Influence In A Group Of Conformity In The Stanford Prison Experiment

Conformity is abundant in a group of adolescent peer groups. Adolescent peer groups often are filled with peer pressure and the need to “be like everyone else” (Simons-Morton, Bruce, and Tilda Farhat.). This peer pressure can cause these adolescents to change who they are and how they act around others. Many adolescents conform to make sure they don’t stand out or go against popular opinion. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, the guards and the inmates conformed to their roles and if they did not they would look out of place and be punished ("THE STORY: AN OVERVIEW OF THE EXPERIMENT."). The inmates that did not conform to the guard’s rules were often beaten and abused. The inmates that did conform to the guard’s rules wouldn’t receive punishments

A wanting to belong is one of the biggest reasons that a person would conform in an adolescent group. “There have been numerous studies that illustrate the ways in which human beings strive to be accepted as part of--or at least avoid being rejected by--a social group.” (Lumbert, Samantha P.) In a social setting, young adolescents are more likely to conform to a peer group because they are searching for themselves and where they belong or believe that the group is more knowledgeable about a certain subject. Once they have found a group to which they feel they could belong they will change who they are, what they believe in and what they look like to make sure they can join this group. These changes are all acts of conformity to a specific group. “There have been numerous studies that illustrate the ways in which human beings strive to be accepted as part of--or at least avoid being rejected by--a social group. One such study was conducted to examine multiple reasons that college students engage in the risky behavior of playing drinking games. It was hypothesized that college students often engage in these drinking games because of an anticipated outcome, or rather, an outcome that some individuals intend to induce by participating such as new friendships, relationships, and greater popularity. Unsurprisingly, pressure to socialize, fit in, and conform proved to be a major motivator in