Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Factors contributing to Conformity
What factors affect the psychology of conformity
Factors contributing to Conformity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Factors contributing to Conformity
By definition, conformity is an act according to specific standard or authority. It subconsciously happens all around the world to practically everyone at anytime. Although evidently in history, the trend of following a group mindlessly has occurred more in modern days with the help of social media. Isaac Newton once stated, “ For every action, there’s a reaction.” Similarly, conformity has its pros and cons. In the article, “The Sociology of Leopard man,” author Logan Feys stated the negative effects of conformity by using Leopard man as an example. While some people were trying to meet goals set by others, Tom Leppard, also known as Leopard man, decided to live in solitude disregarding what others had to say. The advantages and disadvantages …show more content…
This thought especially applies to the past when racism and anti-Semitism are at their heights. There were many glorious deaths of the nonconformist who decided to help the victims of these movements. Nevertheless despite the moral debates, it was primarily conformist who survived the crisis. On the other hand, conformity can benefit society because it is substantially a factor to a more united nation. Feys expressed, “ being around people and their creations can be worthwhile… One can enjoy the benefits modern society offers.” The goals set by society are often challenging and meaningful, on jobs and behavior. While everyone is fighting for the same goal for the same reason, tough competitions appear. The main reason the world has improved so much is because of competition. Conformity does not only function to protect someone from harm, but also as a …show more content…
Feys argued, “ Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of the majority.” Behind every single person there is a story and the stories often have their own connection. My sister and I happen to be an epitome to Feys’ argument. I have been a conformist ever since I learned how to read and write. I have received an abundant amount of praises on my academic achievements and excellence and many people looked up to me and my ongoing bright future. Thus, I had an easy time finding my place in this world. Under comparison, my sister Taylor who spent most of her time on the basketball court, tennis court, and swimming pool, made her teachers and parents expect nothing but failure. But, she proved them otherwise. Little do they know, my success only covered my appearances; inside, I am merely a body who finds everything tedious and no longer special. Meanwhile, Taylor transformed into this unique, valuable painting that has many affluent characteristics. Conformity can be described as an exchange. In order for one to earn the success, one has to pay with one’s
Conformity can be very crucial, infact a lot of people eventually start hurting themselves or doing drugs just because they don't feel themselves anymore.Why can't society change? why can't that one kid that always follows everyone in the back can turn into the kid that just hangs with the people they really wanna hang with?We need to embrace ourselves so we can stop all this conformity from consuming us.Tupac was a nonconformist, he always did what made him happy and always told the truth.
President John F. Kennedy once said, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.". Conforming to societal customs can lead to “pluralistic ignorance” which is defined as being unsure and doubtful of majority behavior. This diagnoses causes people to conform to things that are not actually in existence and undermines creativity and productiveness. Hans Christian Andersen’s “Emperors New Clothes” is the impeccable illustration of the consequences and compliancy of conformity. No one in the story wanted to admit that they could not see the cloth and were unfit for their position, therefore everyone only admitted to seeing the incredible cloth. Conformity is divided between internal and external. Internal is the honest changing how one believes and acts and external is when one only behaves in a different way but does not change what they believe. External conformity is the most detrimental to the individual due to the constant combat between self-morals and actions. Conformity not only is destructive to an individual but also is harmful to others. Studies have proven that conforming can cause people to become passive bystanders to ethical wrongs like bullying and breaking of the law. With overwhelming and constant refutation, the negatives of conformity tend to suppress the
Another point I agree with is that it's a lot easier to just fit in and not lead the train and being yourself. I personally know from experience. Growing up I always tried to conform just to fit in with the people that surrounded me. It's not just me that i've seen conform to fit in, i've seen many of my friends conform to fit in with the crowd. All around me, everyday people are conforming and changing to fit in with the society.
