Conformity Research Paper

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Conformity means a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. As a teenager, the pressure to conform to the societal “norm” plays a major role in shaping one’s character. Whether this means doing what social groups want or expect you to do or changing who you are to fit in. During class, we watched films such as Mean Girls, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Breakfast Club which demonstrate how the pressure to conform into society can change who you are. In the movies we have seen, conformity was most common during high school.
Mean Girls is an example of conformity. In the movie, the main character, Cady, moves from being home schooled in Africa to going school for the first time. During her first week of high school, she meets a group of girls who call themselves the “Plastics”; this group of girls follows a set of rules and if they do not follow them, they are excluded from the group. Cady decides to join the Plastics, by joining the Plastics she has to change her behavior and appearance. The pressure to fit in and have friends in high school f...

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