Benefits come from belonging in a group, individuals may conform on the surface but disagree with the group internally. This is called compliance, going along with the majority despite knowing they are incorrect. Informational social influence; is powered by what people need or their motives. When people are unaware how to behave, think or feel in a social situation the need for conformity is the need to be safe. An example of psychological research in conformity is Asch (1951) line study, where there were varying amount of both participants and confederates and they were asked to state which line was bigger out of three.
Normative social influence refers to instances where someone conforms in order to fit in and gain approval or avoid disapproval from other group members and this leads to conformity. This is known as compliance. Compliance is when an individual is exposed to the views or actions of a majority, they engage in social comparison. Because identifying with a majority is desirable, they change their views/actions to fit in with them. They go along with the majority without analysing why there is a difference.
They have three different options to choose; One line being the right one, one being ¾ inch shorter, and one ¾ inch longer (very obvious differences). Every person in the group is aware of the experiment taking place and the one person that doesn’t know that the others are aware is the test subject. The first few times they are asked, everyone chooses the right answer so they don’t make the subject suspicious. Then, they start choosing the wrong answers to see if the one person continues to answer with his own opinion or just go with everyone else’s. Only 25% of the subjects stuck to their own opinions and didn’t give in.
Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in within a group. This change is in response to real or imagined group pressure. A key feature of conformity is group pressure. Obedience is a type of social influence where a person will follow instructions but disagree privately. Obedience does not involve group pressure but from someone with higher status and authority.
Effects Of Social Pressure Adam J. Lehner In “Opinions and Social Pressure” Solomon Asch argues that although there are instances where people will choose to be independent in their opinions, many choose to conform to the majority for the purpose of avoiding insecurity created by social pressure. Asch’s experiment consisted of a group of college students gathered for a visual judgment evaluation. He told them that the purpose was to compare the lengths of vertical lines on two white cards, one showing the constant line to be matched, and the other showing three separate lines for comparison. The subjects were told to give their opinions out loud, in the order that they had been seated. What one of the subjects was unaware of is that they were the one that the experiment was based on.
It is that an individuals personality may make them more or less inclined to obey an authority figure. the characteristics of the authoritarian personality are rigid beliefs and submissive attitudes towards authority figures. individuals with this personality type are therefore more likely to be obedient. An example of such is the Bickman study , in which actors were dressed in outfits such as a suit or a security guard uniform and the level of obedience to authority was measured through the actors giving members of the
Both explicit and implicit attitudes may conflict with one another; unconsciously you will like something however consciously you may dislike it. Along with the conflict between them, researchers have proposed that both attitudes can be unrelated and that both do function differently. In building social interactions the explicit attitude is most important. The explicit attitude allows you to have responses that are being controlled and consciously evaluated, that allows you to have a social interaction with others without having any negativity. The conversation that is being held has responses that are being thought of before spoken.
Each of these factors plays a significant role in conformity and have their own process. Informational influence is when you conform due to the fact that you believe others are correct in their adjudications. For conformity is when you accept to put your personal feelings or opinions to the side in order for the group to be unified. When a person conforms they become one with a group for it shows the person’s dedication to the group’s standards. “Culture, gender, personality and other factors are believed to have great impact on how people conform themselves in a group settings” (Fiske, 2004).
A further description of acceptance is when a person conforms in belief and behavior; usually, a good move but not always. On the other hand, compliance is when a person conforms in behavior only, being in agreement with majority, although, it is not their belief. This is not always best practice. People are typically motivated to conform because of personal or group goals, group persuasion, and/or wanting to be accepted (Pavitt, 2001). The video of the Asch experiment shows that an individual will conform to the group
It is essential for people not only to give their consent, but also to fully understand what they are consenting to, and the implications of this. . People have become more comfortable with the idea of being asked for their views and consent. If no consent is given then you cannot proceed with the care. It is illegal to carry out a task without consent, or to put pressure on the person and go against their wishes.