Conformity, Both a Good Thing and a Bad One

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.

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

An individual’s need to conform stems from our mental psychology, which is something we cannot usually change because it is in our nature. Guandong Song et al described conformity as “…a subject’s behavior or attitudes following those of the object. The subject is the individual who conforms. The object can be external or internal factors that cause conforming actions, in the form of individuals, groups, organizations,

To understand why we have a sense of conformity, we must first understand value. “Values are used to learn people’s culture, ideas, and what they want out of life (Henslin 49). Every culture has similar and different values. “Norms are the expectations a group develops concerning the ‘right’ way to reflects its values” (Henslin49). An example of a norm would be personal space and speaking quietly in certain places such as a library. When norms are violated people often begin to question the person’s sanity and well-being based on how extreme the norm violation was.

In this dystopian world the people are dependant upon soma at anytime when unpleasant thoughts, feelings or emotions are shown. Soma can drive any bad thoughts out of mind. Doctors declare that one cubic centimeter of soma cures ten gloomy sentiments. Like soma drug in Brave New World, in The Giver, there is a relief-of-pain medication that is provided to community members to relieve their pains so that no one can suffer. Whenever there is any kind of unpleasant thought or pain or disease, people are immediately given this unnamed medication.

“Group conformity scares the pants off me because it’s so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn’t want to-or can’t-join the Big Parade.” The style of text I have chosen to focus on is individuality, as I believe that uniqueness of an individual is essential for freedom. Through analysing the texts Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Equilibrium by Kurt Wimmer, Blind Faith by Ben Elton, The Machine Stops by E.M. Foster and I Always do what Teddy Says by Harry Harrison. I have noticed that societies are being controlled through the idea of conflicts and religious symbolism and conformity, which are prominent in all the societies. The intent to trigger us of the dystopias that could arise in our world today is prominent. I have also

Often times in life people will feel it necessary to conform in order to fit into certain groups of people. When a person conforms it usually leads to them changing the way they behave. This

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 Aronson (1985), conformity is “a change in a person’s opinion or behaviour as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or a group of people”.

People don't always conform for the same reason's, in 1958 Kelman identified three main forms of conformity, each of which could produce conforming behaviour but in different ways. The first of these and the most superficial is Compliance: Going along with the majority in order to avoid rejection or in order to gain rewards such as social acceptance or approval. The distinguishing feature of compliance

Since the modern era, a major limitation of society remains: the obsession of one’s appearances, and the subsequent alienation of those perceived to not fit the ideal. The general media unceasingly promotes the thin ideal, spawns a multi-billion dollar diet industry, and permeates major aspects of society, such as the medical community. The hatred for one’s appearance is entirely a social construct perpetuated by the media. More importantly, the ideal has alienated those perceived to be outside of it, which is the majority of the U.S. population. The conformity stifles individualism on various levels. America was made great because of its diversity, which is now threatened by pressures to conform. It encompasses all aspects of life, even

If there’s anything I’m sure about myself from the last 18 years of my life, it’s that I’m a people pleaser. Everything I do is solely in acknowledgement of what everyone around me wants or needs, and I often find myself putting others before me; I try to be someone that everyone can like while at the same time I refuse to be a conformist. My very personality is conflicting in the fact that I’m both a realist and a dreamer, and it’s because of those reasons, I can honestly say I wouldn’t be some basic ice cream flavor. Instead I see myself more as a combination of two: Chocolate and Strawberry. As a bit of a feminist, It’s very relevant in the fact that these flavors are often labeled as feminine, but are also construed as the most commonly

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