Dangers Of Conformity

John F. Kennedy once wrote, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Each individual above was stripped of his identity and freedom and was forced to conform to the group as a whole. Individuals are most likely to follow the flock, rather than to form their own thought on an issue; most likely due to pressure and fear. Ultimately, conformity takes away individual characteristics and replaces it with group traits. This can be seen in history and everyday life including The Nazi Political party (as represented above), modern day schooling, and in national governments.

Why do people insist on conforming to others and changing who they are to do so? Part of the definition of who we are as human beings comes in the differences between one person and another. Especially in today’s world, we are in need of people with strong leadership qualities who do not depend on others to guide their thoughts and actions and tell them what to do and when to do it. Dylan Charles writes, “The broad message to young people nowadays is to conform and submit to norms and phony authority rather than to develop personal integrity, personal liberty and true happiness.”

This creates an endless cycle of conformity and authority that is nearly impossible to break. We can see this cycle when we drive around town or even within our group of friends. There

In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, Huxley creates a futuristic world governed by conformity and submission to society. Citizens of this World State are conditioned to follow a set lifestyle determined at birth in order to create a stable civilization. However, there is still some form of individuality in each person, specifically in the characters Bernard, Lenina, and Linda. Within each of these characters, their difference in personality does not fit the norms of society, and they therefore try to suppress their own traits with unique methods such as soma. In times of sadness and despair, Bernard, Lenina, and Linda each give up a part of their own individuality and ideology, sticking to the

Cult development is fascinating phenomenon that occurs all around the world. Their membership growth is a complex interaction facilitated by conformity and manipulation. Cult membership can have a major impact on those who are involved. Leaving a cult can cause much distress for both the ex-member and their family. It is important to understand cult affiliation factors and the development of their membership in order to provide proper therapeutic intervention for those who leave cults.

One significant social justice issue in contemporary culture is the negative influence social conformity has on the encouragement of civil disobedience. Since the modern world is a multicultural melting pot, being one’s own person can go against traditional norms throughout the community. This is a problem that matters because social conformity is a surprising phenomenon that forces people surrender to it without resistance. By capitulating to the pressure of conformity and refusing to be a free-standing individual, one is fearing punishment and social ostracism. Contemporary society struggles to define itself and its cultural norms resulting from the extreme fear of authority’s punishment and competing values of conformism and individualism.

John F. Kennedy once said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”. This has been a puzzling idea for many; most of us are grown into some form of conformity at one time or another. At what point does following the rules become wrong? When is it too much? Over the years many people begin to question what the acts of following the crowd can mean; whether or not we need these orders, and structures to function; or whether it’s really worth losing yourself just to make everybody else happy. When does it become too much? And once is does, how do we break the cycle? This topic has been used throughout many different mediums; films, and literature, all alluding to the signs, and actions of when conformity is doing nothing

Throughout my life, many people have impacted me. Whether it be a teacher, a fellow classmate, a parent, or even a celebrity, someone has influenced me in some way. I have found that the older I get, the more I really think about life and what really matters in this world. Some people would say that materialistic items are the key to happiness, while others will disagree by saying that possessions cannot fill the void in your life forever. There will always be something that you will want so that you can maintain the happiness that is put into possessions. Others will say that conformity is a popular thing in society and the only way to be happy is to conform to the way society says you should. Many people will completely agree with that because they are afraid to stand out in a world that tells them it is not okay to be different or to be an individual. If you want to be truly happy, one must break away from the chains of conformity. To live in a world that tells us who we should be is the greatest waste that anyone could fall susceptible to.

“It's weird not to be weird.” We all have our different sides of being someone, some of us try to fit in and some of us just want to be ourselves. We wonder why conformity would always beat individuality and not have individuality beat conformity? The meaning of conformity would be “behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards.” To add on, the meaning of individuality means “separate existence.” So most of the people in the world would try to be individuals but once in a lifetime they would conform with others. My own view of conformity and individuality as it relates to humanity, society, teenagers, and the world is when we fit in with others which is conforming cut this is why we should ce ourselves and not try to fit in with others, let them accept us by the way we are. In my opinion we should try to be individuals and not be conformist because we should appreciate who we are.

According to Webster, conformity is an “agreement in form, manner, or character” (Conformity, 2011). Usually associated with group pressure or bringing influencing by the majority, it can also be clarified as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955). With these two definitions in mind, we can see that social influence, which tends to cause a change in belief system or even behavior, for the sole purpose of acceptance by the group, plays a large part in our every day lives. Dr. Herbert C. Kelman, the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Emeritus, at Harvard University takes the definition of conformity a step further with his study, and claims that there are three different types

Conformity: Compliance with standards, rules, or laws. Behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. Americans have been fighting in a tug of war with each other, are we individualistic society or are we a society where everybody is similar? I believe this has been swaying back and forth, where recently the swing has been going towards the individual side. Nowadays you see a lot of Americans fighting for what they believe in. We see that trend slowly growing in the youth. In the article Of Me I Sing: Americans Construct an Opt-Out Society, Alan Greenblatt claims that, “Americans want to go their own way. The right of individuals to question authority is one the strongest facets of American life. But the ability to

As Dr. Seuss once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don 't matter and those who matter don 't mind.” Through this quote, the foundation of conformity is uprooted from its murky hovel and is disputed with. Despite, though, how many people preach these words, they still succumb to the mind numbing effects without even realizing it, because they are not fully aware of the causes of this topic. That is why one needs to understand the causes of conformity before preventing the effects. The three causes of conformity include: changing how one acts to avoid the rejection of their peers, depending on other people 's’ opinions because they are oblivious to a certain topic, and conforming to something based on social characteristics.

Every where you go, you see that the world is changing. People are disrespecting the government rules and they do not like some of the laws in the country. Some individuals do not accept strict rules and regulations. There are always disagreements in the court house or at the white house. During these years, the urge to conform is a stronger force because you need to change your attitude in order to join the crowd.

They want you to conform. Who? Society, government, the system. While the power of authority and social conduct is a strong force, it is not always a benevolent one. For thousands of years people have questioned the ways of authority. These heroes have taken down the establishment, or the elite power holders, and made the world a fairer place in which to live. A common belief is that when the establishment, authority, or the system gains too much power, they need to be removed. This “system” that we all live in is a multidimensional vortex of misunderstanding and oppression.

“I once told a woman I had Asperger's Syndrome and she responded with ‘that's ridiculous, you’re doing great’” (McCreary 0:18). People default to a judgemental state in which they constantly disapprove of actions that deviate from their definition of normality. Why do we create these stereotypes to solidify what we believe is the normal way to live an abnormal life? The answer is: we will never be able to escape societal conformity because our way of life is shaped by the rules society imposes. Perhaps this unfulfilled desire to escape the routine normality of our lives leads readers to Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time whose narrator Christopher John Francis Boone escapes this detrimental darkness because of the “flaw” he was born with, Asperger’s. Christopher values the rules created in his mind that, because of his condition, do not conform to society. This explains why he resented his father for lying to him; nevertheless, he would not have reacted the same if his father told him that he killed Wellington. However, the father doesn’t share the truth. Instead, he finds himself in an entanglement of horrible lies because he fears that Christopher can’t handle the truth due to his undeveloped mind, inability emotionalize facts, and his understanding of the world around him. In reality, though, the rationale the father uses for the dishonesty prove his own undoing, for Christopher seems less concerned with the action than the unacceptable lies.