The Importance Of Nonconformity

We all consider ourselves nonconformists, however, we all have a tendency to conform in social situations. In today’s society, we increasingly value individuality and creativity. Ironically, many people are still conforming. This creates an interesting paradox; we maintain that we value nonconformity, how we label those who do not conform as deviates and subsequently exclude them from many social interactions. This indicates something of particular interest about our society, what we value and believe is not acted upon during group situations. This has ultimately lead to a prevalent phenomenon of deindividuation. That is, when put in-group situations, the individual has a reduced sense of self-awareness, and thus suppress their personal opinions.

Over every situation, each participant revealed that they believed they would not be influenced by the group. That is, they believed they would not to conform.

From these two studies, it is evident that the majority of people view themselves as nonconformists. This presents an interesting thought. In both of these studies, each participant functioned as an individual. These situations, although portraying how an individual believes they would operate, ultimately lack in social pressure. Consequently, the participants in these studies would intrinsically exhibit lower levels of conformity.

In contrast, the experiment, which I have conducted, show how the individual would act when put in unclear situations. That is the actuality of conformity rather than a perception. These experiments subsequently revealed that 70% of participants had conformed at least once whereas only 30% had never conformed. From this, it is clear that when put in unclear social situations, the individual would tend towards social

In this experiment, approximately 75% of participants had conformed at least once leaving only 25% of participants never conforming. This experiment effectively shows that when put in social situations; the majority of people would