Conformity

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

A form of majority influence where someone adopts the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours of a particular group in response to real or imagined group pressure

Question 2

What is compliance?

Answer 2

• Publicly conforming to the behaviour and or view of others in a group but privately maintaining one’s own views
• It involves going along with the group even if you don’t really agree with what they’re doing
• It’s a temporary change in behaviour that only lasts as long as the group pressure is present
• This type of conformity is linked to normative social influence
• e.g. publicly agree with friends about liking pop music but privately disliking this genre and no longer showing any preference to pop music when the friends are gone

Question 3

What is identification?

Answer 3

• When individuals adjust their behaviour and opinions to those of a group because membership of that group is desirable and its members are seen as role models
• This is a stronger form of conformity as it involves private AND public acceptance but it’s temporary as it’s not maintained when the group pressure is gone
• e.g. publicly and privately sharing the music taste of a group but not showing this preference without the group pressure

Question 4

What is internalisation?

Answer 4

• A conversion of private views to match those of a group
• The behaviour/belief of the majority is accepted by the individual and becomes part of their own belief system
• It is the most permanent form of conformity as it usually lasts even without group pressure
• This type of conformity is most likely to be linked to informational social influence
• e.g. someone changing their religion (both publicly and privately conforming) and maintaining this belief even without group pressure