Many people have trouble being apart of a society. These troubles come from trying to fit in, which is also known as conforming. Another trouble is trying to express one’s own style with one’s own opinion. This is a trouble due to the fact that many people have the fear of being frowned upon when being the black sheep of the group if one’s opinion does not correspond with other opinions. This is where one’s own sense of who they are, individuality, and trying to fit in, conformity, can get confused. A nickname for conformity is “herd behavior” which is the name of an article where the author relates animals that herd with people that conform. Many people have a different philosophy of this topic which will be expressed in this essay. An important
The world is divided up into numerous things: Countries, states, cities, communities, etc. However, when looking at the big scope of things, one can group the vast amount of people into a society. This society is where the majority lie in the scheme of things - in other words, the common people. Individuals do exist in this society, but they are scarce in a world of conformism. Society’s standards demands an individual to conform, and if the individual refuses they are pushed down by society.
The most basic concept in social psychology is conformity. Conformity is the idea that behaviour or a belief is changed in order to follow, or conform, to what is considered the “norm.” One of the oldest experiments to support this notion was conducted in 1935 by Muzafer Sherif (Song, Ma, Wu, Li, 2012 p. 1366). There are two different types of
Conformity also restricts the ideas of society to be heard, because everyone must follow the same ideology. One of the quotes from Beatty is “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred”, implying that people are better off conforming to the culture so that unhappiness does not happen (Bradbury 56). In Fahrenheit 451 conformity is the motto of the culture, society is distracted with certain simple things like TV and racing cars. Clarisse explains to Montag “People don’t talk about anything. they all say the same thing and nobody says anything different from anyone else”, the culture of this society couldn’t question certain things and most of their conversations lead to the same basic ideas.
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. " People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive.
Conformity can often seem like the best path to take in a situation. Going along with everyone else will cause less conflict for the group as a whole. Unfortunately conforming simply to protect other people's feelings can lead to powerful internal conflicts if a person does not fully agree with the situation. Ruth from A Raisin in the Sun, Langston from "Salvation," and Mama from "Everyday Use," all felt internal conflicts resulting from conformity.
The things that make one different are the things that cause the world to change and lead to conformity. Uniqueness is a characteristic that is in everyone; no one person is the same. In this way, Equality 7-2521 from Anthem, a novel written by Ayn Rand, conforms to society on his outward actions to keep him safe, but on this inside, his drive for individuality and not being “normal” allows him to discover a tunnel in which he discovers multiple things like electricity. In a similar aspect, I seek to with my mind, as if a moving vehicle, swerve sharply to the opposite direction to avoid indifference and achieve my maximum potential.
Conformity can be useful when in unfamiliar surroundings or activities. Several examples make their appearance everyday like dancing. Dancing is a fun activity, but when it’s unclear what kind of dancing to do. What happens then? It’s in everyone’s best interest to mimic the people who know what they’re doing to avoid embarrassment. In some way or another, everyone has done it throughout their life but it is really handy in the right
Conformity and Obedience in Society The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us.
Conformity, compliance and obedience are behavioural consequences of social influence (real or imagined social pressure) that occur in the presence of a group or other individuals (Elsenbroich & Xenitidou, 2012). Often these concepts are misinterpreted as being the same or even synonymous and while they do have similarities they are also very dissimilar. In social psychology conformity, compliance and obedience are distinct concepts that coincide due to their effect on behaviour in the presence of others. Pascual, Line Felonneau, Guéguen & Lafaille (2013) define conformity as an altering of behaviour and beliefs in an individual in order to reflect the behaviour and beliefs of the group that holds influence, though Myers (2014) emphasises that
The inability to conform in society can lead to unhappiness and the feeling of inequality
It is a difficult matter and can not be discussed without debate. In the past years many psychologist, such as Sherif and Asch, have researched this notion of conformity and have found astonishing results that can be seen in our society today. Whether conformity can be labeled as good or bad depends on the individual. However, one can not deny that conformity is all around us, influencing us in many different ways. Cults, religions and even companies with their advertisements are all examples of using conformity to entice and persuade people into doing and thinking