Solomon Asch (psychologist)
Solomon Asch was a notable psychologist born on September 14, 1907, in Warsaw, Poland. His early experience observing the Jewish Passover traditions sparked his interest in social psychology, particularly the influence of persuasion on perception. Asch immigrated to the United States in 1920, where he pursued higher education, earning degrees from City College of New York and Columbia University. His academic career involved teaching and research, during which he collaborated with influential psychologists and explored the effects of propaganda on human behavior.
Asch is best known for his groundbreaking work on conformity, demonstrated through experiments in the 1950s that illustrated how individuals often align their beliefs and actions with those of a group, even when the group is incorrect. His influential textbook, "Social Psychology," published in 1952, has shaped the study of psychology and influenced subsequent research on authority and group behavior. Asch's contributions have provided insights into human thinking, the complexities of personality, and the societal impacts of conformity. He passed away on February 20, 1996, leaving a legacy that continues to inform psychological research and understanding of social dynamics.
Solomon Asch (psychologist)
Psychologist
- Born: September 14, 1907
- Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland
- Died: February 20, 1996
- Place of death: Haverford, Pennsylvania
Education: City College of New York; Columbia University
Significance: Solomon Asch was a pioneer of social psychological studies. His main contribution to psychology was the theory of conformity.
Background
Solomon Asch was born in Warsaw, Poland, on September 14, 1907. An incident from his early youth helped to inspire his interest in social psychology. When he was seven, Asch watched with interest as his family prepared a celebration for the Jewish feast of Passover. An uncle explained that they poured an extra glass of wine that was meant for the ancient prophet Elijah. Asch found this claim hard to believe, but was persuaded to carefully watch the glass.
At the designated time of night, Asch believed he saw some wine disappear. As an adult, he looked upon the event not as a religious miracle, but instead a demonstration of the power of persuasion upon the human mind. His uncle's claim had affected his own perception. This concept would fascinate Asch and motivate his psychological studies throughout his life.
In 1920, Asch immigrated to the United States. He lived in Manhattan, New York, where he taught himself English by reading novels by Charles Dickens. Asch attended the City College of New York, from which he graduated in 1928. He proceeded to Columbia University, earning a master's degree there in 1930 and a doctorate in 1932. His professors and mentors, including psychologist Max Wertheimer, noted his keen insights into the human mind and encouraged him to delve into new areas of psychological theory.
Life's Work
After completing his education, Asch took teaching and research appointments at Swarthmore and Brooklyn Colleges. During this period, he met and worked with some of the most influential psychologists of the twentieth century. Among these was Wolfgang Köhler, who, like Max Wertheimer, was taking new approaches into the study of how the mind perceives, learns, connects, and uses ideas about reality.
Throughout the 1930s, as Asch built a reputation as an important psychologist, great peril was building in Europe. Adolf Hitler and other fascist leaders were gaining power in Germany, Italy, and other countries. At the same time, powerful and brutal Communist leaders were increasing their dominance in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe. These powers used tactics such as propaganda and indoctrination to force people to obey, and, in many cases, to commit, terrible atrocities.
Asch studied some of the European propaganda and its effects on people. He found that people who were afraid and ignorant were most susceptible to believing the lies and crooked truths of propaganda. Despite the horrors taking place in Europe and other regions, which would ultimately culminate in World War II (1939–1945), Asch maintained that the human mind would prevail. People would eventually be able to find the truths among the falsehoods.
These studies helped lead Asch to his most influential findings, known as the theory of conformity. Conformity refers to people changing their individual beliefs and actions to better match the beliefs and actions of other people. Asch's most famous experiments, begun in the early 1950s, proved the strength of his theory. In these experiments, he asked groups of people to judge the lengths of lines. Although most people formed correct individual estimates of the lengths, they were influenced by wrong estimates provided by others. Over time, most subjects adopted incorrect answers simply to conform to the larger group.
Asch's studies on conformity helped introduce new fields of study to psychology. Some psychologists, such as Stanley Milgram, used similar theories and techniques to learn about how and why people obey authorities. Other psychologists studied why people in groups often act differently from individuals. In many cases, generally caring, law-abiding individuals become willing to break laws or allow others to be harmed once they are included into larger groups of people.
Asch also studied other aspects of human thinking and behavior. He studied ways that perception motivates people's ideas and behaviors more than reality. He also posited that human thinking and traits are extremely complex and that they work in conjunction with other thoughts and traits. For example, people do not always exhibit intelligence in the same way. Rather, they often show different kinds of intelligence that are influenced by other factors of personality.
In 1952, Asch published Social Psychology, a textbook detailing many of his findings and theories. This book quickly became a standard in psychology classrooms and helped to establish Asch as one of the greatest modern psychologists. He also continued in teaching roles, working at the University of Pennsylvania and the Institute for Cognitive Studies at Rutgers University.
Impact
Solomon Asch changed the way many psychologists approach studies of human thinking and behavior. He found new connections between the complex inner workings of the mind and the surrounding "real world" that provides the mind with perceptions and information. In that way, Asch combined the fields of natural science and social science in ways few theorists had attempted before. In addition, his textbook Social Psychology has made his teachings available to generations of students.
Asch's theories have helped humanity understand some of the greatest social ills of the twentieth century. They have helped people understand how ruthless dictators gain power, how regular people are convinced to perform terrible deeds, and even how living in big cities can increase people's tolerance for crime and callousness. Asch's theories have also provided hope that humans could use learning to overcome even their worst tendencies.
Personal Life
Solomon Asch died at his home in Haverford, Pennsylvania, on February 20, 1996. He had a wife, Florence. Their son, Peter, an economics professor, passed away in 1990. Asch also had two grandsons and a granddaughter.
Bibliography
"About Solomon Asch." Swarthmore College Psychology, www.swarthmore.edu/psychology/solomon-asch-award. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
Rock, Irvin, editor. The Legacy of Solomon Asch: Essays in Cognition and Social Psychology. Psychology Press, 2014.
"Solomon Asch (1907–1996)." GoodTherapy.org, www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/solomon-asch.html. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
"Solomon E. Asch, 1907–1996." The Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College, www.brynmawr.edu/aschcenter/about/solomon.htm. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.
Stolley, Kathy S. The Basics of Sociology. Greenwood Press, 2005.
Stout, David. "Solomon Asch Is Dead at 88; A Leading Social Psychologist," New York Times, 29 Feb. 1996, www.nytimes.com/1996/02/29/us/solomon-asch-is-dead-at-88-a-leading-social-psychologist.html?mcubz=3. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.