Conformity » What is Conformity?

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

The definition of conformity in social psychology
Types of conformity: compliance, internalisation and identification
Key factors that influence conformity
Famous studies on conformity including Asch's line experiment
Real-world examples and applications of conformity
How to evaluate conformity research

Introduction to Conformity

Have you ever changed your behaviour or opinion to fit in with a group? Perhaps you've laughed at a joke you didn't find funny, or agreed with friends even when you thought differently? If so, you've experienced conformity - one of the most powerful social influences on human behaviour.

Key Definitions:

Conformity: A type of social influence where a person changes their behaviour, attitudes or beliefs to match those of others or to follow social norms.
Social norms: The unwritten rules about how to behave in a particular social group or culture.
Social influence: The process by which an individual's thoughts, feelings, or behaviours are affected by other people.

Why Study Conformity?

Understanding conformity helps explain why people sometimes act against their own judgement to fit in. It reveals how powerful group pressure can be and helps us recognise when we might be conforming without realising it. This knowledge is valuable in many settings including education, healthcare, business and understanding historical events where harmful conformity occurred.

Types of Conformity

Psychologist Herbert Kelman (1958) identified three different types of conformity, each with different motivations and outcomes:

🕵 Compliance

When a person publicly changes their behaviour to fit in with a group while privately disagreeing. This is often to gain approval or avoid rejection.

Example: Laughing at a joke you don't find funny because everyone else is laughing.

🧠 Internalisation

When a person genuinely accepts and believes in the group's views, both publicly and privately. This happens when we trust the group's knowledge or expertise.

Example: Changing your opinion about climate change after learning from trusted scientists.

👤 Identification

When a person adopts behaviours or beliefs of people they admire or want to be associated with. This is about wanting to be like someone else.

Example: Dressing like your favourite celebrity or adopting the same hobbies as people you look up to.

Asch's Line Study: The Power of Majority Influence

One of the most famous studies on conformity was conducted by Solomon Asch in 1951. This experiment showed how people might conform even when the correct answer is obvious.

🔬 The Asch Experiment

Method: Participants were shown a card with a line on it, then another card with three lines of different lengths. They had to say which of the three lines matched the original line in length. The task was simple, but there was a twist - the participant was in a room with 7-9 other people who were actually confederates (actors working with the researcher).

On critical trials, all confederates gave the same wrong answer before it was the real participant's turn to answer.

Results: About 75% of participants conformed at least once, giving an obviously incorrect answer. Overall, participants conformed to the incorrect group answer in about 32% of the critical trials.

Conclusion: Even with a clear correct answer, many people will conform to a unanimous group opinion.

Case Study Focus: Variations of Asch's Study

Asch conducted variations of his experiment to explore what factors affected conformity rates:

When just one confederate gave the correct answer, conformity dropped dramatically (from 32% to 5%).
When participants wrote their answers privately instead of announcing them, conformity reduced significantly.
Group size mattered - conformity increased with up to 3-4 confederates but didn't increase much beyond that.

These variations show that social support, privacy and group size all influence how likely we are to conform.

Factors That Influence Conformity

Research has identified several key factors that make conformity more or less likely:

📈 Group Size and Unanimity

Larger groups typically create more pressure to conform, but only up to a point (around 3-5 people). Having even one dissenter in the group dramatically reduces conformity.

🎯 Task Difficulty

People are more likely to conform when tasks are ambiguous or difficult. When we're unsure, we look to others for guidance.

💪 Perceived Expertise

We're more likely to conform to people we see as knowledgeable or experts in a particular area.

🌎 Culture

Collectivist cultures (which value group harmony) typically show higher conformity rates than individualistic cultures (which value independence).

💁 Individual Differences

Some personality traits are associated with higher conformity (e.g., low self-esteem, high anxiety). Age also matters - adolescents are often more susceptible to peer pressure.

👀 Public vs. Private Response

People conform more when their responses are public rather than private, as they want to avoid looking different or being rejected.

Real-World Examples of Conformity

Conformity isn't just something that happens in psychology labs - it affects many aspects of our everyday lives:

Fashion trends: People often dress similarly to their peer group or follow current fashion trends.
Social media behaviour: Users might like or share content because they see others doing so, not because they genuinely appreciate it.
Classroom behaviour: Students may not ask questions even when confused if no one else is asking questions.
Queuing: In the UK, people typically form orderly queues without being told to - a cultural norm people conform to.
Bystander effect: In emergencies, people often look to others to decide how to react, sometimes leading to no one helping.

The Dark Side of Conformity

While conformity can be positive (following safety rules, social cooperation), it has a darker side too. Historical examples like Nazi Germany show how conformity to authority and group pressure can lead to harmful actions. Stanley Milgram's famous obedience experiments were partly motivated by trying to understand how ordinary people could conform to carrying out atrocities during the Holocaust.

Evaluating Conformity Research

When studying conformity, it's important to think critically about the research:

👍 Strengths

Many conformity studies use controlled experiments, allowing researchers to establish cause and effect.
Studies like Asch's have been replicated many times with similar results, suggesting reliability.
Conformity research has real-world applications in understanding group behaviour.

👎 Limitations

Many classic studies lack population validity as they used mainly male American university students.
Laboratory studies may create artificial situations that don't reflect real-life conformity.
Ethical issues arise when participants experience stress or are deceived.
Cultural differences in conformity aren't always considered in older research.

Summary: Key Points About Conformity

Conformity is changing behaviour or beliefs to match others or follow social norms.
The three types are compliance (public but not private agreement), internalisation (genuine acceptance) and identification (conforming to be like admired others).
Asch's line study demonstrated that people will sometimes conform even when the correct answer is obvious.
Factors affecting conformity include group size, unanimity, task difficulty, culture and individual differences.
Conformity has both positive aspects (social cohesion) and negative potential (harmful group behaviour).
Understanding conformity helps us recognise when we might be unduly influenced by others and make more independent decisions.

Exam Tip

When answering exam questions about conformity, remember to:

Define conformity clearly
Distinguish between different types of conformity
Use evidence from studies like Asch's to support your points
Consider both strengths and limitations of conformity research
Include real-world examples to demonstrate understanding

🧠 Test Your Knowledge!