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Features of conformity
The implications of conformity on society and the individual
The implications of conformity on society and the individual
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Conformity when the situation is ambiguous
Human as a species who live in social groups, therefore, our behaviors are influenced by our society and other people in our social groups. Conformity is one of the social influence which sometimes can be good, but sometimes not. Conformity is thought to help society to prevent chaos. It helps group cohesiveness and to increase bonding with other people within your groups. However, when conformity comes in a severe condition, it can cause harm to people. People may lose their individuality and follow actions blindly without consideration of right or wrong. So why do people conform? This question has already been answered by many psychologists. In Asch’s classic conformity experiment, they found that
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Since the experiment was required to done in the classroom, we have limited access to recruit people from other majors of the students in the university. In this case, our participants can only be the students who are in the Psyc217 class. This may lower the validity of the experiment because all of our participants were psychology students. A big concern is that the participants might have already learned about the conformity effect so they wouldn’t choose to conform. In addition, due to the limit circumstance, our sample size was small. Thus, the result might not be accurate enough to provide evidence to show nonconformity. Moreover, during the experiment, we were unable to create a true environment which using the presence of people to form group pressure. The reason is that we cannot have the same experimenters during the experiment due to the course requirement. Using presence of people (the experimenters) to create group pressure may lower the validity of the experiment since one experimenter may be more persuasive and assertive than the others. Therefore, we used sentences to represent group pressure. However, it is considered to have some problems that may threaten …show more content…
Some people conform because they want to be accepted by their social group which is known as “normative social influence” and some people conform in order to gain information to guide our behaviors which is known as “informational social influence” (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2005). Despite the society is changing and people are less likely to conform to the answers have objective wrong value, they still conform to some degree in different motivations and different situations.
References
Asch, S. (1956). Studies of Independence and Conformity: A Minority of One Against a Unanimous Majority. Psychological Monographs, 70. Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R. M. (2005). Social Psychology (5th ed., pp.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hamm, N. H., & Hoving, K. L.. (1969). Conformity of Children in an Ambiguous Perceptual Situation. Child Development, 40(3), 773–784.
Sherif, M. (1935). "A study of some social factors in perception." Archives of Psychology, 27, No. 187, 1-60.
Perrin, S., & Spencer, C. (1981). Independence or conformity in the Asch experiment as a reflection of cultural and situational factors. British Journal of Social Psychology, 20,
Myers, David G. “Chapter 14: Social Psychology.” Psychology. 10th ed. New York, NY US: Worth
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
Bibliography 3rd edition Psychology (Bernstein-Stewart, Roy, Srull, & Wickens) Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, Massachusetts 1994
Solomon Asch developed and ran an experiment regarding the power of conformity that affects most populations. Psychologists have been attempting to fully understand the mental workings behind why people are so easily pressured into following others for the longest time. The main focus of psychologists, is to figure and understand what the causes are behind social conformity. Numerous terms are brought up when studying conformity. The “unspoken rules or guidelines for behavior in a group” (Hock 293) are labeled as social norms. When individuals are placed in large groups, the tendency is to lean with whatever the majority of the group thinks. The regular behavior of the individual tends to readjust to appease the superior crowd.
Although Asch conducted many variations on his test of conformity, and he has been criticized as being too simplistic to accurately represent true conformist behaviour his experiment has stood the test of time and examination
...onson, E., Wilson, T.D., & Akert, R.M. (2013). Social Psychology (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Solomon Asch’s experiment in “Opinions and Social Pressure” studied a subject’s ability to yield to social pressure when placed within a group of strangers. His research helped illustrate how groups encourage conformity. During a typical experiment, members of the group were asked by the experimenter to claim two obvious mismatched lines were identical. The single individual who was not privy to this information was the focal point of the experiment. Twelve out of eighteen times the unsuspecting individual went along with the majority, dispelling his beliefs in favor of the opinions of the group.
Elliot Aronson (2012) provides a definition of conformity, two social psychological processes that underlie a conformity and cited examples of reasons why people conform in the book, The Social Animal. Aronson (2012) defines a conformity as “a change in a person’s behavior or opinion as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people” (p.19). In accordance with Aronson’s (2012) definition of conformity, people do conform owing to the social influence, which are two main social psychological processes: belonging and getting information.
It is human nature to do this, but this does not mean it is necessary or even beneficial to our lives. An example of this tendency to conform is politics, in our government there are two main parties the Democratic and Republican Party. These parties throughout history have had ever changing views and stances on social issues and with these changing views are the votes of the public should change with the parties. Unfortunately, due to our human nature, there is a want to associate with a certain group, although their perspective upon social matters has long changed, but because of our readiness to blindly conform people state that they are a Republican/Democrat and always have been. This mindset that people tend to follow must come to an end as it is of no benefit to society. Society conforming to this trend leads to the misrepresentation of the public. This issue of our human nature to conform to a certain opinion while it has no benefit to the community must come to an end in order for the society to improve and become more
Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed., pp. 271-273). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.
Conformity is defined as behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. This is not a good or bad thing, this just is. It exists as a compliment to earlier humans congregating into larger groups, using agriculture and domestication to create sustenance. Also, conformity is essential for life. We need people to share the same ideas, ideologies and a way of thinking in order to work efficiently and effectively. There many examples that exist like, at work or in your house and even within yourself. Sigmund Freud has explained the phenomena of group psychology in a piece titled, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Using Freud’s theory of conformity I will explain the self, what we call “me”,and its different constituents using The Principles of Psychology by
Conformity involves the changing of one’s attitudes, opinions, or behaviours to match those of the ‘norms’. The “norms”, established by society, are what we should or ought to be thinking, feeling, or doing if we wish to be accepted into a group. This desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need.
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
Hergenhahn, B.R. (2009). Social and Theoretical Psychology: Conceptual and Historical Issues 1. An introduction to the History of Psychology. 1 (1), p1-28.
On a daily basis, people are being influenced by the people around them, whether it is directly or indirectly. A person’s thoughts, feelings and actions can influence and be influenced by society. These social interactions provide enough opportunity for the presence of people to influence and change behavior, views, and attitudes of an individual. There are several forms of social influences, such as conformity, which I will be discussing. Why we conform has been a topic of considerable interest to social psychologists in particular such as he classic and well-known studies of Muzafer Sherif and Solomon Asch. In addition to researching why we conform, there’s also the question of whether conformity is good or bad.