Conformity

• Social influence


  The effect other people have on our opinions and behavior
• Conformity


  A change in our opinions or behavior to fit in with social norms or as result of perceived group pressure
• Conformity can be either a conscious or unconscious process
• Reasons why people conform


  • Need to be right
  • Need to be liked
• Informational social influence


  When in an unfamiliar situation or surrounded by people we think are of higher knowledge, we assume they are right so we watch and then follow their behavior
• Normative social influence


  We want to be accepted by others so we are likely to do or say things to help us fit in. However, we may be more motivated to fit in with some groups more than others
• Factors affecting social influence and conformity


  • Group size: we are more likely to adopt certain behaviors if we are in a group of 3 or more that are acting the same way as we feel increased pressure to fit in
  • Task difficulty: when we find something challenging, we look to others to guide our decisions because we lack confidence in our own judgements
  • Anonymity: this decreases the likelihood of conformity because it reduces concerns about people disagreeing and so ridiculing our views but it doesn't reduce conformity entirely
• Dispositional factors


  Internal personal characteristics which may affect how a person may behave
• Dispositional factors affecting conformity


  • Personality
  • Expertise
• Personality


  • Some characteristics increase conformity (low self-esteem, low IQ, low status in a group)
  • These lead to insecurity in social situations as we assume others know better
  • We are more likely to look to others for guidance so people shall like and accept us
• Expertise


  • Having a high expertise reduces conformity as we are confident in our opinions/what to do
  • May explain why research has found older people are less likely to conform than younger as we may feel more certain in our knowledge so less pressure to conform
  • Expertise affects conformity due to informational social influence
• Normative social influence


  Changing behavior or opinions because we want to fit in and be accepted by others
• Informational social influence


  Changing behavior or opinions because we think other people have superior knowledge to us