Read the following scenario. Identify the psychological phenomenon that best explains the individual's decision and justify your reasoning based on the details provided.

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The Asch effect describes the phenomenon where a group majority's opinion influences an individual's judgment.

Asch Effect

In Solomon Asch's conformity experiments from the 1950s, the methodology was designed to test how social pressure affects individual judgment. The setup involved a group of participants who were asked to perform a simple perceptual task: matching the length of a target line to one of three comparison lines. However, each group contained only one genuine, or 'naïve,' participant. The other members were confederates, secretly working with the researcher. These confederates were instructed to unanimously provide an obviously incorrect answer on certain trials. The experiment measured whether the naïve participant would conform to the incorrect majority opinion or state the correct answer.

Asch Conformity Experiment

During a team meeting, a new project proposal is discussed. Sarah privately believes the proposal has several major flaws. However, when her manager asks for a show of hands, every other team member enthusiastically votes in favor. Feeling the pressure to align with her peers, Sarah also raises her hand to support the proposal, despite her personal judgment. Which of the following best describes the psychological principle demonstrated by Sarah's behavior?

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