Conformity

Conformity is when someone changes their behaviour to match that of other people.^[1][2]

It can happen for personal and social reasons. Personally, people conform because they have expectations for themselves. They might believe that behaving a certain way will help them reach a goal. Conformity can also happen because of other people’s influence. People will conform to be liked or to be a part of a group.^[3]

Conformity happens in different levels.^[1][2][3] Furthermore, the reasons that someone conforms for and what they hope to get out of it, are often linked.^[4] Growing up, children learn by copying the behaviours of others. They rely on other’s opinions to be true or on their behaviour to be appropriate.^[5] Furthermore, the size of the group matters when conforming.^[1]

People conform for normative and informational reasons.^[5] Additionally, there is a difference between compliance, identification and internalization.^[4]

There is much research on conformity.^[1] Two of the most famous conformity experiments are those by Sherif (1935)^[6] and by Asch (1955).^[7]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Coultas, Julie; van Leeuwen, Edwin J. C. (2015). "Conformity: Definitions, Types, and Evolutionary Grounding". Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology. pp. 189–202. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12697-5_15. ISBN 978-3-319-12696-8.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Cialdini, Robert B.; Goldstein, Noah J. (2001). "Social Influence: Compliance and conformity". Annual Review of Psychology. 55 (1): 591–621. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.142015. PMID 14744228. S2CID 18269933.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Bernheim, B. Douglas (Oct 1994). "A Theory of Conformity". Journal of Political Economy. 102 (5): 814–877. doi:10.1086/261957. S2CID 154678438.^{[permanent dead link]}
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Kelman, H. C. (1958). "Compliance, identification, and internalization three processes of attitude change". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 2 (1): 51–60. doi:10.1177/002200275800200106. S2CID 145642577.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Deutsch, M.; Gerard, H. B. (1955). "A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgement". The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 51 (3): 629–636. doi:10.1037/h0046408. PMID 13286010. S2CID 35785090.
6. ↑ Sherif, Muzafer (July 1935). "A Study of Some Social Factors in Perception" (PDF). Archives of Psychology. no. 187: 52-53. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
7. ↑ Asch, S. E. (1955). "Opinions and social pressure". Scientific American. 195 (5): 31–35. Bibcode:1955SciAm.193e..31A. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1155-31. S2CID 4172915.