Conformity

• Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change of belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.
• This change is in response to real or imagined group pressure.
• Compliance occurs when an individual accepts influence because he hopes to achieve a favorable reaction from another person or group.
• The behavior is adopted in anticipation of a specific reward or approval and also to avoid specific punishment or disapproval from the group.
• Private compliance is conforming to other peoples behavior and having a genuine belief in that behavior, believing in the behavior both publicly and privately.
• Public compliance is conforming to other peoples behavior publicly without necessarily believing in what they are saying or doing.
• Internalization is the genuine acceptance of group norms, where the beliefs of the group become a part of the individuals own belief system.
• internalization : The change in behavior is permanent.
• Internalization is most likely to occur when the majority have greater knowledge and the members of the minority have little knowledge to challenge the majority position.
• Identification occurs when an individual accepts influence because he wants to establish or maintain a satisfying self-defining relationship to another person or group.
• identification : Individuals conform to the expectations of a social role, such as nurses and police officers.
• Normative conformity is yielding to group pressure in order to fit in, as seen in the Asch line study.
• Conforming due to the fear of rejection by the group is a common occurrence in normative conformity.
• Normative C : This type of conformity usually involves public compliance.
• Informational Conformity is when an individual lacks knowledge or is ambiguous about a situation, therefore they look to the group for guidance.
• Informational Conformity involves internalization.