The psychology behind conformity

Conformity is defined as an individual changing attitudes to align with a social group or network. Conformity towards groups can be observed frequently in everyday life, from the way our behaviour adjusts appropriately to different social groups, to our beliefs and judgments. But why do we conform? Are we always aware that we are conforming? And to what extent are we influenced by the people around us that it changes the way we view ourselves?

Conformity is defined as an individual changing attitudes to align with a social group or network. Conformity towards groups can be observed frequently in everyday life, from the way our behaviour adjusts appropriately to different social groups, to our beliefs and judgments. But why do we conform? Are we always aware that we are conforming? And to what extent are we influenced by the people around us that it changes the way we view ourselves?

Nowadays, there is a strong emphasis on being yourself, being unique, and not following the crowd. However, as much as we would like to say that social conformity doesn’t impact us, humans are evolutionarily driven to fit in. This means assimilating behaviour, vocabulary, and our thoughts to fit social ‘norms,’ whether spoken or unspoken. Even though conformity is often depicted as a malevolent force, in reality, it can be quite positive, providing a sense of belonging and identity, and encouraging people to adhere to moral rules. The need to belong is deeply ingrained in human biology. In evolutionary terms, going against one’s group could be costly, potentially jeopardizing one’s survival.

Not all conformity is the same; psychologists have identified two main types of conformity in our society: informational and normative. Informational conformity is the tendency to seek opinions, information, and decisions from a group. This can lead us to alter our opinions or dilute them to align with a group during a political discussion or rely more on others’ recollection of events than our own. This was demonstrated in the Asch conformity experiment, where participants unknowingly partook in a task, thinking they were part of a larger panel making judgments, when in reality, the other members of their team were confederates (actors pretending to be participants in the experiment). After stimuli were presented, the confederates would all discuss and provide an obviously incorrect answer. The participants then had to decide whether to use their own logic and information or change their answer to conform with the rest of the group – this is informational conformity. The results were surprising; two-thirds of the participants submitted the obviously wrong answers to conform with the wider group.

Normative conformity is linked to altering public behaviour to fit in with specific groups without changing one’s underlying private beliefs. You may notice this kind of conformity in yourself or your friends – acting more intelligent around smarter individuals, or more extroverted around outgoing people. Many people tend to have different versions of themselves and behave differently in various groups to gain acceptance. This is also why phenomena like fashion trends and peer pressure are so prevalent.

So, is conformity positive or negative? While conformity can gradually prompt people to change based on the people they are around, sometimes conformity can be a positive force, fostering social cohesion and the need to adhere to norms and rules that ultimately benefit society and facilitate cooperation.

In conclusion, despite conformity often being viewed negatively as ‘fitting in,’ perhaps we should reconsider our perspective on conformity as more of a grey area in everyday life.