Replication of the "Asch effect" in Bosnia and Herzegovin

Abstract

In the present study, we tried to replicate a classic Asch effect in the cultural context of Bosnia-Herzegovina and to explore the potential impact of group similarity on conformity. To answer these questions Bosniak (Muslim) students (N = 95) performed classic Asch's line judgment task in the presence of five confederates (the majority) who were ostensibly either of a similar ethnic origin (in-group), different ethnic origin (out-group) or no salient ethnic origin. The task involved choosing one of three comparison lines that was equal in length to a test line. Each participant went through 18 test trials including 12 critical trials in which confederates provided an obviously wrong answer. In line with past research, the results revealed a clear-cut and powerful "Asch effect" wherein participants followed the majority in 35.4% of critical trials. More importantly, this effect was moderated by group similarity. Thus, in comparison to no salient group identity condition, conformity was maximized in the in-group majority condition and minimized in the out-group majority condition. Taken together, our results support the universal finding of "Asch effect" and provide clear evidence that similarity with the majority plays an important role in the conformity phenomenon.

The power of social influence: A replication and extension of the Asch experiment

“…We find an average error rate of 33% which replicates the original findings of Asch very closely and which is in line with other replications that were conducted predominately with American students [12]. Together with recent studies from Japan [14], and Bosnia and Herzegowina [15], our study provides further evidence that the influence of groups on individuals' judgments is a universal phenomenon, and is still valid today. Furthermore, we incentivized the decisions and find a drop of the error rate by 8%-points to 25%.…”

“…As with the study by Asch [2], the vast majority of these replications were conducted with male university students in the US. However, more recent studies from Japan [13,14], and Bosnia and Herzegovina [15] also confirm Asch's findings. Takano and Sogon [14] found an error rate of 25% in male Japanese university students (n = 40) in groups with 6 to 9 confederates.…”

“…They replicated the conformity rate for Japanese female subjects (N = 16) but found no conformity for male subjects (N = 10). Usto et al [ 15 ] found an error rate of 35% in 95 university students of both sexes from Bosnia and Herzegovina with five confederates per group. Other studies also show that subjects are influenced by groups, when the confederates provided their judgments anonymously or with respect to different judgment tasks such as judging the size of circles, completing rows of numbers, or judging the length of acoustic signals [ 8 , 12 , 16 – 21 ].…”

A Review of Multisite Replication Projects in Social Psychology: Is It Viable to Sustain Any Confidence in Social Psychology’s Knowledge Base?

“…It is worth noting that several classic social-psychology studies have been replicated multiple times in individual labs, despite the lack of multisite testing. For example, the original Solomon Asch (1955) conformity study was replicated by Asch himself (1956) as well as by others (e.g., Allen & Crutchfield, 1963), and there were replications in several other countries besides the United States, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ušto et al, 2019), Japan (Takano & Sogon, 2008), Kuwait (Amir, 1984), Portugal (Neto, 1995), and The Netherlands (Vlaander & Van Rooijen, 1985). Similarly, the Stanley Milgram (1963) obedience study has been replicated in many different contexts by Milgram himself (1974) as well as by others (Burger, 2009), with replications in Poland (Doliński et al, 2017), in a French “real” TV game show (Beauvois et al, 2012; Bègue et al, 2015), and in a virtual-reality environment (Dambrun & Valentiné, 2010).…”