What factors cause conformity?
Group size
—larger groups are more likely to conform to similar behaviors and thoughts than smaller ones. Unanimity—individuals are more likely to conform to group decisions when the rest of the group's response is unanimous. Status—individuals are more likely to conform with high-status groups.
What are the 7 conditions that strengthen conformity?
The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them. Seven conditions that strengthen conformity: 1)
one feels insecure, 2) _____________, 3) group is unanimous, 4) One admires the group, 5) one has no prior commitment to a response, 6) group is watching, 7) less individualistic society
.
What are four factors that have been found to increase or decrease conformity?
- accountability. can increase conformity in low-pressure situations, but decreases conformity when one needs to be accurate.
- age. pressure to conform is most greatest from ages 10 to 25.
- authority. …
- commitment. …
- reference groups. …
- security. …
- self-esteem. …
- unanimity.
Why do people conform?
People sometimes conform to groups
because they are motivated to be liked (or at least not disliked) and believe that other members will feel more kindly toward them if they conform to rather than deviate from group norms
. That kind of conformity reflects what Deutsch and Gerard labeled normative influence.
What are the 4 types of conformity?
- Types of Conformity. …
- Compliance (or group acceptance) …
- Internalization (genuine acceptance of group norms) …
- Identification (or group membership) …
- Ingratiational. …
- Explanations of Conformity. …
- Normative Conformity. …
- Informational Conformity.
The three main variables affecting conformity that we will look at are
group size, unanimity and task difficulty
(as investigated by Asch).
The tendency to conform is decreased by b.
valuing being right over being liked
.
A meta- analysis by Bond and Smith (1996) found that culture has significant influence on levels of conformity achieved by Asch-type conformity studies. They found that
cul- tures with more dominant collectivist ideals tended to exhibit higher levels of confor- mity than individualistic cultures
.
- The size of the majority: The greater the number of people in the majority, the more likely an individual will conform. …
- The presence of another dissenter: If there is at least one dissenter, conformity rates drop to near zero (Asch, 1955).
The two types of social conformity are
normative conformity and informational conformity
. Normative conformity occurs because of the desire to be liked and accepted. Peer pressure is a classic example of normative conformity. On the other hand, informational conformity occurs because of the desire to be correct.
Obedience is obeying someone with a higher status; conformity is going along with people of equal status.
Obedience relies on social power; conformity relies on the need to be socially accepted
.
There are some small gender differences in conformity
. In public situations, men are somewhat more likely to hold their ground, act independently, and refuse to conform, whereas women are more likely to conform to the opinions of others in order to prevent social disagreement.
- A person going to work dresses in the same style as colleagues in order to fit in.
- A college student takes drugs because they don't want to appear ‘boring' when all their friends are doing it.
- A person walks around the airport like a zombie acting very passively, to fit in with other passengers.
Human beings need norms
to guide and direct their behavior, to provide order and predictability in social relationships and to make sense of and understanding of each other's actions
. These are some of the reasons why most people, most of the time, conform to social norms.
-People conform
because they want to make correct judgements and assume that when others agree on something, they must be right
. Influence that produces conformity when a person fears the negative social consequences of appearing deviant.
