{"id":165,"date":"2020-03-04T20:41:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T20:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/?post_type=chapter&p=165"},"modified":"2020-08-05T17:36:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T17:36:30","slug":"conformity","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/chapter\/conformity\/","title":{"raw":"What is Conformity?","rendered":"What is Conformity?"},"content":{"raw":"

by\u00a0Saul McLeod<\/a>, updated\u00a02016<\/em> [1]<\/sup>\r\nused with permission<\/em><\/p>\r\nConformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThis change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms \/ expectations) group pressure.\r\n\r\nConformity can also be simply defined as \u201cyielding to group pressures<\/em>\u201d (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure).\r\n\r\nThe term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to \u2018fit in<\/em>\u2019 or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification).\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nJenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity. His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHe asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion.\r\n\r\nParticipants were then asked to estimate the number on their own again to find whether their initial estimates had altered based on the influence of the majority.\r\n\r\nJenness then interviewed the participants individually again, and asked if they would like to change their original estimates, or stay with the group's estimate. Almost all changed their individual guesses to be closer to the group estimate.\u00a0However, perhaps the most famous conformity experiment was by\u00a0Solomon Asch (1951)<\/a>\u00a0and his line judgment experiment.\r\n

Types of Conformity<\/h2>\r\n
\r\n\r\nKelman (1958) distinguished between three different types of conformity:\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Compliance\u00a0(or group acceptance)<\/small><\/h3>\r\nThis occurs 'when an individual accepts influence because he hopes to achieve a favorable reaction from another person or group. He adopts the induced behavior because....he expects to gain specific rewards or approval and avoid specific punishment or disapproval by conformity' (Kelman, 1958, p. 53).\r\n\r\nIn other words, conforming to the majority (publicly), in spite of not really agreeing with them (privately). This is seen in\u00a0Asch\u2019s line experiment<\/a>.\r\n\r\nCompliance stops when there are no group pressures to conform, and is therefore a temporary behavior change.\r\n

Internalization\u00a0(genuine acceptance of group norms)<\/small><\/h3>\r\nThis occurs 'when an individual accepts influence because the content of the induced behavior\u2014the ideas and actions of which it is composed\u2014is intrinsically rewarding. He adopts the induced behavior because it is congruent [consistent] with his value system' (Kelman, 1958, p. 53).\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nInternalization always involves public and private conformity. A person publicly changes their behavior to fit in with the group, while also agreeing with them privately.\r\n\r\nThis is the deepest level of conformity were the beliefs of the group become part of the individual\u2019s own belief system. This means the change in behavior is permanent. This is seen in\u00a0Sherif\u2019s autokinetic experiment<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThis is most likely to occur when the majority have greater knowledge, and members of the minority have little knowledge to challenge the majority position.\r\n

Identification\u00a0(or group membership)<\/small><\/h3>\r\nThis occurs 'when an individual accepts influence because he wants to establish or maintain a satisfying self-defining relationship to another person or group' (Kelman, 1958, p. 53).\r\n\r\nIndividuals conform to the expectations of a social role, e.g. nurses, police officers. It is similar to compliance as there does not have to be a change in private opinion. A good example is\u00a0Zimbardo's Prison Study<\/a>.\r\n
\r\n
Man (1969) identified an additional type of conformity:<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Ingratiational<\/h3>\r\nThis is when a person conforms to impress or gain favor\/acceptance from other people.\r\n\r\nIt is similar to normative influence, but is motivated by the need for social rewards rather than the threat of rejection, i.e., group pressure does not enter the decision to conform.\r\n

Explanations of Conformity<\/h2>\r\nDeutsch and Gerrard (1955) identified two reasons why people conform:\r\n

Normative Conformity<\/span><\/h3>\r\n