A change in behaviour or belief due to real or imagined group pressure
What are the 3 types of conformity?
Compliance
Identification
Internalisation
What is compliance?
Going along with the others in public but not privately changing beliefs. Only short term
What is identification?
We identify with a group we value and want to become part of it, publicly change beliefs when in presence of the group short term
What is internalisation?
Genuinely accepts groups beliefs and results in a private & public change of behaviour
long term, permanent change
What are the two explanations for conformity?
Informational social influence
Normative social influence
What is ISI?
Where we conform out of desire to be right, occurs in ambiguous situations.
Cognitive process
Leads to internalisation
What is NSI?
Desire to fit in with the groups social norms and behaviour, occurs in unfamiliar situations with people you know
Emotional process - prefers social approval
Leads to compliance
Strength of NSI - Research support
Asch found many conformed rather than giving the correct answer because they were afraid of socialdisapproval
When Ps wrote down answers, conformity fell to 12.5%
Limitation of NSI - Individual differences
Some are concerned about being liked by others (strong need for affiliation - relate to others).
Research found that those students were more likely to conform
Strength of ISI - Research support:
Lucas et al found Ps conformed more to incorrect answers when maths problems were difficult, the situation was ambiguous so they relied on the answers they were given
