Ap Psychology And Conformity Essay

I strongly believe that individuality should be valued over conformity. Today I will tell you how precious and rare individuality is, and why we should value it over conformity.

Conformity is a concept that has been heavily researched in the field of social psychology. Conformity is defined as a change in behavior, beliefs, and attitudes due to group pressure perceived as real (encompassing the presence of others) or imagined (encompassing the pressure of social standards) (Myers, 2010, p. 192). The concept of conformity is a powerful influence on the tendency for people to arrange their thoughts, perspectives, and ideas with others, especially when in a group. This takes away from a person’s individuality because they want to feel accepted by others and therefore, a person will accomplish this basic need of approval through conforming.

First, an individual usually internalizes compliance, but this is not necessarily the case in obedience. The latter can occur through internalization as well as through the existence of cognitive dissonance. In other words, conformity is a form of social influence that emanates from within the individual (Milgram, 2010). As it has been mentioned earlier, one does not have to be asked to do something for them to do it in the case of conformity. It is a decision they make due to the external pressures caused by group influence or the influence of another individual. Compliance is ethologically a survival tactic whereby one is forced to do certain things to fit in the group as doing the contrary will make them appear odd. This is not the case in

When people are part of a group, they often start to deviate from their personalities, and tend to focus on the opinions and actions of the group. Groups can generate a sense of engaging energy, which can lead to behaviors that a person would not typically engage in if they were alone. People seem to believe that certain behaviors are acceptable when they are in groups that would otherwise not be acceptable if they were alone. Many people believe they cannot be held responsible for their actions when they are with a group because they see the

Human beings are defined as ''social animals'' because in every aspects of life they live together, they form a variety of groups and improve relationships with each other. Interaction with others is a natural result of living in society. In the process of interaction, society and its rules has a social impact on each individual. If people face with any kind of social impact such as group pressure, great part of them show conformity by changing their behaviors, ideas, decisions in expected way. A person conforms if he or she chooses a course of action that a majority favors or that is socially acceptable. Some kind of conformity is natural and socially healthy but obeying all the norms, ideas, and decisions without thinking or accepting

People have been changing their behavior or obeying someone else’s commands for years. This continues today in our everyday lives. Conformity and obedience seem similar but differ in several ways. Conformity is defined by psychologists as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. Similar to this, is obedience. Obedience is defined acting in accordance with a direct order or command. Normally people conform to reap a reward or to avoid punishment. If we comply with a direct order or command it is considered obedience. Most of the time when people comply, it is to be accepted among others so they are not seen as outsiders. On the other hand, when we obey, we are obeying a command an authority figure

What is conformity? Conformity is a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influenced of other people. The acts of conformity can be a form of bravery to tragedy. Many people conformed because they did not know what to do in a confusing or unusual situation. The social influence effects the behavior of the people around them served as a cue to how someone will respond and act in a situation (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, Sommers, 2016, 230).

The following essay will be about understanding what is meant by and distinguishing the differences between the terms conformity and obedience. It will show the evaluation of two key psychological studies which seek to explain why people do and do not conform, also with explanations of minority influence. Whilst seeking to understand the reasons why people obey authority, it will show an evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience, discussing the ethical issues raised from the research and

The concept of compliance is similar to conformity, yet it’s slightly different. For compliance to occur within groups, one must adapt his/her actions to another's wishes or rules. Requests

To understand phenomena as to the ways groups are formed it is important to follow theoretical perspectives. A theory is a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work. It is an explanation of how facts are related to one other. While a fact is an observation that has been proven over and over and has been accepted as being true. It is never final because it can also be modify or can even be said to not be true tomorrow. With theories there is no need for a list of types of people, why certain people do things in certain ways. Theories help to understand the overall general themes across many specific types of behaviors or decisions in the social world.

The three basic type of social pressure are conformity, compliance and obedience. “Conformity is a change in behavior or attitudes brought by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people” (Feldman 496). Studies have shown that normal and well behaved people can be convinced to alter their behaviors in an undesirable manner in the bid to conform to the group’s ideology and ways. When an individual responds to a direct social pressure, it is termed compliance. Social/peer groups use compliance techniques to subtly lead people toward agreement with a request. Another form of induction used by social groups is obedience. With fear of being rejected, the involved individual tends to obey the rules and commands of the group just to meet the expectations.

What is compliance? To me compliance sounds like you’re agreeing to something. You are saying okay to someone who is offering you something. You are giving them your agreement to a deal. That’s what I think compliance sounds like. I found information from psychology.about.com that says, “Compliance refers to changing one’s behavior due to the request or direction of another person.” You are going with the group to fit in. You don’t want to be the loner or someone who stands out. I have experienced this myself. I never really was interested in partying or smoking in high school. All my friends did it and went partying every weekend. I always felt left out so I decided to change that. One weekend I went out with all my friends and went partying

A group has been explained as two or more people sharing a common fate and interests, or coexisting in a social structure; it also could be a few people interacting on a face-to-face level. The most contemporary example has been recognised as two or more people having a mutual social identification, and are recognised as a group by third parties. (Brown 2000). My selected group, I feel certainly fits into this, because we are of around 20 individuals, all sharing a common social identification within St John’s Ambulance. We also act together within a social structure. Groups have been described as ‘More like growing plants than running a machine’ (McDermott 2002, Chapter 3 Title) this quote gives us an idea

In the realm of Social Psychology, there are innumerable subcategories that can be studied, researched and at least be somewhat understood. Three topics in particular are very important and also closely related to each other. Compliance is changing one’s behavior due to the request or direction of another person. Obedience is slightly different because it changes one’s behavior through direct commands. Conformity is also similar to these other two behaviors, however, it alters one’s behavior through an individual's need to be accepted by society. All of the three subcategories above have are different but have enough similarities that they can be connected to

Groups norms effect individual attitudes, and behaviours.(Terry, Hogg, 2000). “Norms are the rules and behaviours, the proper ways of acting in a group that have been accepted as legitimate by members of that group”(Napier & Gershenfeld, 1999. p 107). Furthermore on an individual level group norms are ideas about how individuals should act in any given situation. ( Napier & Gershenfeld, 1999).