Effect of Gender and Social Status on Conformity

In this research, the effect of gender and social status on conformity has been studied. For this purpose, sixty university students (30 males, 30 females) were randomly selected for Asch's basic conformity experiment. The majority group (the researcher's collaborators), were introduced as a superior social group to half of the participants and the inferior social group to the rest. Results showed that the degree of conformity was significantly higher among those having inferior status, compared to their superior counterparts (P<0.01). Also, the women's degree of conformity was higher than men's (P<0.05). Although, this was observed in women of lower social status (P<0/001), there was no meaningful difference in conformity of men and women under superior status condition (sig=0.913). Consequently, conformity is influenced by interaction of gender, group identity, and social status.