Conformity And Decision Making

Authoritative Figures Impacting Decision Making

What is the effect of an authoritative figure on decision making and behavior? If an authoritative figure is placed at the gate during lunch the amount of 10th and 9th graders that leave campus will decrease due to social influence, conformity, and compliance. As part of a society that holds absolute respect for authority, the students of the school will have an unquestioning obedience towards these figures thus decreasing the amount of students that leave campus. When students view other students not going off campus they will set aside there want for food in order to abide by the desires of their peers, this is called conformity. When figures of authority demand action of the students and the

This is the result of a population’s desire to be as ubiquitous as the majority, however the chance of conformity does increases with population Asch (1951). People are more likely to obey set rules when an authoritative figure is present, for example, a person may speed when the road is open, but if that person saw a cop he/she would follow the rules and go the speed limit, knowing that speeding can result in getting pulled over and cause the person to obtain a ticket. Conformity like peer pressure, can cause people to disregard their own morals and instead follow the preferences of others and conform to their standards, regardless of their own . A study done with conformity showed that if only one person fails to conform, the rate of conformity drops by 25% Asch (1956). So just one person following the rules can relieve pressure of other people who give in. In some cultures, conformity is an important part of society, for example, a school that requires uniforms and mandatory attendance. In a school like CCA where independence is cultivated, the rates of conformity will be lower. At CCA where rules are normally not broken, students will stay on campus to conform with their peers instead of breaking the conformity and leaving campus, however, when the majority of people leave school and go off campus for lunch, the conformity is increased because people feel more obligated to go with the

There’s different factors that influence why people break the rules, or don’t, some of which include: social influence, conformity, and obedience. Within these topics, there are other aspects that persuade decision making, both when an authoritative person is and is not present, such as the amount of unanimity, how much surveillance is used, and what is socially acceptable. Less freshmen and sophomores will break the rules and leave school campus with an authoritative figure present, because people are more likely to obey rules while being watched, further, the norm is changed to staying on campus because no one can leave, and people are more obedient knowing that there are negative consequences if they break the