1971 study

The 1971 study by Solomon Asch investigated how individuals conform to group opinions. Participants were asked to match line lengths, but confederates (actors in the experiment) intentionally chose incorrect answers. The study found that many participants conformed to the group's wrong choice about 32% of the time, even when they knew it was incorrect. This demonstrated the strong influence of group pressure on individual judgment, highlighting how social conformity can affect perceptions and decisions despite personal knowledge or reasoning.