Conformity And Social Influence

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.

One subtle form of social influence is conformity. Conformity is a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. The aftermath of conforming ranges from heroism to tragedy. If we are uncertain about how to think or what do, we may rely on informational social influence. Informational social influence is the influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information to guide our behavior. We conform because we believe that others’ interpretations of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action. Private acceptance is conforming to other people’s behavior out of a genuine belief that what they are doing or

In psychology, conformity is defined as the alteration of one’s beliefs and behaviors to better match those around you. There are typically two different forms of conformity, normative and informational. Normative conformity is becoming compliant to group pressure with the want to fit in. On the other hand, Information conformity refers to when a person looks to the group for guidance when they lack knowledge in a certain area. Conformity also can range in different levels such as from how people dress to how people act in public. This force is what drives even the most simple of decisions that a person will make on a daily basis. As a result, these individuals conform to other people’s behaviors. For example, just like a public compliance, which is when a person conforms to another’s behavior even if they do not necessarily believe or agree of the person’s words or actions. In society, conformity puts pressure on citizens to either conform to the laws they are given or face legal consequences. Conformity creates something called “group norms”, which are an informal set of social rules that are often unspoken. (Group Norms) When a person violates these norms, they will often find themselves in conflict with the rest of the group, and can potentially be removed.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

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.

Conformity is a form of social influence, when we conform we act and think like members of our group. Often people even alter or change their personal beliefs to match those around them. When we conform we feel pressured to fit in with others, to be a part of the majority. While we may still have contradicting beliefs towards things, we change our behaviors and actions to match what everybody else is

Conformity is a type of social influence which involves a change in behaviour and belief of a minority to fit in with the group concerning real or imagined group pressures. This behaviour could be defined as the pressure to behave in ways that are viewed as acceptable by a particular group, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked. The main factor that influences conformity are social norms. Social Norms are a pattern of expected behaviour in certain situations either implicitly or explicitly. Conformity exists in two categories, normative influence where the individual’s desire is to gain social approval and acceptance from the group to make a favourable impression. And informational social influence where a person is looking for guidance in an ambiguous situation as the individual listens to other member 's views and opinions to be guided to an answer. Conformity is distinguished in three different types; Compliance is the most superficial type of conformity. It refers to a person who conforms publicly with the views and attitudes expressed by the group but still continue to privately disagree. This temporary short term behavioural change which often results normative social influence. For example, It is a student 's first day of college, but has arrived late and missed the induction to which he doesn 't know where to go. He then sees a group of students filing off towards a corridor and

Conformity refers to the likelihood that an individual will follow the unspoken rules or behaviors of the social group to which they belong. In the short video clip titled “Asch Conformity Experiment”, we learned that people can feel pressured into abnormal behavior because of the unanimity of the majority.

According to one website ‘Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.’. (Saul McLeod, 2016). People is very susceptible to the action or opinions of majority and imitate their action unconsciously. I think this is because people have tendency the action which the majority taken is correct. If they are an only person who takes action which is different from others, the might think ‘Am I wrong?’. After they think so, they imitate others. One famous experiment done by Asch is known as example of conformity. It shows 1/3 to 1/2 of the subjects make a judgment contrary to objective fact and in conformity with the

Venerated poet, Maya Angelou, once wrote, “few survive, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of… conformity.” This is especially true in the education system, where impressionable youth submit to a doctrine of doing simply what they are told, doing as others do. Nearly all schools rain down this ruling, as in many cases it is necessary to their functionality, so as to avoid a becoming a system that runs on a mild form of anarchy. However, in many cases, the conformist rule is unnecessarily strong, and grossly impeding on personal freedoms, as I’ve seen myself within our own school.

Conformity is a social influence in where we tend to change our beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes to align them with group norms. (Conformity & Obedience, n.d) In 1932, Jenness was the first psychologist to study the psychological force of conformity, and his experiment was based on group conformity and how a majority decision can influence an individual’s rational thought. (S, McLeod. 2007) The psychological force of conformity is powerful, whether it is obvious social pressure or subconscious influence. Conformity can be a good or bad influence depending on the situation, and though conformity can affect all ages, it is mostly seen in adolescence. Everybody has experienced conformity at one point in their life,

Conformity is a type of social influence which involves a change in behaviour and belief of a minority to fit in with the group concerning real or imagined group pressures. This behaviour could be defined as the pressure to behave in ways that are viewed as acceptable by a particular group, either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked. The main factor that influences conformity are social norms. Social Norms are a pattern of expected behaviour in certain situations either implicitly or explicitly. Conformity exists in two categories, normative influence where the individual’s desire is to gain social approval and acceptance from the group to make a favourable impression. And informational social influence where a person is looking for guidance in an ambiguous situation as the individual listens to other member 's views and opinions to be guided to an answer. Conformity is distinguished in three different types; Compliance is the most superficial type of conformity. It refers to a person who conforms publicly with the views and attitudes expressed by the group but still continue to privately disagree. This temporary short term behavioural change which often results normative social influence. For example, It is a Primary 7 's first day of school, a pupil has arrived late and missed the induction to which he doesn 't know where to go. He then sees a group of pupilss filing off towards a corridor and

An instance in which I conformed to social norms or to peer pressure and did something that I later regretted is, whenever I was a Sophomore in High School I hung around the wrong crowd. This group of people was always influencing me to do bad things. One time we were driving around, one of the girls I was with decided it would be a good idea to cruise around the neighborhood and egg a bunch of cars. I kept saying “no, I’m not going to throw any eggs.” This girl said, “come on don’t be a goody goody, just do it.” So I did. I threw three eggs, all at different cars. I did this because I felt like I had to in order to conform to the group. This is also an example of normative influence because, I conformed to fulfill other people’s expectations,

Social Psychology has always been a key element in our understanding of human behaviour. Conformity plays a big part in the history of social psychology; conformity (also known as Majority Influence) is a type of social influence that involves a person changing their thoughts and beliefs in order to fit into a group. An example of this is during WW2, in which Hitler used his dominating opinions and authority to influence the Nazis and obscure their views, which lead them to conform to the horrendous orders that were given during the war. Therefore social psychology can help us understand how a certain phrase, appearance, status, or opinion can influence different behaviours in different cultures. However, certain cultures are more susceptible to conform. This links to the idea of Gerard’s (1955) development of social theory, normative social influence, this consists of the desire to ‘fit in’ and obtain social approval, which results in avoiding punishment, exclusion and ridicule. Two important studies that have been conducted by Asch and Milgram are great examples of how conformity and normative social influence can affect people’s behaviours.

Let's start off before your existence. Your mom and dad met on a small island off the lower west coast of Canada. Your mom Janice had spent her whole life on this island. Spent her whole life seeing the same couple hundred people and riding her bike along the coast of the ocean. She had an two older brothers and a younger one at the time, plus a sister. At twelve she would lose her youngest brother to a camping trip where his best friend would watch him pulled under the water by a current in the same space of water he was swimming in. He must wonder why it hadn't pulled him under as well. Fishermen found his body over a week later and your mom refused to attend the funeral. Her dad would soon become an alcoholic who missed birthdays and Christmas's