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Social conformity in the 1950
Social conformity of the 1950s
Social conformity of the 1950s
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Solomon Asch performed the line-experiment studies in the 1950’s as a social experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate the power of conformity in a group of people. He wanted to see if other would give in to the pressure of conformity even if the answer was wrong and if they do give in then how quickly would it happen? This study had many trials, but each trial consisted of six participants. Participants were told they were taking part in an experiment about visual judgment. Participants one through five had been told what to say while participant six had to use their own judgment to answer the questions. The participants are seated in order one through six; number one will give their answer first and then it will proceed
We Americans have a fondness of looking back to certain times with bouts of nostalgia, clutching closely the burred images of better off and more secure conditions. We seek to revive those past years, hoping to cure all of our current societal ills. Why cannot we bring them back? The economy was good, and the family was happy, we say.
The principle of conformity is examined by a group of subjects, each subject has to tell the instructor which line do they think is the same as the standard line. Four subjects would say the same wrong answer, since they are apart of the experiment. Then, the subject that was not apart of the experiment would either go along with the group or say the correct answer.
A family has always been expected to be a loving and caring environment with support and communication, but this sometimes does not come naturally to soon to be parents. Some get caught up specifically in bad things, perhaps their upbringings are to blame or maybe the individual could take all of the responsibility. When a society chooses what is to be socially acceptable, that limits relatives to only one kind of family and the object becomes destroying all other kinds. The 1950s was a time when technology wasn’t a big distraction from loved ones. Joyin Shih feels her true self being targeted by others, even her own family, in attempt to destroy her true self in her article, “Chyna and Me”. Alex Williams may also be missing the 1950s an article by Stephanie Coontz called “What We Really Miss About The 1950s” because he finds that families may not be as caring as they used to be in fact he argues that families are becoming more isolated than ever in his article “Quality Time, Redefined”. Good gives people a lot of frustration, more the division than the “good” because not all families coming from different cultures, different religions, and different ideas can fit into one mold that is called “acceptable”. The more connected individuals are to the Internet the fewer individuals are connected to each other. Technology should not be the biggest tool of communication in a family.
The 1950’s was a time in history when America began to flourish, through its advancements in music, technology, and its emphasis on the individual. The emergence of Rock and Roll contributed to the birth of the ‘rebel’ by giving teenagers an excuse to disobey their parents through the expression of music. Adults of the 1950’s insisted that Rock and Roll corrupted the minds of the youth. This revolution in music not only affected the decade from an entertainment standpoint, but also from a fashion perspective. Teenagers wore leather jackets, poodle skirts, slicked back hair, and beehive hairdos. Through sports and the civil rights act, blacks began to be more accepted into the 1950’s society. Although segregation was still alive, many blacks swore they could see freedom in the near future. Black athletes, like Jackie Robinson, proved that talent outweighed skin color. Existentialism became a popular philosophy during the 1950’s, which emphasized the individual. The true meaning of this movement was vague, but followers believed that society was trying to control their every action. Many authors and philosophers of this decade wrote on the subject of existentialism, including Flannery O’Connor. Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Good Country People,” was published in 1955 and demonstrates the 1950’s view of existentialism through the use of symbolism and irony.
Society in America during the 1950’s was one that portrayed men and women in very different, but rigid roles. Women were housewives, secretaries, and mothers. Men were providers, war heroes, and businessmen. Television, newspapers and magazines played an important role as well in determining ways men and women should behave. Advertisements for real estate were designed to sell to the “All-American” family. For example; Dad would be the returned home veteran who is now running the company, Mom is an ideal housewife who works a couple days a week for extra vacation cash, little Billy likes baseball and his sister Susie plays with dolls. Houses designed with this type of family in mind would prove very effective in luring away many from the city to live in suburbs like this at a rapid pace. Most jobs in the work place were gender divided. Help-wanted ads placed in newspapers in the 1950’s were very gender biased as well. Some ads with attention getting headlines could have read: “Sales Girl,” and “Brides! Housewives!” Occupations offered to women at this time were very limiting.
In order to calculate/conclude their hypothesis they had to run an experiment by finding children to participate in the study. They found eight children, among this group they had five males and three females participating. The children were observed from the age of six months old all the way to when
From the outside, the 1950’s was a great time for America. Society revolved around the idea of America being a middle-class nation. Americans worshipped conformity, and materialism satisfied the need to conform. However, the prosperity of materialistic America hid the growing, numerous problems. Dissent in any way was not tolerated; all injustice was stifled by a fear of difference. In “Fifties Society,” Alan Brinkley discusses the truth of the era; that the fear of nonconformity was hidden by the seemingly prosperous middle-class nation. Brinkley argues the Beat movement and “feminine mystique” show that the people who did not fit in reveal the true colors of 1950’s society.
Solomon Asch’s experiment consisted of gathering a few students into a room and showing them the two set of lines, asking them to find the line that matches with the first exhibit. All of the students except one knew that Asch was conducting an experiment. For the first few rounds of the experiment, everyone provided the correct answer, but soon the majority of participants started giving false answers. This put the actual test subject in the group in a predicament. Only a fourth of test subjects refused to give incorrect answers, sticking to their own opinions.
The late 1900s were a time of tremendous cultural change and instability in American history, but this change did not begin until after the relative unison of the late forties and fifties. After World War II (1939-1945) ended, a desire for normality led to large scale compliance to social constructs, with people reentering existing expectations such as men working, women tending the homes, and minorities functioning only as second class citizens. Because of these social barriers' reestablishment, conformity was simply the norm.
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
. . 'A'." This shows how we cave to conformity pressures, and there are multiple factors that encourage conformity in a group of people. Unanimity of the majority is a major factor. If everyone in a group agrees, that leads to extreme social pressure, however if even one person defects from the rest, then amount of social pressure drops drastically. This is the power of an ally. If one person is willing to challenge the group, they also encourage those who are unsure to also join the rebellion. If there are one or two people in a group, there is little pressure. However, when there are three people in a group, then the pressure dramatically increases. Self-esteem, unsurprisingly plays a large role in conforming in the Asch experiment. More conformity is present when the group has a high social status, too. Although the components that allow us to agree with others in a group are many, there will always be individuals who are independents. Despite the powerful pressures in their atmosphere, some can resist it, and stand their ground, even when the group gives a correct answer, and they give the wrong
“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth” John F. Kennedy. This quote is important because conformity can kill everyone’s creativity. It will trap people in other’s people’s thoughts and actions. Media, Social Groups, and the Government can all trap people in and make people conform to many things that we might not believe in because of society.
In 1951, Solomon Asch carried out several experiments on conformity. The aim of these studies was to investigate conformity in a group environment situation. The purpose of these experiments was to see if an individual would be swayed by public pressure to go along with the incorrect answer. Asch believed that conformity reflects on relatively rational process in which people are pressured to change their behaviour. Asch designed experiments to measure the pressure of a group situation upon an individual judgment. Asch wanted to prove that conformity can really play a big role in disbelieving our own senses.
All the students were asked permission to use their photograph in the study being done. The students being used had glasses or normal eye sight and had no neurological disorders. The participants had gone through two neurological testing to screen them and see their ability to recognize unfamiliar faces. Once the screening was done there was 44 of the participants who where part of the control group, all the participants had no problem with recognizing unfamiliar faces. Whereas the 14 other participants were the group who had seem to have the most difficulty with recognizing unfamiliar faces. They would be the ones whose scores would be tested more thoroughly.
In accordance with the above experiment, Crutchfield ’55, carried out a similar experiment because he felt that that Asch’s face to face experiment could not provide a stable enough conclusion for conformity.