The article “Individuality vs. Conformity: The Healthy Middle?, explains that being individual makes other people start calling you weird but being in the “Healthy middle” is a good thing because you will be able to fit in with the crowd but yet you can still be different and it won’t be weird. The author supports her discussion by explaining the feelings you get when getting accepted to a group. The author’s purpose is to persuade the readers to find the healthy middle so that people will be able to fit in with the crowd and yet still be an individual. The author writes in a emotional style for her way of explaining all the feelings you get of being individual or fitting in. Aristole’s three rhetorical appeals, the author of “Conformity vs.…
Conformity is a social influence in which an individual changes their beliefs or behaviour in order to fit in with another individual or group. This fulfils the need to feel accepted and not outcast which can increase the individuals self esteem. Conformity can be demonstrated by a change in the individual’s clothes, language or attitude etc. to adapt to the group; thus displaying the desire to be a group member. It indicates to the group that ‘I am not a threat as I am like you and following your rules’. It gives the group a sense of security as the consistency of a conformists behaviour allows members to predict what each one will do. Members of a conformist group may…
The organization that I currently work for started with one home and now we have ventured out geographically and purchased two more homes in surrounding counties. This decision came after our marketing department realized that there was a need for more facilities that offered our type of care to the elderly. While there are other nursing homes in our surrounding area, there was specialized needs that the customer base had that none of the homes in our area offered.…
Frank’s essay “Commodity Your Dissent,” is based on the cultural ideas in the 1950s. He explained the countercultural idea was against the notion that all Americans should live the same and to be the same. To live one basic life and be identical to one another but there was a change were people started to rebelled. Rules were being broken, individuals were becoming different and these changes were changing the entire world. For example, marketing was changing so people could be able to consume the products that were being made for their individuals’ selves. As they seen the changes, marketing was not promoting conformity but they were promoting “never-ending self-fulfillment” and “constantly updated individualism” (para. 6). Meaning that they…
In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the author shows how everyone acting and looking the same way can affect them physically, mentally, and emotionally therefore Everyone should be able to be themselves and show their own creativity. The author writes about this thesis specifically because he wants to show people that being unique is not a terrible thing because it means you are special in your own way and you might be able to do things others can’t do.…
Research into conformity includes Sherif’s study conducted in 1935. The aims of his study were to study how people were influences by other people’s opinion, in their perception of the autokinetic effect. The Participants were seated in a dark room. Fifteen feet in front of the participants was a pinpoint of light that appears. Participants have to guess how far it moves. The dot doesn’t actually move but due to autokinetic effects, very small movements of the eyes make the light seem to move. Each participant developed their own personal answer, which varied considerably between individuals. Then the next day, three participants re-did the experiment, with two other participants that gave very different answers, to see if hearing other people’s answer would affect their answers. For example if a participant said it moved 6 inches when he was on his own. However when two other participants that said much less joined him, he says it moves much less than the day before. The first participants original response changes when in company of other people, this showing social influence. The…
Non-conformity also encourages a life of solitude and away from “the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it.” (McCandless 55) In other words, it is occasionally beneficial to have some time alone to deeply contemplate and develop individual insights of society and oneself. However, too much time alone and away from the crowd can cause a person to become unsocial and incapable of developing relationships with others. As a result, the importance of non-conformity parallels with the tenet of being independent and absent from the nonessential aspects of daily…
Conformity and social influence is something that happens all over the world. People conform for all types of reasons, ranging from religion to the color or style of someone else’s hair. Social influence also plays a big part in conformity. Being socially influenced to wear a certain type of clothing can cause people to conform and completely change how they think or act. In this essay I will talk about social influences, conformity, and the ways that they can cause behavioral changes.…
Social conformity can destroy your health in many ways. It can suppress the immune system and cause stress, lead to depression, cause emotional deprivation, prevent you from making healthy decisions, and lead to you doing thoughtless, dangerous acts. Although there are only five here, there are more physical and emotional consequences of conforming to group expectations due to fear and disapproval. Conforming to a group that’s against or unsure of your beliefs and values you believe in just because you want to fit in automatically creates anxiety because you are trying to be and think like someone you are not. Social conformity also increases your chance of not making healthy decisions. Like when you are at a party and there’s alcohol. You…
“We are half ruined by conformity, but we should be wholly ruined without it.” - Charles Dudley Warner. We have created this boundary between conformity and individualism and often times these traits get abused, thus creating someone who is too individualistic or a society that is too conformed. Individuality and conformity are both essential parts of society however, if one is held above the other in the wrong manner we could be dealing with people lashing out in inhumane ways or people not being able to think for themselves. In order to have a functioning society we need to find the perfect balance between conforming with your peers and having individual thoughts and actions.…
Conformity is the convergence of individuals’ thoughts, feelings, or behavior toward social norms. One of the most influential conformity researchers in psychological history is Muzafer Sherif, who researched the reason why people conform. Conformity can occur for two different reasons, such as, informational influence and normative influence. Normative influence is when people want to be liked and so by being in a group they gain social approval that leads to compliance. On the other hand, informational influence is when people want to be right, so they join a group that they perceive to be correct, which leads to acceptance.…
What does it mean to “be yourself”? What does it mean to conform to comply with others standards or opinions? Do you ever change your appearance, behaviors, or actions based on what you believe others will think? When venturing into the topic of conformity vs individuality, I strongly believe that you should strive to both exercise conformity and individuality in your life. It feels great to be part of a group, to fit in, but in doing so DO NOT lose sense of who you truly are. If in social situations you find yourself being steered to talk differently, act differently, or simply do things differently from the way you truly are, then you may be conforming in order to fit in. Be who you genuinely are, not who people want you to be. Ultimately,…
Everyone conforms in society at some point. John F. Kennedy claimed, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” When it comes to the topic of conformity, most of us will readily agree that individuality changes the world. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is conformity that bad? While some are convinced that conformity is great for the world, others believe that conformity is the death of us. I tend to fall on the side where conformity is the death of us, because without individuality we would not have a great deal of the advances in technology.…
Conformity: The Compliance of Standards During Conflict Conflict is caused by many things, and conflict affected many lives. There are many ways to deal with such conflict, one of them being conformity. Conformity is convenient and effective tool that is used in a time of conflict. Susan Bartoletti, the author of Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, told the story of Sophie Scholl’s conformity and Joanne Oppenheim, the author of Dear Miss Breed, shared the experiences of young Japanese Americans in internment. Both these authors, along with a few other authors, showed how conformity can help in a time of conflict, reasons not to resist the ways of the other party, and how one can comply while resisting the ideas of the other party.…
The topic I chose is Obedience. Obedience is defined as, “Acting in accord with a direct order or command.” (Myers,2013,188). In my research the term compliance may also come up. Compliance is defined as, “Conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing.” (Myers,2013,188). The words conformity and acceptance may also be brought up. Conformity is defined as, “A change in behavior or belief as the result of a real or imagined group pressure.” (Myers,2013,188). Acceptance is, “Conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure.” (Myers,2013,188). My research question is “how does obedience play a role in parenting situations?”…