types of conformity

conformity can be defined as

a type of social influence involving changes in belief or behaviour to fit in with a certain group

examples of conformity

music taste

crime

alcohol

drugs

bullying

sex

fashion trends

compliance meaning

individuals publicly go along with majority view, but privately disagree, superficial, temporary

compliance example

drinking alcohol at a party because everyone else is and you want to be accepted, but in reality you wanted to stay home sober

internalisation meaning

view publicly expressed opinions and accept it privately and publicly, deepest and permanent type

internalisation example

being introduced to a religion because your partner is religious, then converting because you genuinely agree

Asch AIM

to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group is required to affect a person to conform

Asch sample

sample: 123 male students, “visual perception” in groups of 7-9 around a table

Asch procedure

• a real ppt seated in a row around amongst confederates. ppts seated 6th in a row of 7

• ppts asked to study/examine visual and perpetual (ongoing) judgements

• instructed to pick which 3 lines “matched” a standard line

• in 12/18 critical trials, the confederate gave wrong answers (6 trials each for longer, shorter & correct)

Asch results

overall conformity rate is 32% (when ppts gave same wrong answer as the confederates). large individual differences. 5% conformed on every trial. 25% remained completely independent. some doubted eyesight (ISI), some wanted to fit in (NSI)

Asch conclusion

some ppts didnt want to stand out but knew they were right (NSI)

some ppts believed others knew better/had more knowledge/ and doubted their intelligence/eyesight (ISI)

informational social influence

• aka. ISI

• conform because of lack of knowledge or being unsure so we look to others for the correct answer

• desire to be right

• if situation is ambiguous or we believe others are experts we will agree with them, as they have more knowledge

• must respect the majority to have ISI

• driven by cognitive factors, leads to internalisation

normative social influence

• aka. NSI

• conformity occurs due to the need to be accepted and part of the group

• rewarded with recognition and approval

• driven by emotional factors, leads to compliance

NSI and ISI evaluations

weaknesses

• artificial, difficult to generalise, low ecological validity

• individual differences

• lacks explanatory power on why ppl don’t conform

• partial explanations

strengths

• practical applications

• research support eg. bond 2005