Factors affecting conformity and minority influence, including individual differences (personality), situation and culture.
Asch's variations deal with situational factors affecting conformity (majority).
To refresh what Locus of Control is, go to the page: Factors Affecting Obedience.
Research supports the idea that individuals with an internal locus of control are less likely to conform. Spector (1983) used Rotter’s locus of control scale to determine whether locus of control is associated with conformity. From 157 students, Spector found that individuals with a high internal locus of control were less likely to conform than those with a high external locus of control, but only in situations of normative social influence, where individuals conform to be accepted. There was no difference between the two groups for informational social influence. This suggests that normative social influence, the desire to fit in, is more power than informational social influence, the desire to be right, when considering locus of control.
Collectivist cultures may conform more than individualistic cultures. This was shown by Bond and Smith (1988) who found across 113 studies in 17 countries the collectivist cultures such as Fiji showed higher conformity than the individualist cultures such as the US.
People may not be more conformist in collectivist cultures, just to certain in-groups. Triandis et al. (1988) found Japanese students reported conforming less than US students in general and it was that the Japanese differentiated in-groups from out-groups more sharply.
Situational factors such as whether the minority is the in-group or out-group, or the consistency of the minority in their message (Hogg and Vaughn, 1995).
The flexibility versus rigidity of the minority. Individual differences, such as personality and identification with the minority (by gender for example), can also affect conformity.
Explain one factor that could affect conformity. (2)
Explain the influence of culture on conformity. (4) June 2019