Conformity within a group entails members changing their attitudes and beliefs in order to match those of others within the group. Those that conform tend to be obedient and compliant. In order to conform, the group member must attribute someone as having the legitimacy and credibility to lead or influence the group's behaviour. Without this "leader", conformity toward the group's goals will be less prevalent. If a member of the group fails to conform to the groups needs, he/she would lose credibility with the rest of the group.
In the book, norms are defined as “the specific expectations about how people behave in a given situation”. Without norms, a society has no foundation on which to stand. It would have no, as the name promotes, normalcy. In this project, we were asked to violate a social norm in a public setting and make observations on what we saw and how our audience responded. The social norm that I chose to violate was simply that of common courtesy.
People who are alone are more likely to be effective because they imagine if they are the victim, they expect people around would help. In contrast, when individuals are in a group, they follow what the group does. Individuals think that someone in the group has already take care the scene; they are being lazy because there are more of them, and they think they don’t have to worry about it. So, individuals are more likely to be lazy when they are in a group. Secondly, individuals think and act differently when they are in a group is because they are being controlled by the group.
Conformity is a social observable fact that affects people’s behavior and opinion. How conformity affects you in all aspects of your life? I personally believe conformity can be view as Positive as well as Negative. As long as you don’t Fall into it and lose your integrity as a human being. Creatively you can be different.
Most people have a basic understanding of obedience; however, many may fail to see the application and the impact of it in their own lives and in our society. Submission into conformity discourages the type of independence that is valued in our supposedly free-thinking world. Censorship is one of the major themes in Fahrenheit 451, and its impact is illustrated through submission in appearance, behavior and thought. This invites us to draw clear relationships between Ray Bradbury‘s novel and our current society. The association between appearance and social acceptance is already apparent in our lives.
Human behaviour can change depending on the setting we are put in. There are different aspects which can affect our behaviour, influencing how we feel, think and behave. People are part of the causal effect as we as human beings want to belong; no one wants to be left out on their own. All human beings act differently in different situations, because no one is the same. However in today's society, psychologists have been able to do research on the way human’s behaviour react in different situations with different participants to be able to get a generalized result but to do so they must first distinguish if the participant is showing social or personal identities.
Social normative theory can help explain why the subjects in the experiment obeyed. According to Brown, 1986 “Obedience may be an ingrained habit that’s difficult to resist” (Gross, 2010, pg 419) Socialisation makes it a norm to follow the hierarchy of society and view obedience as necessary. When someone from a seemingly legitimate source says something contradictory to our beliefs and morals it creates tension and conflict within us as our first reaction is to obey. This is demonstrated in Milgram’s experiment when the subjects “displayed fears similar to those who defied the experimenter; yet they obeyed” (Milgram, 1963, pg 376). The subject followed the expected behaviour despite his reluctance to continue.
In certain situations that include violence, peer pressure, and lack of responsibility, most people are likely to throw common sense aside and follow the orders of a higher authority figure. People’s common sense is influenced when they are in a situation that gives them power to control others, when they are under pressure by people in a group atmosphere, and when they are not forced to take responsibility for their actions. When given permission by a higher authority to harm or injure another human being, many would assume that common sense comes into effect and people would make the morally correct decision. However, studies of obedient behavior illustrate how compliant people can be when in the presence of an authoritative figure. For example, when an authority figure assures a subject that full responsibility is not the subject’s, he or she is more likely to continue even if it causes harm to another person.
Considering the opinions of others can be used as a tool to assess the accuracy of our own conclusions. We conform because we consider that others may have correct data. Normative social influence can also cause conformity. When we are exposed to this type of social influence we mirror the conduct of others in the same situation because it is believed to be the proper normal behavior. Human beings in general do not like standing out from a crowd or feelings of rejection; so, although we logically consider the circumstance, we also are motivated to behave a
Asch’s line judgment study greatly displayed this theory through its ability to garner results from its participants both individually and while in groups. Although at first participant’s showed resistance to conform it was only a matter of time before they were stating the wrong answer in hopes of being jointly correct with the rest of the group. This was seen as a form of compliance because the patients began to act in a manner which they believed would lead to acceptance within group even though they knew that the answer was wrong. Moreover, I myself have experienced normative social influences which resulted in my transition to compliance through many interactions with my friends. For example, I am a very serious person when it comes to the movies that I like so there are very few which I hold in high regard.