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Explanations of conformity. Conformity is defined by David Myers (1999) as a change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure.
Teacher essay summary
The description of the various explanations in this essay starts very well, and there is some analysis through contrasting explanations.
The second half may not be considered relevant by an examiner though, unless the question asks for a comparison of majority and minority influence. Instead, there could have been discussion of Kelman's types of conformity and how these interact with normative and informational influence.
It is interesting that the writer has not chosen to discuss any research evidence for the theories - this would be a successful alternative approach to evaluation. Studies such as Asch, Sherif and Crutchfield could be used to illustrate the different processes and draw out issues with the explanations. It would also benefit from some real life examples to show how the explanations work in practice.
Ultimately, despite the accuracy of much of the description, this essay lacks analysis, possibly because there wasn't an analytical title.
Marked by teacher Jo Wilcox 17/02/2012
The first 200 words of this essay...
Conformity is defined by David Myers (1999) as "a change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure." This definition focuses upon the kind of experience that most people have had at one time or another: the feeling that others are putting pressure on us to change our minds or behaviour. However Zimbardo (1995) defined it as a "tendency for people to adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of other members of a reference group." This definition proposes that we tend to go along with those people that we compare ourselves to when evaluating ourselves.
According to the Duel process dependency model (Duetsch and Gerard 1955), there are two powerful psychological needs that lead people to conform to social norms. The Normative social influence involves conforming in order to be liked or accepted by a certain group, although not necessarily because a we believe the things they are doing or saying. The tendency to conform comes from the need to be some form of agreement as far as rules, morals and behaviours because otherwise there would be issues among the members. Over time we conform more and more to the ways other people do
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MbT essay summary
The description of the various explanations in this essay starts very well, and there is some analysis through contrasting explanations.
The second half may not be considered relevant by an examiner though, unless the question asks for a comparison of majority and minority influence. Instead, there could have been discussion of Kelman's types of conformity and how these interact with normative and informational influence.
It is interesting that the writer has not chosen to discuss any research evidence for the theories - this would be a successful alternative approach to evaluation. Studies such as Asch, Sherif and Crutchfield could be used to illustrate the different processes and draw out issues with the explanations. It would also benefit from some real life examples to show how the explanations work in practice.
Ultimately, despite the accuracy of much of the description, this essay lacks analysis, possibly because there wasn't an analytical title.
