Conformity

by Saul McLeod, published 2007

Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.

This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure.

Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure).

The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification).

There have been many experiments in psychology investigating conformity and group pressure.

Jenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity. His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans. He asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion. Participants were then asked to estimate the number on their own again to find whether their initial estimates had altered based on the influence of the majority. Jenness then interviewed the participants individually again, and asked if they would like to change their original estimates, or stay with the group's estimate. Almost all changed their individual guesses to be closer to the group estimate.

However, perhaps the most famous conformity experiment was by Solomon Asch (1951) and his line judgement experiment.

Types of Conformity

Man (1969) states that “the essence of conformity is yielding to group pressure”.

He distinguished between four different types of conformity: Normative, Informational, Compliance and Internalisation.

Normative Conformity	Informational Conformity
Yielding to group pressure because a person wants to fit in with the group. E.g. Asch Study. Conforming because the person is scared of being rejected by the group. This type of conformity usually involves compliance – where a person publicly accepts the views of a group but privately rejects them.	This usually occurs when a person lacks knowledge and looks to the group for guidance. Or when a person is in an ambiguous (i.e. unclear) situation and socially compares their behavior with the group. E.g. Sherif Study. This type of conformity usually involves internalisation – where a person accepts the views of the groups and adopts them as an individual.
Compliance	Internalisation
Publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group while privately disagreeing. In other words, conforming to the majority (publicly), in spite of not really agreeing with them (privately). This is seen in Asch’s line experiment.	Publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group and also agreeing with them privately. This is seen in Sherif’s autokinetic experiment.
Ingratiational Conformity	Non-Conformity
Where a person conforms to impress or gain favour/acceptance from other people. It is similar to normative influence but is motivated by the need for social rewards rather than the threat of rejection, i.e., group pressure does not enter the decision to conform.	This may amount to either (i) independence of behavior, or (ii) anti-conformity, which amounts to rebellion against group norms for its own sake.

Sherif (1936) Autokinetic Effect Experiment

Aim: Sherif (1936) conducted an experiment with the aim of demonstrating that people conform to group norms when they are put in an ambiguous (i.e. unclear) situation.

Method: Sherif used a lab experiment to study conformity. He used the autokinetic effect – this is where a small spot of light (projected onto a screen) in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still (i.e. it is a visual illusion).

It was discovered that when participants were individually tested their estimates on how far the light moved varied considerably (e.g. from 20cm to 80cm). The participants were then tested in groups of three. Sherif manipulated the composition of the group by putting together two people whose estimate of the light movement when alone was very similar, and one person whose estimate was very different. Each person in the group had to say aloud how far they thought the light had moved.

Results: Sherif found that over numerous estimates (trials) of the movement of light, the group converged to a common estimate. As the figure below shows: the person whose estimate of movement was greatly different to the other two in the group conformed to the view of the other two.

Sherif said that this showed that people would always tend to conform. Rather than make individual judgments they tend to come to a group agreement.

Conclusion: The results show that when in an ambiguous situation (such as the autokinetic effect), a person will look to others (who know more / better) for guidance (i.e. adopt the group norm). They want to do the right thing but may lack the appropriate information. Observing others can provide this information. This is known as informational conformity.

Further Information

Majority Influence / Conformity

References

Asch, S.E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. In H. Guetzkow (Ed.), Groups, leadership and men. Pittsburg, PA: Carnegie Press.

Crutchfield, R. (1955). Conformity and Character. American Psychologist, 10, 191-198.

Jenness, A. (1932). The role of discussion in changing opinion regarding a matter of fact. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 27 , 279-296.

Sherif, M. (1936). The psychology of social norms. New York: Harper.

How to cite this article: McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; . Retrieved , from

Conformity

Types of Conformity

Sherif (1936) Autokinetic Effect Experiment

Further Information

References

Asch Conformity