Conformity is the act of changing behavior as a result of real or imagined group pressure. Everyone at one point has experienced this type of pressure at one point in their life. I remember this one time when I was confirmed into doing something because everyone was doing it. This happened back in my high school years. There was a point in the eleventh grade that I felt kind of peer pressured into skipping school. I never really had the urge to be a bad kid and go skipping. I actually loved coming to school. I loved learning new things I was always that kind of person. But of course I started hanging out with the wrong group of people. Which I never should have but I wanted to be so called cool. I wanted and had the desire to fit in always, I always wanted acceptance and to be popular. I honestly regret ever going skipping. It wasn’t only once that it happened. It occurred multiple times until it got out of hand and I was caught by my parents. I never heard the last of it from them even until this day I still hear it. From that point on I was always brought to school; until the day I graduated. I regret these poor decisions I made, I feel like if I wouldn’t have done it I would have finished my schooling by now because I found it acceptable to skip school. All because I wanted to be accepted and be one …show more content…
Society has pushed everyone to think that it is ok to do anything and everything that peers do even if in fact it isn’t right to be doing it. Let’s say for example society advertises the use of cigarettes making propaganda and what not for people to use this product. Even though it is bad for your health they make it socially acceptable and the cool thing to do. So since everyone is doing it you automatically want to do it. I think we need to put an end to this and stop conforming to what everyone does and be your own
According to Webster Dictionary, conformity is defined as, “in compliance of rules, laws, or standards.” Mark Twain’s, “Cone-pone Opinions,” demonstrates how society reacts to new conformities; individuals eventually conform to popular ideas and inevitably abandon these ideas for something greater. Twain states, “It is our nature to conform; it is force which not many can successfully resist.” (Twain 2). The reason people conform is not for self-approval, but rather, for the approval of others.
Conformity is often described as behaving the same way as everyone else to fit in. While it often has a negative connotation, conformity is an interesting phenomenon that is present in all parts of human society and can be both good and bad. Conformity is a theme present throughout many literary works, and there have been countless studies on it and its effects on people. Some of the most interesting examples can be seen in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Lemming Condition, and the Milgram Experiment.
Conformity is when a person changes him or herself to fit into a group. In order for someone to do this, he or she usually has to give up one of their personal qualities. It is highly argued over whether this is a good or a bad thing. One such book called Stargirl, demonstrates both the negative, and positive side of conformity. In the novel, author Jerry Spinelli suggests that conformity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, many just use it to become a leader.
I decided to break a social norm in my house by asking my parents for their permission before doing anything in my own house, for example I would ask to use the restroom or if it was okay for me to get a drink. I only asked for permission to preform those two tasks. After a day it was very obvious to everyone in my home that something was going on with me, but when confronted about what I was doing by my family I refused to conform to their group pressure and inform them. Everyone in my household urged me to conform and stop asking such ridiculous questions; conformity is behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. Examples of conformity can be found everyday in life from the way we dress to the way we talk, a specific example is when one persons’ clapping
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.
The article “The Case for Fitting In” compares to my idea of conformity because I think that it means how you change your opinion due to social pressure. My idea of conformity relates to the article because it was talking about how when people were in a group and someone said the wrong answer they usually went with it. “Each subject saw 18 sets of lines, and the group answer was wrong for 12 of them” this proves that most of the time people went with the group rather than going with their personal opinion. I think that the article really compares with my definition of conformity because I think that it causes you to change your opinion and sometimes causes you to choose wrong answers. I also strongly think that the article agrees with me because
In fact, this also applies to the situation of understanding what social conformity is. This subject has been around for centuries, forcing many to behave in a certain way that the society expects. The influence of peer pressure is still a topic has an impact to the world, especially the adolescents. The “[s]ocial psychologists have suggested that one core function of compliance and conformity is to maintain group harmony”(“Social Influence and the Brain:Persuasion, Susceptibility to Influence and Retransmission” Cascio,Scholz,Falk) and this applies to many individuals who value public opinions more than their own. They seek to be “good” people and make an effort to follow the trend of the crowd. More often than not, this also relates to the confidence level of an individual, “If those others agree with one’s beliefs, one gains confidence in them; if they disagree, one loses confidence” (“Conformity,” Levine). This is indeed what many people face today from all different phases of life. Daisy, one of the characters in the book The Great Gatsby, is a perfect example of a person soaked into social conformity. From the beginning of her marriage life with Tom to the end of the book, she progresses into immoral stages of life. Day after day she conforms herself into a world filled with corruptions, such as adultery and murder. Although, she is an adult, she is a character that is stuck in a stage that her age group have already
“Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of the majority, the school, the workplace, the family, etc.” (Feys, P.6). Logan Feys, the author of “The Sociology of Leopard Man”, states that society is persistently under pressure to change our individual likings, personality, change the way we look, etc. to feel accepted and approved by society. The desire to fit in and not be an outsider with social groups causes people to feel pressured and change themselves to fit in. Fey’s statement is correct that people conform with society to not be an outsider or avoid the fear of possibly being an outsider.
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
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: “Agreement between an individual's behavior and a group's standards or expectations. A conformist is one who follows the majority's desires or standards.”Conformity is not always necessarily a bad thing, but can be when followed excessively. For instance, can you imagine what this world would be if everyone looked, dressed, talked, walked, and acted the exact same. This is what life is like at Mica High, and this paper analyzes the negative aspects, and consequences of conformity in Stargirl.
“I don’t believe we were put here with all of our differences to conform to a uniform state of mind” ~Sonya Teclat. Conformity is when people change to act the same as other people in their society. The government, media, and social groups are a big part of the society. These things encourage people to conform. One of the books that have people conforming is Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson. In Among the Hidden Jen, one of the characters is very outgoing and brave. Luke another character is very shy, once he meets Jen he conforms to be brave like her. In addition, society encourages conformity through government, media, and social groups.
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
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
What is conformity? To put it simply, it means to adhere to societal standards or “norms”. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to such; when they begin to separate from their family and form their own identity is when they also seek acceptance from their peers or live up to expectations from their parental figures. “Conforming to social norms help them redefine themselves while earning them acceptance and approval. Fitting in simply feels good” (Ulene 6). It means that by blending in and mimicking the people around them makes teenagers feel good during the process of finding themselves. Conformity to the social norms of an era is a common problem among teens. While attempting to create their own identity, they are actively trying to fit