Patterns Of Social Conformity

1. Define conformity, and distinguish between compliance, obedience, and acceptance, giving examples of each. What types of influences lead to conformity? When are we likely to conform and why does it have a negative connotation in Western society? Compare and contrast the conformity experiments of Sherif and Asch. Describe their methodology and the results that they observed. What processes seem to be at work in each case? In your view, would we get the same results today?

In 1951, Solomon Asch carried out several experiments on conformity. The aim of these studies was to investigate conformity in a group environment situation. The purpose of these experiments was to see if an individual would be swayed by public pressure to go along with the incorrect answer. Asch believed that conformity reflects on relatively rational process in which people are pressured to change their behaviour. Asch designed experiments to measure the pressure of a group situation upon an individual judgment. Asch wanted to prove that conformity can really play a big role in disbelieving our own senses.

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 wouldn’t be so bad if what there was to conform to was positive. In this great land of the free and home of the Big Mac, forgive me for not putting my admiration or faith into the general public. The society we live in is built on hate and oppression. It dates back all the way to the genocide of the native population by the European invaders----excuse me, “settlers” that allowed this country to be established in the first place, and the slavery that allowed this country’s economy to start up and prosper. Institutionalized racism continues to be prevalent in everyday life; articles on police brutality from twenty years ago might as well have been written last week. Ethnic minorities are targeted and shot down in the streets; young

As readers, we see how the analysis of conflictive themes has been taking over literature scenarios. When reading between the lines of certain books we can perceive themes such as conformity and rebellion. Mostly these themes can be seen in writings from times of social upheaval. According to The Oxford Dictionary, the word conformity means “behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards”, while rebellion means “the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention.” These terms create a constant battle among societies. A certain amount of conformity needs to exist in life in order to avoid disorder. This is the reason society has laws, rules and expectations. Literature represents life, and these themes can be found at the root of many literary works. Conformity can also be considered as silence. This silence is based on the restrictions of real feelings and thoughts in some literary pieces. During the sixteenth century, the emphasis on conformity was at its height. Works of literature from this time period have often reflected a fascination and frustration with this particular characteristic. People do not want to be restricted in terms of expressing opinions and developing certain activities. When facing oppression, denial of their freedom, they rebel, and that contributes to the part of the process of change in society. Not all kinds of rebellions are rationally fundamental, but when they are, it can transform society for the

Social conformity is a dangerous, chaotic force. A simple gathering can spontaneously lead to surges of violence and atrocities. As one stone is thrown, another follows, each one faster than the last. They have muddied their identity into a mob. Social conformity is the suppression of one’s thoughts and identity to conform to the herd.

On average, about thirty-two percent of the participants conformed to pick the blatantly wrong answer and over the twelve trials seventy-five percent of the students conformed at least once, and twenty-five didn’t conform at all. Many of the participants afterward admitted they conformed to give the wrong answer because they wanted to avoid being ridiculed and some thought the group really was correct. Is was the results of this experiment that led Asch to conclude that whenever people conform it’s to either fit in or because they believe that since they’re in the minority their conclusion is incorrect. Another influential experiment concerning conformity is the Stanford Prison Experiment. Conducted in 1973, Phillip Zimbardo wanted to determine if brutality in prison systems was due to the

Solomon Asch 's (1951) conformity experiment is the study of people adapting their behaviours in order to follow the social normalities. This experiment entails a group of people who are actors and know about the experiment, and one person who is unknowing of the experiment, which are all in the same room. The group is shown a pair of cards; card A has a line on the card, and card B has three lines varying in length on the card, the similarities of the lines are obvious. The group individually, saying out loud picks one of the three lines on card B that matches the length of the line on card A. Everybody picks the correct line, this happens for a few rounds, then when shown another pair of cards the first actor chooses the wrong line on card B. The rest of the actors choose the same line the first actor chose, this tests to see if the unknowing participant will choose the same answer as the group (McLeod, 2008). The person who is unknowing of the

As one of the countries in the world that prides itself in uniqueness, even Americans find themselves caught in webs of social influence. When this happens, we change our behavior and conform to the expectations of others (O’Gorman et al., 2008). Research on conformity was first

What effects does someone’s opinion have on yours? In other words, in a crossroad situation with a group setting, what happens when there is no authority and only social pressure? There is a strong urge to disagree with other group members in a group experiment, which is why The Asch Conformity experiment was conducted. It is told that social influences shape every persons belief and judgment. In simpler words, The Asch Conformity experiment is another example of how people are tempted to weaken in a group situation. Mary Henle, author of Documents of Gestalt Psychology gives a brief description of Asch’s experiment, in the 1950’s, subjects were placed in a room filled with actors. The conductor presented the subjects with an image showing

Social influence is a huge factor in human life; the psychology behind it focuses on how an individual is susceptible to behavioural and attitudinal change when in a social environment. People can be influenced majorly by the actions, opinions and general presence of others and there are psychological reasons for this. One piece of research that supports why people are influenced by others is the study of conformity.

I think almost everything about this article is true. From social conformity leading to depression to it leading to thoughtless, dangerous acts. The one repeated story that has social conformity at the center of it is the teen that drank because he felt pressured by everyone. Social conformity is a real problem and needs to be solved. I shouldn’t be afraid to be who they are naturally. We should feel comfortable with expressing our opinion, and yes there will be some that won’t agree with what you have to say but that is your opinion and you should be proud you voiced it instead of keeping it inside. We shouldn’t be getting overly stressed about trying to fit into a “popular” group. Just being who we are is enough and if more people start to

“ Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth” was a quote stated by John F. Kennedy, expressing the way we have come to hold ourselves captive underneath a society that revolves around prejudice and the automatic mindset of conforming. People living in this time period are oblivious to the changes that they are enforcing on their own, having them fit this flawless portrayal that every person desires to meet. Although it takes time to realize, conforming to society has the world entirely consumed and yearning for more in which is never viewed as a halt to growth. Satisfaction, although a state of mind is a temporary one that never seems to loosen its grip on our way of thinking and actions to best fit the “norm” that is allowed and confided into. Though it is felt that after reaching full potential in everyone else’s eyes, the need to necessitate will disappear, however, our society evolves, keeping youth from being their own human beings, having limits in growth of maturity and individualism as well as having others consumed to the point where stress is inevitable for one’s sake.

Solomon Asch was a psychologist that conduced numerous expirments designed to illustrate the increasing conformity within social groups. The experiments also invesigated the effect the number of people present within the group had one the conformity rate. Asch hypothesized, “ that the majority of the people would not conform to something obviosly wrong; however, when surrounded by (other) individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, 75% of them(the participant) will conform to the groups answer” (Watzlawick 1976)