Types and explanations

• Types of conformity

  By Kelman

  • internalisation
  • identification
  • compliance
• Internalisation 


  = when a person genuinely accepts the group norms.

  • results in private and public change in opinions/behaviours
  • permanent change as attitudes have been internalised
• Identification 


  = conforming to opinions/behaviours of a group because there is something about the group we value. We identify with it and want to be part of it.

  • publicly change our opinions and behaviours to be accepted by the group, even if we don’t privately agree with everything the group stands for
• Compliance 


  = involves going along with others in public but not changing our personal opinions and behaviours in private.

  • superficial change
  • behaviour stops as soon as group pressure stops
• Informational social influence 


  = we agree with the opinion of the majority because we believe it is correct. We accept it because we want to be right too.

  permanent change
• Normative social influence 


  = we agree with the opinion of the majority because we want to gain social approval and be liked.

  temporary change
• Evaluation- research support for NSI

  Asch interviewed his participants, some said they conformed because they felt self-conscious and afraid of disapproval.

  • when participants wrote their answers down conformity fell to 12.5%
  • privately their was no normative group pressure
  • so some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by group.
• Evaluation- research support for ISI

  Todd Lucas et al found participants conformed more often to incorrect answers they were given when maths problems were difficult.

  • because when problems were easy the participants ’knew in their own minds’ but when problems were hard the situation became ambiguous.
  • participants didn’t want to be wrong so relied on answers they were given
• Counterpoint

  Unclear whether it is NSI or ISI at work in research studies. Eg: Asch found that conformity is reduced when there is one other dissenting participant.

  The dissenter may reduce the power of NSI or they may reduce the power of ISI- both are possible.

  • so it’s hard to separate ISI and NSI and both processes probably operate together in most real life conformity situation.
• Individual difference in NSI

  limitation= NSI does not predict conformity in every case.

  • some are greatly concerned with being liked by others- have strong need for affiliation so they are more likely to conform.
  • shows that NSI underlies conformity for some people more than for others. These are Individual difference that can’t be explained by one general theory