Conformity as a Function of Race and Age

Abstract

The conformity behavior of 16 black and 16 white male Ss, ages 7 and 11, was studied, using the “Asch technique” in same race and opposite race, 3-member confederate groups. Data showed that conformity was not a function of the race of Ss or the confederates. Age of Ss was a significant factor, conformity decreasing as age increased.

Conformity as a Function of Age in Preadolescents

“…It is, however, difficult to see how this explanation could account for the observed increase in conformity after age 11 in the present study and the similar increase found after grade seven in the Allen and Newstan study. The stage conception explanation offered by Costanzo and Shaw (1966) also does not fit with the present data nor with the results of several other investigations (Berenda, 1950;Bishop and Beckman, 1971;Coon & Odum, 1968;Hamm, 1970;Janney et al, 1969;Query, 1968). Their explanation, based on Piaget's stage theory of moral development, would predict a peak in conformity at precisely the point where the present investigation, as well as that of Allen and Newstan, found conformity to be at its lowest point.…”

“…Berenda (1950) found that conformity decreased with age between 7 and 13. This same inverse relationship was subsequently found by several other investigators (Bishop and Beckman, 1971;Coon & Odum, 1968;Hamm, 1970;Janney et al, 1969;Query, 1968). Costanzo and Shaw (1966), and others (Costanza 1970;Iscoe, Williams, and Harvey, 1963), however, have found conformity to increase with age up to age 13.…”