Asch conformity studies: conformity to the experimenter and-or to the group.

Experimental variations on the classic Asch conformity situation are compared in order to determine what conformity responses in the Asch situation indicate. In contrast to previous interpretations, the data indicate that behavior in the Asch situation is a function of three types of influence: informational conformity, normative conformity to the group, and normative conformity to the experimenter. These findings: (1) re-emphasize again the need for considering the effect of the subject-experimenter relationship in experimental designs, and (2) suggest the need for re-interpreting the large number of studies that have sought to relate variables such as status and personality to conformity to the group, using the rate of conformity responses in the Asch situation as the dependent measure.