The Asch Effect in our society

The Asch Effect in our society

If you haven’t had the chance to read Solomon Asch’s theory of conformity, I suggest that you read it. It was part of my lesson when I was in college. I still remember how my professor applied it in our experience as a people. I want to highlight some of the lessons I learned which I am sure would be an eye-opener especially to those who push for a change in our society.

Imagine yourself in the following situation: you were asked to take part in a psychology experiment together with five other subjects who, not known to you, are confederates of the experimenter. The experimenter shows two cards- one card contains one vertical line and the other card contains three vertical lines of varying length. The experimenter would ask which of the three lines on the card matches the sample line on the other card. The five confederates, as per arrangement, unanimously make incorrect responses by choosing the wrong line. You, the subject know that they are wrong in their responses but you are also aware that they have given the same answer. What would you do when you are asked by the experimenter? Would you say that they are wrong? Would you give the same incorrect answer? Would you go along with them? Or would you trust your perception and stick to your guns?

Asch said that more often than not, group pressure does not affect our perceptions but it affects our behavior. This means that you as a subject, without any hint of disapproval, go along with the group even when you know that their choice was erroneous. You don’t want to be different from the group. The reason is simple: you want to be “in” with the group, you don’t wish to be desolated from the group even when they make the mistaken choice. This goes to show how strong group pressure can be that sometimes we don’t trust ourselves, our judgment and allow others to make faulty judgment for us.

There is some evidence in our society that supports this view of Asch. Because it is unlikely that our leaders can make a difference in our societal life, it is likely that we go along with the crowd in electing our leaders even when we know that they are not morally upright. The impact of people who accept our fate as a hopeless society influence our thinking that our society is indeed a desperate society.

What we can do at most is to educate our people to form their own judgments. We will probably see a better Philippines when our people tend to be more autonomous and responsible in their choices of leaders rather than be easily swayed by the uninformed and careless many.