Are people conforming to following Barack Obama even though they know it is wrong? Research would suggest that could be the case. The Asch Conformity Experiment is a case in point.
Solomon Asch experimented with the power of conformity in 1953. Those taking part in the study were told that they were part of a vision test with a handful of others. The participants were then shown pictures. Then they were asked very simple and obvious questions. Here is the catch. Everybody else in the room other than the subject was in on it, and they were were told to give wrong answers. So would people go against the crowd, even when the crowd was clearly wrong?
Here is a sample question. People were asked to select the line that was exactly like the the one on the left. Thirty-two percent of subjects answered incorrectly if three others in the classroom gave the same wrong answer. This is the Asch Effect.
We all know Barack Obama is inexperienced and nothing but a political neophyte. He is wrong for America in so many ways – taxes, socialism, leftist, civil liberties, demogaguery, and more. Yet, once he amassed his media and internet crowd, the Asch effect seems to be taking place. People are afraid to go against the crowd even though it is an obviously wrong choice. Worse yet, even though his executive experience is less than Sarah Palin, she is considered “bad” and he is considered “good”, because that is the “popular” viewpoint.
Is it the Asch Effect? You decide.
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November 1st, 2008 - 3:07 am
Dear Orlando, ya right. And the Bradley Effect and The Invasion Of The Body Politic Snatchers Effect. The most common type to be an absolute spineless, venal and conformist phony, is the inner-urban sophisticate or juvenile hysteric left Liberal who considers themselves an er, “rebel individual”.
Colonel Neville.
November 1st, 2008 - 5:43 pm
Great article. Short, sweet and insightful. And scary as hell.
rg
November 1st, 2008 - 6:31 pm
[...] Fort Hard Knox October 31, 2008 by [...]
November 1st, 2008 - 7:21 pm
It’s a great analogy to what is actually happening!
November 1st, 2008 - 8:27 pm
This isn’t the Asch effect, this is the Bush Effect.
Look around at what Bush and the Repubs have done to this country. Proof is in the Pudding.
November 1st, 2008 - 11:34 pm
I hope the sane people, people willing to make personal decisions and NOT follow the crowd, will win out Tuesday.
November 2nd, 2008 - 11:23 am
Brian C…I know some people are inclined to blame Bush for everything that has gone wrong in our country since the day he was born. But blaming Bush for the Obamaborg? That’s kind of a stretch, even for someone in the advanced stages of BDS (“Bush Derangement Syndrome”). LOL
March 26th, 2009 - 12:30 pm
wow… the Bush Effect? really? do you ride the short bus? Bush isn’t as bad a president as the mass population believes. he is merely a scapegoat for all the failures currently occuring in this country. you should never be allowed to comment on anything ever again if you are going to post retarded, ill-informed posts like the on i am replying to. congratulations for failing.