Conformity refers to the tendency for people to change their perceptions in ways that are consistent with group norms

Conformity by Bryony McIvor

Conformity refers to the tendency for people to change their perceptions in ways that are consistent with group norms. People do not always make individual decisions, the majority of the time they look to others to guide their thoughts and actions. A universal law of social groups seems to that they form norms. A norm is a belief shared by the majority of members in a group. If members have different views they are likely to conform, and usually do so.

Most people conform in order not to be rejected or because they feel the rest of the group know better than themselves. If a judgement has to be made publicly rather than in private or all other members disagree it is far more likely for a person to conform. Also if there is competition for a group to produce fewest mistakes or to be cooperative with one another, conformity is more likely. This is know as normative influence. However informational influence is when an individual thinks that the rest of the group are more informed or expert than themselves or the task at hand is difficult.

An individual is more likely to conform with a group which they like and to which they want to belong. There is more conformity, when the norm is directive. This means when what is being said is what is ought to be done, or indicating approval or disapproval rather than jus descriptive saying that it is what most people do.

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One of the earliest experiments in social psychology was a study of the formation of a social form, carried out by Mustaf Sherif in 1935. Mustaf’s experiment involved the ‘autokinetic effect’ whereby a point of light in an otherwise totally dark environment will appear to move randomly. Subjects were invited to estimate the amount of 'movement' they observed. They made their estimates in groups where each member could hear the others' estimates. Ultimately, the group members' estimates converged on a middle-of-the-road 'group estimate'. This would appear to show an urge to conform.

Crutchfield used military men attending a three day assessment program as subjects. Instead of actually confronting one another, the participants were in open cubicles in which there were five adjacent electrical panels. Each participant responded to the questions projected on the wall. All the participants found that they took their turn first, for a few times then second and then finally last. Not known to the participants theses were connected to the experimenters panel, not the other subjects. At any one time, each subject received the same information as the other four five. They found that females where more likely to conform and be conservative than the men. However, adult women who had been to college were less conforming than their male counterparts.

In Asch's classic experiment an observer had to say which of three lines was equal in line to a standard. The lines were very easy to distinguish and if tested on their own observers made few if any errors. When they were tested in a group who gave their judgements publicly and all the rest of the group gave the wrong answer, three-quarters of the naive observers conformed at least once by responding incorrectly. Overall about one-third of the overall responses were conforming ones. This may have caused embarrassment and distress. From Asch’s research a few questions arose:-