conformity types Flashcards
Conformity definition
A form of social influence that results from exposure to the majority position. It is the tendency for people to adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of other members of a reference group
3 types of conformity
Compliance
Internalisation
Identification
What is compliance
when an individual accepts influence because they hope to achieve a favourable reaction from those around them.
An attitude or behaviour is adopted not because of its content, but because of the rewards or approval associated with its adoption.
Compliance does not result in any change in the person’s underlying attitude, only in the views and behaviours they express in public.
What is internalisation
when an individual accepts influence because the content of the attitude or behaviour proposed is consistent with their own value system.
This can lead to acceptance of the group’s point of view both publicly and privately.
what is identification
A form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group.
Identification has elements of both compliance and internalisation as the individual accepts the attitudes and behaviours they are adopting as right and true (internalisation), but the purpose of adopting them is to be accepted as a member of the group (compliance).
AO3 conformity types: Difficult to distinguish between compliance and internalisation
The relationship between compliance and internalisation is complicated because of difficulties in knowing when each is actually taking place.
For example, it is assumed that a person who publicly agrees with a majority yet disagrees with them in private must be demonstrating compliance rather than internalisation.
However, it is also possible that acceptance of the group’s views has occurred in public yet dissipates later when in private.
This could be because they have forgotten information given by the group or because they have received new information that changes their mind. This demonstrates the difficulty in determining what is, and what is not, simple compliance rather than internalisation.
