Types of conformity

• Internalisation

  Occurs when a person genuinely accepts the group norms. This results in a private as well as a public change of opinions/behaviour. This change is usually permanent because attitudes have been internalised, i.e. become part of the way the person thinks. The change in opinions/behaviour persists even in the absence of other group members.
• Identification

  We conform to the opinions/behaviour of a group because there is something about that group we value. We identify with the group, so we want to be part of it. This identification may mean we publicly change our opinions/behaviour to be accepted by the group, even if we don't privately agree with everything the group stands for.
• Compliance

  This type of conformity involves simply 'going along with others' in public, but privately not changing personal opinions and/or behaviour. Compliance results in only a superficial change. It also means that a particular behaviour or opinion stops as soon as group pressure stops.
• Informational social influence (ISI)

  About who has the better information - you or the rest of the group. Often we are uncertain about what behaviours or beliefs are right or wrong. We follow the behaviour of the group (the majority) because we want to be right. ISI is a cognitive process because it is to do with what you think. It leads to a permanent change in opinion/behaviour (internalisation).
• Informational social influence (ISI)

  • Most likely to happen in situations that are new to a person (so you don't know what is right) or where there is some ambiguity (so it isn't clear what is right)
  • Also occurs in crisis situations where decisions have to be made quickly and we assume that the group is more likely to be right
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  About norms, i.e. what is 'normal' or typical behaviour for a social group. Norms regulate the behaviour of groups and individuals so it is not surprising that we pay attention to them. People do not like to appear foolish and prefer to gain social approval rather than be rejected. NSI is an emotional rather than a cognitive process. It leads to a temporary change in opinions/behaviour (compliance).
• Normative social influence (NSI)

  • Likely to occur in situations with strangers where you may feel concerned about rejection
  • May also occur with people you know because we are most concerned about the social approval of our friends
  • May be more pronounced in stressful situations (than non-stressful situations) where people have a greater need for social support
• Research supports NSI as an explanation of conformity
• Research also supports ISI as an explanation of conformity
• It is often unclear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in research studies (or in real life)
• Both NSI and ISI probably operate together in most real-world conformity situations
• There are individual differences in conformity that cannot be fully explained by one general theory of situational pressures