Social Conformity to Bots

This study explored the impact of social conformity when participants encountered unanimous responses from bots to both objective and subjective questions. Seventy-two participants from Heidelberg University participated in a simulated “Quiz Show”, answering general knowledge and opinion-based questions on economic policy. Using a within-subject design, participants first responded independently, then saw answers from three bots modeled after Asch’s classic conformity studies, which were displayed with usernames and profile pictures generated by artificial intelligence. The results showed significant conformity for both objective and subjective questions, regardless of whether the bot responses aligned with or opposed the initial beliefs of the participants. Gender differences emerged, with women showing higher conformity rates, as well as conformity in objective and subjective contexts appeared to be driven by distinct personality traits.