Preview

The Power of Conformity

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
740 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Power of Conformity
The Power of Conformity Ryan Herlong

Conformity refers to an individual's behavior that is performed because of group pressure, even though that pressure might not involve a direct request. Many people want to think that they are conformist enough so that they are not looked upon as strange to others and nonconformist enough to demonstrate that they are capable of thinking by themselves. For many years, psychologists have been interested in human conformity. Usually when people are in groups, they behave according to how those in the group behave. That indicates that conformity can affect a person's behavior and make a person do things that may be against their ethics, attitudes, and morals. The study of conformity was first studied in the 1950s by Solomon Asch. His experiments were very important to the study of conformity. Asch wanted to find out how conformity could influence behavior. He did not want to focus on the general concepts like ethics, morals, attitudes, and belief systems. Instead, he focused on a more obvious concept which was perceptional conformity. Since he performed the experiment on a simple task, he was able to study conformity in a controlled environment. Asch wanted to apply group pressure to the experiment so he could manipulate a person's behavior. For the experiment, he made three pairs of cards with three different lengths of vertical lines on one side. On the other side, there was a single line that was the same length as one of the lines on the front side. Asch had seven subjects sitting down in a laboratory. Then an eighth subject was brought in the room to sit down. What the eighth subject did not know was the other seven subjects were not exactly subjects. They knew what to do and what would happen. An experimenter held up one of the cards and the subjects had to match on of the lines with the single line. For the first two cards, the seven matched the two pairs on lines correctly.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Qlt1 Task 1

    • 2535 Words
    • 11 Pages

    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…

    • 2535 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    To be born a unique being, one with the freedom of will, one with the ability to form independent beliefs and mindsets- to be human. The most honored of all creation, yet the most rebellious. As human life is deprecated in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the human life is equated to nothing more than the dirt from which it came. Huxley parallels himself, an aristocratic pedigree, to the upper class inhabitants of the brave new world that sought the meaning of human life above the accepted pretense of society. Aldous Huxley depicts the social isolation of the upper class through over-intellectual characters that see beyond the superficiality of society, thus magnifying the importance of remaining true to oneself in the midst of conformity.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conformity is a form of social influence where a person adopts the behaviors, attitudes and values of other members of a reference group. Conformity is a normal process in which everybody adopts to fit in and be liked and many psychologists have completed research into these fields. Deutsh and Gerard claimed that there were two types of conformity. Normative influence is motivated by a desire to fit in with a group and be liked, and informational influence is motivated by a desire to be correct and certain.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Everybody Doing It

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Social Influence what is conformity? Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. We feel the pressure of those people around us, This change is in response to real or imagined group pressure.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Essay On Conformity

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages

    An important concept in the sociocultural level of analysis is conformity. Psychologist Baron (2008) defines conformity as a ‘type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes or behavior to adhere to existing social norms’ (Baron). Social norms are the guiding principles pertaining to the appropriate behaviors, attitudes, and traditions that should be followed by individuals of the relevant society and or culture. Social norms are the concepts which cause an individual to conform often because of a desire to be accepted and liked by others - also known as the normative influence. To research conformity to a group norms, Sherif (1935) and Asch (1951) both conducted valuable…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conformity

    • 1069 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Question 1: Compare how authors deal with the subject of conformity in two texts you have studied.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Conformity and People

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Losing one’s individuality is most common to individuals who are exposed and influenced by others throughout life. The idea from “The Sociology of Leopard Man” by Logan Feyes discusses how indi viduals are confronted with conformity in order to fit in with society. Conforming is one obstacle that many people face through life. When a person conforms it means that they undergo a change in order to fit in with society. Unlike conformists, non-conformists are the “unusual” part of the world that do not undergo a change within themselves to fit in with the world. These people are often looked down upon and ridiculed by their personal lifestyles. While some people decide not to give in to their personality, I believe that the idea from leopard, the influence of families, and the atmosphere of schools will dictate one’s decision whether to conform or not.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conformity

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A nonconformist is a person whose behavior or views do not conform to prevailing ideas or practices of the society. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the main character Guy Montag was a nonconformist to his society, and in the movie Cool Hand Luke directed by Stuart Rosenberg, Luke Jackson was the nonconformist. Guy Montag was considered a nonconformist because in his society you weren’t allowed to read books, and he did. In Luke’s society he was considered a nonconformist because he went against the jail and ran away repeatedly. Luke is more of a nonconformist compared to Guy Montag because Luke was a man who refused to be nailed down or conform to the rules and regulations of a society.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We’ve all seen or heard people telling you how to look, feel, or act. People telling you to change,so you can fit in or look better. We all have been pressured to be something we’re not. Society thinks that conformity is huge part of life, that it keeps everything together. Conformity is important, but what’s more important is being unique, being yourself not someone you’re not. It is not good for individuals to change their feels, beliefs, looks, or actions to fit in with society because you’re basically changing your image to impress people.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psychological researchers have been interested in the degree to which people follow or rebel against social norms for a long time. Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments designed to demonstrate the power of conformity in groups. According to some critics, some of the individual subjects may have been motivated to avoid conflict instead of a desire to conform to the rest of the group. Nevertheless, many social psychology experts believe that while real-world situations may not be as clear cut as they are in the lab, the actual social pressure to conform is probably much greater, which can dramatically increase conformist…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Conformity In Society

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages

    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.…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conformity and Rebellion

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Without idiosyncrasies in today’s society, the world would be brimming with a myriad amount of followers with very few luminaries. Because of society’s growing population of diversity, more and more people are becoming mentors, dignitaries, and pioneers of the world. However, the mass influx of multiplicity is not the result of population growth, but rather, the result of individuals knowing that it is their obligation to rebel and to help improve society. From his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, Martin Luther King states, “I believe that even amid today’s motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.” (10) This quote simply states that there are always opportunities for society to develop. The truth is that most individuals are just merely afraid to rebel and contribute their ideas due to the possible chagrin and harassment they could receive. The poem, “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, reveals that people hide their thoughts to avoid being tortured by others. However, in the book Fahrenheit 451 when the main character, Guy Montag, desperately tries to resolve his own marital problems and figure out how his dystopian society came to be, he discovers that by rebelling and breaking the law, he understands how he can help rebuild and fix his society after a devastating nuclear bomb decimates the city he used to live in. Therefore, individuals are justified in breaking societal laws and norms if they are bettering the lives of others and benefitting society.…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Conformity

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ever since the beginning of time and throughout history society has oppressed women and forced them into conformity. This can be seen in the articles “Declaration of Sentiments” and “Reality Meets Plastic Surgery.” These can also be seen in the shows “The Swan” and The Twilight zone “Number Twelve looks just like you.” These stories and shows, show that women are being forced into conformity.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays