Conformity

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to what individuals perceive as being normal of their social group. In other words it is a form of social influence in which individuals change their behaviour or attitudes to adhere to existing social norms. This change may be in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure.

Conformity may have positive or negative effects depending on the situation. People conform for a desire to achieve security within a social group. This group maybe similar in age, religion, culture, race, or educational status. An unwillingness to conform may lead to rejection and in this way persons avoid the risk of criticisms and some other negative outcome. On the other hand conformity influence the formation and maintenance of social norms and help societies function smoothly and predictably. In this sense it can be a positive force that prevents acts that are disruptive or dangerous.

There are many factors influencing why people conform and the extent to which they will conform. Three of which will be discussed.

Firstly, social psychologist Turner (1991) states that cohesiveness has a great influence on conformity. Cohesiveness is defined as the extent to which one is attracted to a particular group and wants to belong to it. The more value an individual places on being a member of a social group, the more the individual conforms to the rules set and avoid anything that will go against the group

dynamic. Crandall (1998); Latane & Herrou; Noel etal (1995) agrees with this; saying that the more persons like or is attracted to people, the more they want to be like them thus they conform. An example of this may be seen where individuals want to join exclusive clubs. They will do their best to adhere to the formal and informal rules of the club including those of speech and dress.

A second factor influencing conformity is that of social norms. Social norms are what society deems appropriate for a social group. There is a fundamental human need to belong to social groups and evolution has taught us that survival and prosperity is more likely if we live and work together. However, to live together, we need to agree on common beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors that reduce in-group threats and act for the common good. Descriptive norms describe what most people do in a given situation. They are based on perceptions of how others are actually behaving and they influence behaviour by telling what is generally seen as effective or adaptive in given situations regardless of what behaviours are socially sanctioned. On the other hand an injunctive norm outlines the approved and disapproved behaviour in a given situation. They tell what ought to be done. According to Cialdini, Reno and Kallgren, 1990, these norms will influence behaviour only to the extent that they are viewed as relevant or significant to the people involved at the time the behaviour occur. They state that descriptive norms appear to be effective in the immediate sense and tend not to generalize in their impact. "People will go with the flow in the immediate modeling environment but

not beyond". Injunctive norms however, are really powerful in situations where antisocial behaviour is likely, thus modeling in these cases are really effective.

A final factor affecting conformity is that of the situational norms. These are norms that tell us how to behave in particular situations or environment. One does not have to aware of these norms for them to influence

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