Conformity

Conformity2

Influence as Reason of Conforming2

Research and Experiments on Conformity3

Types of Conformity4

Factors Leading to Conformity5

References7

Conformity

It is defined as the act of changing behavior of one according to the people surrounding the individual in order to fit in the group of people. The person with conformity tends to be socially influenced as it involves acting and agreeing with the majority in the group of people of which the person is a part. The justification of doing such act is to be perceived as normal by others. Conforming to the social pressure is the act that is exhibited by almost all the individuals unintentionally or intentionally. Therefore, it is important to understand this concept in detail.

Conformity has been a subject of discussion of many authors which leads to multiple definitions suggesting same meaning. Breckler, Olson, & Wiggins (2006) define the concept of conformity as the changes that occur in behavior due to the influence of outsiders rather than internal attributes such as beliefs and attitudes. However conformity also has no effect on the internal attributes as it is done merely for getting along in the group. The concept is also not dependent on the nature of influence but only on the behavior. Conformity is also defined by Eysenck (2004) as the act that is exhibited by almost all individual in certain situations where there is group pressure. The author gives the same justification for conformity that individual tries to adjust in the group rather than feeling odd one out in case if disagreeing with the group.

Influence as Reason of Conforming

Various researches have been carried out that explore the reasons of conformity. The most important reason for conformity is found to be influence of which there are two forms. These are:

Informational influence: When the individual conforms to the group in order to be perceived as informed and knowledgeable although he is not sure about the information completely. Therefore, in this case the individual follows the direction and knowledge of the group as the right source of information.

Normative influence: When the individual conforms to avoid punishments or get the benefits of situation even if the situation conflicts with the internal belief. Therefore, in this case the individual tries to fit in the group by changing his behavior in front of others (Zimbardo and Wang 2012).

Research and Experiments on Conformity

Examples of conformity are evident from real life situations where individual intentionally or unintentionally conforms to social pressure. For validating such situation, psychologists have carried out a number of experiments which include the situations when the individual conforms to the group even after knowing that group belief or practice is wrong.

The earliest experiment in this regard is the work of Jenness in 1932. In the experiment, the participants individually estimated the number of beans in a bottle. Then they estimated the number as a group. Again they were asked to estimate the number individually where it revealed that the estimate by each participant became closer to the number stated as the group (Bendor & Swistak, ...