Sex of Group-mates as Determinant of Sex Differences in Group Conformity - Thesis Example

? Sex of Group-mates as Determinant of Sex Differences in Group Conformity Morvarid Ranjbar Thesis Proposal ID: 209242843 Psychology 4170, 6.0 (Section D) TA: Valary Kleiman Date: Dec 12, 2011 Abstract The effect of peer sex differences on group conformity: Studies have indicated that individuals are more likely to change their opinions or perceptions if they are a part of small group which holds these opinions and perceptions. This is known as conformity, and studies have shown that there are a variety of factors which might influence this phenomenon. Among the factors are gender, in that women are more prone to conformity than are men (Bond & Smith, 1996). The sex of the researcher is another factor which influences conformity (Eagly & Carli, 1981), as is social status (Alizadeh, 2010). In this study, I will examine the conformity level of men and women when placed in a group with the opposite sex. My hypothesis is that women are more prone to conform when placed in a group with mostly men rather than a neutral group. 32 (16 male and 16 female) university students will individually be tested, being placed in groups with either the opposite sex, consisting of four members of the opposite sex, or gender neutral groups, consisting of two members of the opposite sex and two members of the same sex. Introduction When individuals are in small groups, there is often a tendency to mirror group opinions, even when these opinions are incorrect. This phenomenon is known as conformity. Asch (1952) was one of the pioneering researchers who studied this phenomenon. There are a variety of reasons why conformity may occur in small group settings. Among these reasons are confusion and the desire to free ride on others' opinions (Berns, 2005; Carpenter, 2004). Research has also established that the presence of social information may also influence conformance, as individuals who are aware that others have donated a certain amount to charity are more likely to donate an equal or greater amount (Shang & Croson, 2005). Research has also shown that gender may differentiate conformance attitudes. Females have been observed to conform to group opinions more than males (Bond & Smith, 1996). Women are also more affected by social distance than are men. In this study, the affect that gender has upon group conformity is examined, as female subjects are placed in groups which are either all-male or gender neutral. Male subjects are, in turn, placed into groups which are either all female or gender neutral. Literature Review Conformity simply is the act of matching attitude, belief and/or behaviour to what individuals perceive to be normal in a social context. Asch (1952) established that individuals in a group will conform to group answers and opinions, despite the fact that the group’s answers and opinions are obviously wrong (Asch, 1952). Conformance may be due to imitation, which may, in turn, be due to unconscious desire to free ride on other’s opinions (Berns, 2005; Carpenter, 2004). It may also be due to confusion or naivete (Ferraro & Vossler, 2004; Andreoni, 1995). Due to its nature, it is difficult to observe this phenomenon in a realistic situation, so artificial situations are created to study this phenomenon (Marino & Parkin, 1969). The study of conformity under group pressure was originally studied by S. E. Asch, who studied conformity with regards to perceptions. In the Asch studies, participants are asked to judge the length of a line relative to another line. Asch found that individuals tended to conform with the group perception of these line lengths (1951, 1956). In another study, 75 percent of the participants in this conformity experiment went along with the rest of the group at least one time (Larsen, 1990). There are many different reasons why individuals may conform to group opinions. For instance, one study suggests that reinforcement may influence group conformity (Norman, 1967). Social role has also been suggested as one of the factors which might influence conformity (Eno, 2011). Social information has been implicated in influencing the amount donated to charity, as individuals will donate more if they know the amount that another donor donated (Shang & Croson, 2005). Social roles and the need to conform may also explain conformance even when conforming is not in the individual’s best interest (Bardsley & Sausgruber, 2005; Cason & Mui, 1998; Capra & Li, 2006). Moreover, individuals will conform more to in-group members than out-group members (Turner, 1991). There are relatively few studies which delineate the relationship between conformity with regards to moral issues. Hornsey et al. (2003) conducted one such study, and they found that, in a small group, individuals with a weak moral basis for attitudes are privately more likely to act in line with this moral attitude when they perceive that they have group support for their position. There is also a gender discrepancy with regards to conformance. Bond and Smith (1996) found that group conformity increases when the subject pool of women increases. Other studies found that women are more socially conscious than men (Eckel & Grossman, 1998; Bohnet & Frey, 1999). Women are also affected by social distance, being more responsive to social distance than men (Cox & Deck, 2005). For centuries it has been argued if women are genetically less intellectual than men in certain subjects such as math. “Women who are told that their gender affects