Types and Explanations of conformity

• Compliance (lowest level of conformity)

  A temporary change in beliefs/behaviour publicly to fit in with a group and gain approval, but disagreeing in private. It is short-term and the behaviour is only done in the presence of the group.
• Example of compliance


  A person has a vegan diet when out with their friends who are all vegan to avoid disapproval but privately disagrees with veganism and eats animal products when the friend group isn’t around.
• Conformity 


  Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief of behaviour to fit in a group.
• Identification


  A temporary change in behaviour/beliefs, publicly and privately, to be associated with a particular group that is admired which stops when leaving the group.
• Example of identification 


  A person may become vegan because their friend group becomes vegan and they want to identify with this group and fit in. But once they leave that friend group or are different social settings, they stop being vegan.
• Internalisation (strongest level)


  Permanent change in belief/behaviour in public and private to fit in with a group.
• Example of internalisation


  A person starts eating vegan food when in the presence and not in the presence of their vegan friend group because they genuinely believe in the ethical reasons for veganism.
• Two process theory (Deutsch and Gerard 1955)


  Argued that people conform because of 2 basic needs: the need to be right (ISI) and the need to be liked (NSI)
• Informational social influence


  • Agreeing with the majority opinion of a group due to the desire to be right.
  • It is a cognitive process as it requires mental process like thinking, decision making etc and often leads to internalisation.
  • Occurs in ambiguous situations as people are unsure of the correct answer/what to do so they look to others they perceive as more competent
• what type of situation does ISI occur in?


  Ambiguous situations as people are unsure of the correct answer/what to do so they look to others they perceive as more competent
• What type of process is ISI


  It is a cognitive process as it requires mental process like thinking, decision making etc and often leads to internalisation.
• Normative social influence 


  Agreeing with the majority opinion in a group to seek approval and be liked.
• What type of process is NSI?


  It is an emotional process as it is driven by the need of social approval and the fear of rejection. This may lead to compliance.
• What type of situation does NSI occur in?

  Unfamiliar/stressful situations where you don’t know the norms and in situations where there is social pressure.
• Example of ISI


  A student is unsure of the answer to a difficult maths question during a lesson so they conform to the majority answer of the class as they believe that the others are correct and have more knowledge.
• Example of NSI


  A student joins a new friend group and starts vaping because they want to gain the social approval of the friend group and fit in
• Strength- ISI has research support


  • Lucas et Al (2006) found that pps were more likely to conform to the majority incorrect answer when they were given difficult maths problems to solve
  • Displays desire to be right (ISI) and shows that pps change their views during ambiguous situations
  • Shows that isi can happen in real contexts and strengthens validity
• Strength- NSI has research support


  • Asch (1951) found that many pps conformed to majority answer which was clearly incorrect during a series of unambiguous line tests
  • 33% conformed at least once which shows that ppl conform to be accepted into a group (NSI) and to gain approval
  • Highlights conformity impact on decision making and suggest theory is valid
• Limitation- hard to separate ISI and NSI


  • theory says that ISI and NSI are separate but this isn’t the case most of the time
  • E.g in Asch‘s and Lucas’s study it is unclear to definitely know if conformity occurred due to NSI or ISI
  • Says it can only be one but situations can have both
  • suggest lack of clarity
• Limitation- doesn’t account for individual differences


  • assumes that everyone is affected in the same way and want to fit in a group
  • But everyone has different views and personalities so may not want to fit it
  • Culture can affect thought processes too e.g individualist cultures are more independent so less likely to conform
  • Oversimplifies reasoning behind human behaviour and is reductionist as ignored potential factors affecting conformity like cultural norms or characteristics