The person responsible for the study: Solomon Asch

Background information: Asch wanted to understand the power and influence that social influence can have on individual judgment. His study, conducted after WW2. was especially relevant given the rise of authoritarian regimes that aimed to control every aspect of their population's civilian lives. 

Methodology: Asch created groups of 7 to 9 male college students, each only containing one participant. The rest were actors who were put in place to influence the participants' behavior. For every question presented to the group, the actors would intentionally provide wrong answers to see if the participants would follow the crowd, even when they knew that an answer was incorrect. 

Results: Over 75% of the participants conformed to the wrong answer, following the majority. 25% did not conform, and those who did conform reported facing heavy discomfort and feeling pressured to follow the group's words. 

Significance of results/legacy/recent relevance:  This study demonstrates the powerful influence that group behavior can have on the judgment of one individual, as well as the social pressure to conform to what the majority believes. 

How to improve the experiment: This study can be improved by including a more diverse range of particiapnts. This could help determine how social pressure can differ based on variables such as race, age, culture, etc.