their math skills do poorly on tests; those told that their math skills depend on how they were raised perform better” (Gahndi, 2006). In one particular longitudinal study on children from first grade to fifth grade, it has been shown that parents’ and teachers’ rating predicted children’s judgments of their own math skills (Herbert and Stipek, 2005). In one study of 83 male and 118 female undergraduate students, it was shown that the sex of the researcher was a determinant of the sex difference. Greater conformity and larger sex difference was evident when the researcher was male (Eagly & Carli, 1981). In a study in support of attitude change and sex differences it was concluded that “females, when the need to manage impressions was high, made greater use of opinion conformity in their self-presentations, while males' self-presentations included instances of opinion conformity, independence, and dissent” (Tuthill, Forsyth, 1982). Surprisingly, however, although the evidence might suggest that females will conform more than males, at least one study showed that males actually conform more than females (Meier, 2005). That study may be an outlier, however, as another major study states that females will conform more than males (Eagly, 1987). Methodology 36 university undergraduate students of whom 16 are men and 16 women will participate in this study. There will be a total of 8 confederates (research associates), 4 of which are women and 4 of which are men. Each subject will individually placed in a group with 4 other confederates. The subject will be unaware of the confederate's actual status of research associates. Therefore, the subject will presumably assume that the others in his or her group are group participants. There would be a total of 4 different types of Groups: 1. A female subject will be put in a group with 4 male confederates. 2. A female subject will be put in a group with 2 female and 2 male confederates. 3. A male subject will be placed in a group with 4 female confederates. 4. A male subject will be placed in a group with 2 female and 2 male confederates. The independent variable is the sex differences of group-mates and the dependent variable is the level of conformity. The confederates will arrive at the study separately and will act as though they have never met one another. When the group coalesces, the participants will be shown a series of slides. They will be asked to answer some easy mathematical questions containing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They will also be shown a series of slides on Ache’s original “line discriminating” question. Subjects are required to judge which of the 2 lines are similar at length. They will also be presented with a visual task requiring a series of perceptual judgments. Subjects are required to judge which of 2 stimuli (circular discs) is greater in size. The confederates will provide incorrect answers to a given percentage of questions. It is hypothized that women will change their answer and conform to the group more if they are placed in a male dominated group rather than a gender neutral group, comprised of two men and two women. The study will approximately take 20-30 minutes. The subjects will be told that they are participating in a study which will measure the effects of vision on the judgment of personality traits. They will be informed that the slides that they encounter is mere vision tests. They will be given a questionnaire afterwards to rate some of the personality traits that they find attractive. My belief is that, since the subjects will not be aware that they are participating in a conformance study, they will have a neutral state of mind about the proceedings. Results In each of these groups, there were 16 mathematical questions asked, 10 line discriminating questions and 10 perceptual judgment questions. Below are the results. “Q1” refers to the groupings of mathematical questions, “Q2” refers to the groupings of line discriminating questions and “Q3” refers to the groupings of the perceptual judgments questions. For each of the group formations, there was an additional group comprised of the exact same confederates as in the previous group. These confederates also answered the exact same questions incorrectly as in this previous group. For instance, Group 1 was comprised of the same confederates as Group 1a, and, in both of these groups, the same questions were answered incorrectly. The subjects, however, changed within these groups. Groups 1-4 In these groups, the female subject was put into a group with 4 male confederates. The hypothesis was coming into this experiment that this particular group formation would result in the most conformity of all the groups, because the subjects are females and the confederates are males, and there are no other females in these groups. Group 1 In the first group pairing, the male confederates answered 5 of the mathematical questions incorrectly, 2 of the line discriminating questions incorrectly, and 2 of the perceptual judgment questions incorrectly. The subjects results for both groups, in comparison with the confederate's results, are shown below. Group 1 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates31%20%20%Female Subject25%0%30% Group 1a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates31%20%20%Female Subject18.75%10.00%10.00% Group 2 In this group, the male confederates deliberately answered 6 of the 16 first grouping questions inaccurately. They also answered 4 of the 10 second grouping questions inaccurately