Depth Study - Social Conformity and Non-Conformity Flashcards
• Factors that influence conformity and obedience in individuals
Values and norms are the basic components of culture.
Values are the shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable. The values that a society holds help determine the character of its people and the nature of social life.
Norms that are important to the stability or well-being of the society are often established as laws.
Sanctions are rewards or punishments used to enforce conformity to values and norms. Positive sanctions include parents praising their child for good behaviour. Ceremonies, ribbons, badges, and awards are used to convince people to meet the challenges of conformity and to continually improve their behaviour.
Society must also employ negative sanctions to bring forth desired behaviour. A negative sanction is a punishment or the threat of punishment to enforce conformity. The threat of punishment is often enough to ensure conformity. Punishments can range from rejection, to fines and imprisonment. In general, the more important the norm, the more serious the punishment for nonconformity.
• Responses to social influence: acquiescence, internalisation, and identification
Acquiescence: Acquiescence is a process in which individuals or groups agree to or allow something to happen by remaining silent and not questioning.
In 1955, Solomon Asch conducted a series of landmark experiments that demonstrated the tendency to acquiesce. Asch put a subject into a small group of people he hadn’t met. The group was taken through a series of visual tests where the answers were obvious but, after a while, all the participants other than the subject would give unanimous, incorrect answers. Unknown to the subject, the others were all cooperating with the experimenters. As Asch put it, subjects were being tested to see what mattered more to them, their eyes, or their peers.
Internalisation: Internalisation is the process by which social norms becomes a part of an individual’s personality, thereby conditioning the individual to conform to society’s expectations.
For example, one value of the Semai tribespeople of the central Malay Peninsula of Malaysia is peace. As a result, individuals are expected to display peaceful, non-aggressive behaviour.
Identification: Identification involves acting in response to social pressure, while sometimes privately disagreeing.
For example, a woman reads a book for her book club and enjoys it immensely. However, when she attends her book club meeting, the other members all dislike the book. Rather than go against the group opinion, she simply agrees with the others that the book is terrible.
• Deindividuation: the impact of personal anonymity of individuals in groups
Deindividuation is a state in which individuals can lose their individuality and self-awareness when in a group. People can become anonymous and experience a reduced sense of personal responsibility and fear of punishment. This can result in the abandonment of normal restraints and inhibitions.
Example: Trick or treating on Halloween, Flash mobs.
• How nonconformity determines the boundary between ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ behaviours and attitudes
Some subcultures consider behaviours that are appropriate in broader society to be inappropriate. For example, in American society, the norm is to work hard at school and achieve academically. This behaviour is considered to be appropriate and is positively sanctioned by the receipt of a certificate or scholarship.
However, in some subcultures within American society, nonconformity is preferred in this situation. In some gangs, achieving good grades can be considered inappropriate behaviour. Gang members who perform well in school may be criticised for conforming. Conforming to traditional figures of authority, such as teachers, may be considered inappropriate and the individuals may be negatively sanctioned by means such as exclusion from the gang.
• The social costs and benefits of nonconformity for both individuals and the wider society
There are both social costs and benefits of nonconformity for both individuals and the wider society. A social cost for an individual for nonconformity is labelling. For example, a person who continues to drive over the speed limit can gain the reputation of being a reckless driver. People who commit acts that have serious social consequences for society, such as murder or robbery, are likely to be labelled as violent on the basis of a single act.
Another consequence of nonconformity for an individual can be stigmatisation. A stigma is a mark of social disgrace that sets the individual apart from the rest of society.
At the meso level of society, nonconformity can have a positive influence in the workplace. Positive nonconformity may include behaviours such as non-compliance with dysfunctional directives and criticising incompetent supervisors. This type of nonconformity is based on honourable intentions and is therefore praiseworthy as it benefits the workplace and employees.
Nonconformity can lead to beneficial social change. An example of this can be seen in changing gender roles.
• The impact of agenda setting, including the role of the media, on attitude formation in individuals and groups
Agenda setting involves bringing issues to the attention of the public. The mass media selects certain issues and portrays them frequently and prominently, which leads people to believe that those issues are more important than others. For example, when the media takes up a specific issue, such as climate change, the public is encouraged to think about it.
Social media has been used as a means of setting agendas. Human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have an agenda to draw attention to human rights issues. These organisations use their web sites and social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to initiate a dialogue through these online forums. The aim is to motivate the public to discuss human rights issues and participate in activities that can lead to social change.
Media tactics include font size, front page, attractive graphics, expert quotes, statistics and reliable source.
Agenda setting impacts our attitudes because in order to evaluate certain situations, we need to determine if we favour of disfavour the object or situation in question - our decision in these moments can be influenced by premeditated agendas.
These influences are important because of the cognitive process known as ‘accessibility’. The more often people see an issue covered in the news, the more accessible it will be in their memories.
More coverage of an issue can led to public pressure and changes to government policy, eg: describing Covid-19 as the ‘Chinese’ virus in some cases led to public pressure to economically push back against China.
• The ways the ideologies, values and behaviours of a subcultural group currently perceived as
not conforming to the wider society may influence others and lead to social change.
