Demonstrate-a-concept: Conformity

Have you ever wondered why we swing sitting down? Why not standing up? It’s more fun because you feel like you’re higher and when it’s time to jump off the swing you’re already standing up! It’s rather convenient. Being a psychology major, I have gotten pretty good at analyzing other’s behavior and finding a better answer than: “Well that’s just how things are.” I have learned that people conform to norms very often; which answers my swinging dilemma. When people go to the park they act like others around them do, this is part of conformity (Milgram & Sabini, 1978).

People conform for two different reasons. The first is because they want to be right, this is called informational influence. Research on this phenomenon includes having participants identify pictures. Results show that participants are more likely to agree with the others in the room, if they are unsure of the details (Gabbert et al., 2003). The second reason is because they want to fit in and are scared of the consequences of not fitting in, this is called normative influence. Research on this area includes putting the participant in a room of confederates that chose the wrong answer in an easy task. Forty one percent of the participants conformed to the answer that the confederates picked. In this specific study it was also interesting to see that brain imaging techniques showed changes in perception of the task (Berns et al., 2005).

These two reasons for conforming are also important in understanding what type of conformity one engages in. The first type of conformity is called private conformity. This type of conformity is also known as conversion because it involves completely changing one’s behavior to fit in with the group. The second type of conformity is public conformity, this conformity is not as strong, and the individual only changes to respond to the normative pressures of others (Baron et al., 1996).

In the following video conformity is illustrated by the two boys hanging out in the park. Before I begin analyzing, please let me introduce you to the participants of this video, the boy in the blue shirt is C.J. and the boy in the white shirt is Robert. The very first example of conformity that we see is that they both go toward the swings. They are conforming to the social norm of going to the park and playing on the playground instead of doing something radical, such as breaking into the pool next to the park. The second example is of normative influence, Robert falls prey to this type of influence by swinging sitting down just like C.J. Although, C.J. also falls to this normative influence because he jumps off the swing after Robert; both of these boys are under public conformity because they are responding to each other’s and the society’s normative pressures.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lopezfua#p/a/u/0/UgVWf-r-EKg

References:

Baron, R.S., Vandello, J.A., & Brunsman, B. (1996). The forgotten variable in conformity research: Impact of task importance on social influence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 915-927.

Berns, G.S., Chappelow, J., Zink, C.F., Pagnoni, G., Martin-Skurski, M.E., & Richards, J. (2005). Neurobiological correlates of social conformity and independence during mental rotation. Biological Psychiatry, 58, 245-253.

Gabbert, F., Memon, A. & Allan, K. (2003). Memory conformity: Can eyewitnesses influence each other’s memories for an event? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 533-543.

Milgram, S. & Sabini, J. (1978). On maintaining urban norms: A field experiment in the subway. Advances in Environmental Psychology (1).