and 3 of the 10 third grouping questions inaccurately. The results are shown below: Group 2 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates37.5%40%30%Female Subject37.5%30%30%Total37.5%35%30% Group 2a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates37.5%40%30%Female Subject12.50%20.00%10.00% Group 3 In this group, the male confederates answered 10 of the 16 question in the first grouping incorrectly. They also answered 6 of the 10 second grouping questions incorrectly and 6 of the 10 third grouping questions incorrectly. The results are below: Group 3 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates62.5%60%60%Female Subject43.75%50%50%Total53.12%55%55% Group 3a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates62.5%60%60%Female Subject25.00%30.00%40.00% Group 4 This group is the control group. In this group, the male confederates answered 100% of all the questions correctly. The results are below: Group 4 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates0%0%0%Female Subject12.5%10%0% Group 4a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates0%0%0%Female Subject0.00%0.00%0% Groups 5-8 In these groupings, the female subject was placed in groups with 2 female confederates and 2 male confederates, which makes the group gender neutral. As with the previous groupings, where the female subject was placed with all male confederates, there was 1 control group, 2 groups where the confederates answered a moderate number of answers incorrect, and 1 group where the confederates answered many answers incorrect. The hypothesis is that the female subjects would conform, but not demonstrate the same amount of conformity as with the female subjects with the all male confederates. Group 5 In this group, the male confederates answered more questions incorrectly than did the female confederates. On the first series of questions, regarding the mathematical problems, the male confederates answered a total of 3 out of 16 questions wrong, and the female confederate answered 1 question out of 16 wrong. On the second series of questions, the male confederates answered 2 questions out of 10 incorrectly, and the female answered 1 question out of 10 incorrectly. On the third series of questions, the male confederates answered 3 incorrectly, and the female confederate answered 1 incorrectly. The results for these groups are below: Group 5 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates18.75%20%30%Female Confederates6.2%10%10%Female Subject6.2%10%10% Group 5a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates18.75%20%30%Female Confederates6.2%10%20.00% Group 6 In this group, the female confederates answered more questions incorrect than did the male confederates. On the first set of questions, the female confederates answered 4 questions out of 16 incorrect, and the male confederates answered 2 questions out of 16. On the second set of questions, the female confederates answered 2 questions out of 10 incorrect, and the male confederates answered 1 question out of 10 incorrect. On the third set of questions, the female confederates answered 3 questions out of 10 incorrect, and the male confederates answered 1 question out of 10 incorrect. The results are below: Group 6 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates18.75%10%10%Female Confederates6.2%20%30%Female Subject6.25%10%10% Group 6a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates18.75%10%10%Female Confederates6.2%20%30%Female Subject12.50%10%10% Group 7 In this group, the confederates answered an unusually high amount of questions incorrectly. In the first set of questions, the female confederates answered 8 questions out of 16 incorrectly, as did the male confederates. On the second set of questions, the female confederates answered 5 questions incorrectly out of 10, as did the male confederates. On the third set of questions, the female confederates answered 6 questions incorrectly, as did the male confederates. The results are below: Group 7 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates50%50%60%Female Confederates50%50%60%Female Subject25%30%40% Group 7a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates50%50%60%Female Confederates50%50%60%Female Subject6.25%20.00%20.00% Group 8 In this control group, all of the confederates answered every questions correctly. The results are below: Group 8 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates0%0%0%Female Confederates0%0%0%Female Subject6%0%10% Group 8a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates0%0%0%Female Confederates0%0%0%Female Subject00%0.00% Groups 9-12 In these groups, the subjects are male subjects and the confederates are all female. The hypothesis is that the male subjects will not conform as much as the female subjects conformed in groups with all male confederates. Group 9 In this group, the female confederates answered 3 questions out of 16 incorrectly in the first question grouping. In the second question grouping, the female confederates answered 1 question out of 10 incorrectly. On the third question grouping, the female confederates answered 1 question out of 10 incorrectly. The results are below: Group 9 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates18.75%10%10%Male Subject0%10%0%Group 9a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates18.75%10%10%Male Subject6.25%0.00%0% Group 10 In this group, the female confederates incorrectly answered 4 questions in the first grouping of questions. In the second group of questions, the female confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly. In the third group of questions, the female confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly. The results are below: Group 10 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates18.75%10%10%Male Subject0%10%0% Group 10a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates18.75%10%10%Male Subject12.75%10%0% Group 11 In this group, the female confederates answered a high percentage of the questions incorrectly. In the first question grouping, they answered 8 out of the 16 questions incorrectly. In the second question grouping, they answered 6 out of the 10 questions incorrectly. In the third question grouping, they answered 6 out of the 10 questions incorrectly. The results are below: Group 11 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates50%60%60%Male Subject20%10%0% Group 11a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates50%60%60%Male Subject30.00%20.00%10.00% Group 12 As with the other groupings, this is the control group. The female confederates answered every question in every question cluster correctly. The results are below: Group 12 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates0%0%0%Male Subject0%0%0%Group 12a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Female Confederates0%0%0%Male Subject10.00%0%0% Groups 13-16 In these groupings, the male subjects are placed in a group with 2 females and 2 males. As with the other groupings, the confederates answer moderately incorrect answers in the first two groups. In the third group, the confederates answer a substantial portion of questions incorrectly. In the fourth group, since it is a control group, none of the questions are answered incorrectly. Group 13 The confederates in this grouping answered 3 questions incorrectly for the first question grouping- the male confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly, and the female confederates 1. In the second question grouping, they answered 2 questions incorrectly – one female confederate answered a question incorrectly, as did one male confederate. In the third question grouping, they answered 2 questions incorrectly – one female confederate and one male confederate. The results are below: Group 13 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates12.5%10%10%Female Confederates6.25%10%10%Male Subject6.25%10%0% Group 13a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates12.5%10%10%Female Confederates6.25%10%10%Male Subject12.50%0.00%0% Group 14 In this group, only the female confederates got incorrect answers. In the first grouping, the female confederates got 3 answers incorrect. In the second grouping, the female confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly. In the third grouping, the female confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly. The results are below: Group 14 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates0%0%0%Female Confederates18.75%20%20%Male Subject 6.25%10.00%10.00% Group 14a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates0%0%0%Female Confederates18.75%20%20%Male Subject12.50%10.00%10.00% Group 15 In this grouping, the male and the female confederates answered a substantial portion of the questions incorrectly. However, the male confederates answered more questions incorrectly than the female confederates. The male confederates answered, in the first question groupings, a total of 5 questions incorrectly. The female confederates answered a total of 2 questions incorrectly in this question grouping. For the second question grouping, the male confederates answered 4 questions incorrectly, and the female confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly. For the third question grouping, the male confederates answered 4 questions incorrectly, and the female confederates answered 2 questions incorrectly. The results are below: Group 15 %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates31.5%40%40%Female Confederates12.5%20%20%Male Subject12.5%10%10% Group 15a %Wrong Q.1% Wrong Q.2%Wrong Q.3Male Confederates31.5%40%40%Female Confederates12.5%20%20%Male Subject6.25%0.00%10% Group 16 In this group of 2 female and 2 male confederates, the confederates did not answer any questions incorrectly. The male subject also did not answer any questions incorrectly, in either group 16 or 16a. Discussion In the conformity experiments, the females were more inclined to conform with group answers if there is one female placed in a group with all males. The total in all the different group dynamics is the mean of incorrect answers. This mean brings substance to the data when there is a female subject and both male and female confederates. The mean for female incorrect answers regarding Question 1, when placed with male confederates is 29.69%. The male confederates mean for incorrect answers is 32.75%. The mean total for the male confederates and female subject in the groups with all male confederates and a female subject is 29.67%. In contrast, the mean total of incorrect answers for female subjects placed in gender neutral groups of two women and two men is 10.87%. The mean of incorrect answers for the confederates in this group was 37.5%. The overall mean for Question 1 in this grouping for the individual confederates plus the female subject was 15.17%. For question 2, in the grouping with the female subject and the all male confederates, the female subject had a mean of 22.5% incorrect. The male confederate’s incorrect mean is 30%. The overall mean for question 2 in this grouping