformist" response at least once. One third of the subjects "adjusted" in more than half of the cases.
Promotional video:
Psychologist Solomon Ash (1907 -1996).
In the situations Asch modeled, the decisive factor was the unanimous opinion of the majority, while the size of the group was no longer so important: it could consist of three or sixteen people, the degree of conformity of the subject was approximately the same.
BUT:
- If one of the group members gave the correct answer, which differs from the wrong answer of the majority, then the degree of conformity sharply decreased. That is, the presence of at least one "dissident" seriously reduces the pressure on the rest.
- Team members have demonstrated loyalty to their original judgment. If the subject was given the right to speak first, then, despite the unanimity of the group, he changed his initial opinion much less often.
- The personality type of a person is also important. People with low self-esteem are more susceptible to group pressure than people with high self-esteem.
What does Solomon Asch's experiment tell us, why does conformism arise?
- Because people don't want to go against the general opinion.
- Because of the confidence that the group is better informed and knows exactly what to do and say
Asha was alarmed by the results. He understood that conformity is an accepted defensive form of behavior. But if you follow the lead of others, then you can stop being yourself. On the one hand, this allows a person to avoid feelings of anxiety and loneliness, but he pays for this with the loss of his “I”.
The psychologist believed that in modern society, where propaganda and the media play a large role, the tendency to conformism is a problem.
Solomon Ash was undoubtedly right in his conclusions. It is often easier to adapt to the opinion of the majority than to insist on your own and go your own way.
Nevertheless, each of us is endowed with self-awareness and can work on ourselves. And understanding how much we depend on the opinions of others is the first step towards independence and self-sufficiency.
Author: Viktorya Nekrasova