The Asch conformity experiment was a series of psychological experiments conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s. The goal of this experiment was to demonstrate the power that conformity has over groups. During this experiment, the researcher asked participants to choose the matching line from a group of three different line segments. Then the participants, alongside fake participants, who were informed about what to say during the experiment, were asked to individually select the line that they believed matched one of the three line segments. However, even if the participants knew what line segment was the correct one, their choice would be influenced by the line segment that other participants in the group said was correct. This shows that people will ignore their own opinions and beliefs in order to conform to the rest of the group.
The Asch experiment connected to my communication research study, because during my experiment I came to the conclusion that teenagers only responded to my greeting if they were in a group with their friends. If one teenager responded to my greeting, then other teenagers in the group felt obligated to also respond. The social influence that one responsive teenager had on the rest of the group, caused the other group members to also respond to my greeting, in order to fit in.
Please click here to watch the original Asch conformity experiment.
The Power of Communication 