Social Conformity and Non-Conformity Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering social conformity, non-conformity, psychological experiments, responses to social influence, and the Christiania focus study.

Conformity

Adjusting your attitudes, behaviours or beliefs to match those of a group; in simple terms, doing what others are doing to fit in.

Non-conformity

Choosing not to follow group norms, expectations or behaviours, which can be positive (standing up for others) or negative (breaking rules).

Informational Conformity

A type of conformity that occurs because a person believes other people are correct or they believe the group estimate is more likely to be right.

Normative Conformity

A type of conformity occurring because of the need to be accepted or because of the fear of possible negative consequences from not going along with the group.

Jenness (1932)

Conducted an early experiment with 101 psychology students estimating the number of beans ($811$) in a bottle to demonstrate informational social influence in ambiguous situations.

Solomon Asch

A psychologist who in the 1950s conducted the 'line judgement experiment' which showed that individuals may change their behaviour to match a majority's incorrect response.

$$75\%$$

The approximate percentage of participants in Asch's experiment who conformed to the group's incorrect answer at least once.

Stanley Milgram

Conducted a shock experiment in 1963 to investigate obedience to authority figures, even when the orders involved causing pain to others.

Obedience

Following orders from a person perceived to have authority.

Deindividuation

A situation where an individual within a group no longer acts based on personal beliefs and values, motivated by anonymity in a crowd and reduced inner restraints.

Acquiescence

A response to social influence where an individual changes behavior publicly to match a group while privately disagreeing.

Internalisation

A response to social influence where an individual genuinely accepts the group's beliefs as their own; it is considered the most permanent type of conformity.

Identification

Conforming because the individual admires or wishes to maintain a relationship with a person or group they wish to emulate; search for inclusion, ideology, or practice.

Dissent

The act of expressing a different opinion or disagreeing with the majority consensus.

Reactance

A motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom; often high in individuals who resist conformity.

Authority

The power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.

Taboos

Social norms describing actions that are strictly forbidden within a culture.

Mores

Rules guided by standards of morality within a culture that have consequences if not followed.

Laws

Social norms that constitute a formal body of rules enacted by and backed by the state.

Customs

Standards of behaviour that are socially approved but not necessarily morally significant.

Hazing

Ritualistic activities involving harassment, abuse, or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group.

Groupthink

A phenomenon where the desire for group harmony causes members to support an incorrect or deviant outcome.

Status Liability

The social and professional costs faced by individuals who deviate from norms, potentially losing career opportunities or public support.

Zimbardo's Deindividuation Model (1969)

An internal process where factors like anonymity, sensory overload, and group size lead to reduced self-accountability and uncontrolled behavior.

SIDE Theory (1995)

The Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects, which explains that anonymity online can either intensify shared social identity or amplify individual independence.

Agenda Setting Theory

The process where the media modifies attitudes by deciding which topics are given prominence, thus influencing what the public perceives as important.

Christiania

A self-proclaimed autonomous community in Copenhagen founded in 1971 on a former military base, known for its non-conformist values like collective ownership and self-governance.

Social Cohesion

The emotional and social bonds that glue a group together, often maintained in Christiania through communal living and shared resistance to external forces.

Referent Power

A form of power based on charisma and the desire of group members to identify with or please an individual.

Gentrification

The process where a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in and improving housing, which is seen as a threat to Christiania's collective identity.

Hygge

A Danish concept of coziness and comfortable conviviality that contributes to the shared sense of identity in Christiania.