was 28.75%. For question 2, regarding the grouping of the female subjects with the gender neutral groups, 12.5%. The mean for confederates, males and females combined, was 40%. The overall mean, which is the average for the three distinct groups, male confederates, female confederates and female subjects, was 17.41%. For question 3, in the grouping with the female subject and the all male confederates, the mean for the female subjects was 27.5%. The mean for the male confederates on this question was also 27.5%. The total mean for these two groups was also 27.5%. In the gender neutral group, the mean for the female subjects on this question was 15%. The mean for total confederates on this question was 50%. The males in all the groups, on the other hand, did not conform with the groups overall. The males tended not to answer the questions incorrectly, and this was true regardless of the gender of the confederates. Their incorrect answers were statistically insignificant, and will not be discussed here. The conclusion is that the hypothesis that females will conform more in groups where there are only men, as opposed to groups which are gender neutral, was borne out through these experiments. This hypothesis is in line with the findings of the Eagly (1987) study, which determined that females tend to conform more to group expectations than do males. There are different reasons for this conformity. Confusion might be one reason why individuals conform (Ferraro & Vossler, 2004). Another reason might be the desire to free ride on others’ opinions (Berns, 2005). The desire to free ride on others’ opinions does not seem to be the mechanism at work in this study, however, as these questions are more a matter of perception as opposed to opinion. This study should be expanded to include not just perception puzzles and simple mathematical questions, but to more complex questions which call for judgments and opinions. This additional data can provide a better understanding on the mechanism of conformity and why females tend to conform more to group opinions than do males. There might also be some cultural dimensions which should be explored. All of the participants in this study were Caucasian, and all were natives of the United States. A dimension which should be explored would be the differences between cultures with the degree of conformity. The hypothesis there would be that individuals from collective countries would conform more to the group than would individuals from individualistic countries. A cross tabulation of females from collective countries verses females from individualistic countries could then be analyzed. The males from these countries can be analyzed as well, and combinations can be tested – males from collectivist countries verses females from individualistic countries, etc. Conclusion Conformity simply is the act of matching attitude, belief and/or behaviour to what individuals perceive to be normal in a social context. Asch (1952) was one of the first researchers to establish that individuals in small groups will conform to others' answers, even if these other individuals are evidently wrong (Asch, 1952). Imitation might be a cause of conformance, as well as the desire to free ride on others' opinions. This is therefore a way to save face (Berns, 2005; Carpenter, 2004). Conformance may also be due to confusion or naivete (Ferraro & Vossler, 2004; Andreoni, 1995). The study of conformity under group pressure was originally studied by S. E. Asch, who studied conformity with regards to perceptions. In the Asch studies, participants are asked to judge the length of a line relative to another line. Asch found that individuals tended to conform with the group perception of these line lengths (1951, 1956). In another study, 75 percent of the participants in this conformity experiment went along with the rest of the group at least one time (Larsen, 1990). In studies regarding group conformity, there has been substantial evidence that females tend to conform more in groups (Bond & Smith, 1996). There are a variety of hypothesis for why this might be true. One reason for the tendency for females to conform more than males is because they are more socially conscious than are men (Eckel & Grossman, 1998). This would make them more sensitive to group dynamics than men. Social distance, and the female sensitivity to this, is another possible explanation (Cox & Deck, 2005). The need to manage impressions is another explanation provided by the research (Tuthill & Forsyth, 1982). Moreover, other studies indicate even greater conformance among females when they are placed in the presence of a male researcher (Eagly & Carli, 1981). Because the research is suggestive of gender differences in conforming, in particular when the researcher is a male, this study was conducted to either confirm these research findings or dispute them. The results of this study confirmed the earlier findings, as the females in this study were much more likely to conform to group pressure, especially when placed in all male groups. Moreover, even when the females were placed in gender neutral groups, they conformed more than did the males in either opposite sex groups or gender neutral groups. However, they did not conform as much in gender neutral groups. The research also indicates, by and large, that males are not sensitive to group dynamics when they answer questions. Therefore, this study placed males in groups with both females and gender neutral. 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