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examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: Personality and Conformity
Not everyone conforms to the same degree. While social factors like group size and unanimity are important, our own personality traits also play a significant role in determining how likely we are to conform. Some people naturally resist social pressure, while others tend to go along with the crowd more easily.
Key Definitions:
Personality traits help explain why different people react differently to the same social pressure. Understanding these traits can help us predict who might be more susceptible to conformity in various situations, from peer pressure at school to workplace compliance.
Studying the link between personality and conformity helps psychologists understand human behaviour better. This knowledge has practical applications in education, marketing, healthcare and understanding how dangerous group behaviours like cults develop.
Research has identified several personality traits that influence how likely someone is to conform. Let's explore the most significant ones:
Locus of control refers to where people believe control over their life events resides. This concept was developed by Julian Rotter in 1954 and has been shown to significantly impact conformity behaviour.
People with an internal locus of control believe they control their own destiny. They think their own actions determine what happens to them.
Conformity tendency: Less likely to conform as they trust their own judgement and feel responsible for their decisions.
People with an external locus of control believe that outside forces like luck, fate, or powerful others control their lives.
Conformity tendency: More likely to conform as they already believe external forces determine outcomes, making it easier to accept group influence.
Crowne and Liverant conducted a study where participants with different locus of control scores completed an Asch-style line judgment task. They found that participants with an external locus of control were significantly more likely to conform to incorrect group judgments than those with an internal locus of control. They also reported less confidence in their own judgments when going against the group.
Authoritarianism refers to a personality type that values obedience to authority and adherence to social conventions. This trait was extensively studied after World War II to understand why some people followed destructive authority figures.
People high in authoritarianism typically:
Relationship with conformity: Research consistently shows that individuals scoring high on authoritarianism measures are more likely to conform to social pressure, especially when the pressure comes from authority figures or established institutions.
After Milgram's famous obedience experiments, researchers Elms and Milgram studied the personality characteristics of participants who had fully obeyed the experimenter's instructions to deliver what they thought were dangerous electric shocks. They found that fully obedient participants scored significantly higher on measures of authoritarianism than participants who had refused to continue. This suggests that authoritarian personality traits predispose individuals to conform to authority, even when asked to do something potentially harmful.
Self-esteem refers to a person's overall subjective evaluation of their own worth. It encompasses beliefs about oneself as well as emotional states like triumph, despair, pride and shame.
People with high self-esteem generally have confidence in their abilities and judgments.
Conformity tendency: Generally less likely to conform as they trust their own opinions and feel secure enough to stand out from the group.
People with low self-esteem often doubt their abilities and judgments, seeking validation from others.
Conformity tendency: More likely to conform as they may lack confidence in their own opinions and fear negative evaluation from others.
However, the relationship between self-esteem and conformity isn't always straightforward. Some studies suggest that people with very high self-esteem might sometimes conform less because they're overconfident, while those with moderate self-esteem might actually show the lowest conformity levels because they're secure but not arrogant.
People who enjoy thinking deeply about issues (high need for cognition) tend to conform less, as they're more likely to think critically about group opinions rather than accepting them automatically.
Those with a high need to be different from others naturally resist conformity pressures as standing out fulfils their desire to be unique and distinctive.
Highly agreeable people (warm, friendly, cooperative) often conform more readily to maintain social harmony and avoid conflict with others.
Understanding the personality factors that make someone more likely to conform can help create interventions to prevent harmful conformity. For example, schools might design programmes to boost self-esteem and internal locus of control in teenagers to help them resist peer pressure to engage in risky behaviours like smoking or drug use. Similarly, workplaces can create environments where employees with different personality types feel comfortable speaking up against group decisions they believe are wrong.
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