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Conformity And Obedience Are Both Social Behaviors

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Conformity and obedience are both social behaviors that are influenced by those around us and determines our behavior in social situations. When we change our attitude or behavior based on those around us, we are conforming to their behavior. When we obey what we are told, by what we perceive to be an authority figure, we are being obedient. Conformity and obedience can have positive or negative results on our lives, depending on the situation and the individuals involved. Symbolic interactions are not all the same theoretically. Although all the scholars concur that the people depend on shared secret codes to build their actuality and on the practical prerequisite of understanding behavior by entering the actuality of the actor, …show more content…

The confederates were told ahead of time what their responses would be. The line judgment test had a standard line and three other lines. Out of the three lines, one line was the same length as the standard line, one was shorter and one was longer. The object was to see if the subject would agree with the other individuals. The wrong answer was given by the confederates to see if the subject would conform or stand alone. Out of eighteen trials, twelve of which being “critical trials”, approximately 75% of the subjects conformed at least once and 25% of the subjects never conformed. He found that subjects conformed with the wrong answers of the majority but did not actually agree with their answers. Therefore, individuals conform as a result of reasons such as wanting to fit in with the majority or because they of the assumption that the group has better information as compared to them. Children always seem to need the approval of their friends. They want to look and act cool. The clothes trends, the haircuts, the cars, etc. If they want to be cool, they have to be like the cool kids. If the cool kids sneak out at night, that’s what they need to do. If the cool kids are drinking beer at parties, they have to do it too. Group size also has a major effect on conformity. The larger the group size, the increase in conformity. Once the group reaches a certain point, there is little change. Conformity is also exhibited in how

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