# **7.2.3 Asch Conformity Experiment - Line Match Confederates Game**

Table 5 presents the results from the line match confederates game. In this game there is only one correct answer (line C). However, each team’s leader and deputy were instructed to act as confederates and state an incorrect answer (A) when playing the game with their team in public.<sup>66</sup> The leader and deputy were asked to sit in positions 1 and 2, respectively, with the remaining three team members seated in a random order.<sup>67</sup> The results in Table 5 column 1 suggests that 80% of the control group correctly matched the line for this game in private with no treatment differences. In the remaining columns in Table 5 we define 3 outcomes: _stick to your guns_ if correct in public (C), _confused_ if incorrect in public but was not the primed response (B or D); and _conform_ if incorrect in public and responded with the primed response (A).

When answering in private only 20% incorrectly matched the line, whereas when in public as many as 57% incorrectly matched the line. In the following we exclude the responses by the leader and deputy who were primed to answer incorrectly and show results for adolescents in positions 3-5 only. In column 4 we show that 43% stick to the correct answer in the public game. While we find no _Choices_ treatment difference, the coefficient on the variable _Any response in positions before correct answer C_ is positive and significant. This suggests that the adolescents were more inclined to give the correct answer in public when any adolescent before them in the line-up gave a correct response. In column 7 we show that 32% of the control group were perhaps confused in public. They give an incorrect answer in public but it was not what the leader and deputy said. Similarly, in column 10 we show that 24% of the control group switch to conform and answer the primed response (A) in the public game. For both these outcomes we find no evidence of a _Choices_ treatment effect. The coefficients on the variable _Any response in positions before correct answer C_ for the _confused_ and _conform_ outcomes in columns 7-12 are negative and significant. This suggests that the adolescents (especially for girls in columns 9 and 12) were less likely to give an incorrect response in public when an adolescent before them in the line-up gave a correct response.

Overall, the results in Tables 4 and 5 provide evidence of conformity among adolescent peers as was found in the Asch experiments. However, _Choices_ participation does not affect how adolescents play the line match games and therefore _Choices_ does not appear to affect general levels of conformity.

We also find no _Choices_ treatment effect in the response to the survey statement: “There have been times when I felt like rebelling against people in authority even though I knew they were right.” We measure results at midline and endline (not shown here). Therefore, put together our results suggest no indication of increased rebellion among _Choices_ adolescents. The _Choices_ program did affect private gender attitudes and it did affect public reports of gender attitudes in ways that suggest that adolescents’ perceptions of gender norms (or acceptable responses) may have shifted in interesting ways that could theoretically be linked directly to the program content on gender equality.

> 66Note - the line match confederates game was played at the very end of the session so that the leader and deputy could be primed outside before playing the final game in public.

> 67Asch (1952) showed that conformity increases when other members of the group are of a higher social status so we may expect conformity by the adolescents to be higher after the priming the leader and deputy.

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