...What is Conformity? Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure). The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification). Jenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity. His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans. He asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion. Participants were then asked to estimate the number on their own again to find whether their initial estimates had altered based on the influence of the majority. Jenness then interviewed the participants individually again, and asked if they would like to change their original estimates, or stay with the group's...
Words: 984 - Pages: 4
...This study is aimed at understanding and observing rule compliance between men and women. It examines the gender difference in compliance and/or conversion with people placing their rubbish in provided bins within a food court environment, as hypothesised women were more likely to be compliant with disposing their rubbish. Social influence is vital to gage individual’s behaviour. There is long-standing evidence in social psychology that people strive for consistency within their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour (Festinger, 1957). Therefore to uphold this level of consistency individuals must comply with the group or majorities attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. It is an important force keeping groups together and facilitating communication (Bond & Smith, 1996). Disposing of rubbish in a bin is a pro-environmental behaviour which can be categorised as a positive social norm. Social norms are defined as ‘rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, that guide and/or constrain social behaviour without the force of law’ (Cialdini & Trost, 1998). Adhering to these social rules is described in terms of conformity or adversely conversion. Various social norms can alter an individual’s response to a specific situation depending on their environment and individual gains from doing so. For example to judge whether a person will dispose of their rubbish one must account for their personal norms and perceived social norms within the culture. Cialdini et al....
Words: 892 - Pages: 4
... Teacher: .............................................................................. Specification requirements Social psychology Candidates will be expected to demonstrate: • Knowledge and understanding of concepts, theories and studies in relation to individual differences • Skills of analysis, evaluation and application in relation to individual differences • Knowledge and understanding of research methods associated with this area of psychology • Knowledge and understanding of ethical issues associated with this area of psychology. |Content outline | |Social influence |Conformity (majority influence) and explanations of why people conform, including informational | | |social influence and normative social influence | | | | | |Types of conformity, including internalisation and compliance | | | | | ...
Words: 10453 - Pages: 42
...How can we explain conformity? Draw on at least two examples Scott and Marshall (2005) explain conformity with people’s attempts on complying with other’s norms and rules in order to fulfill their expectations. But is it really that simple? Conformity is one of these terms in sociology that have too much different tones and shades, and thus requires deep examination. This essay looks at in detail at a number of classical studies on the subject of conformity as well as it analyzes a particular type of conformity, i.e. gender conformity. Examples and case studies given from both academic experiments and everyday life help this essay in arguing that conformity is a complex process happening to all of us most of the time even without our knowledge. Moreover, this essay provides information about why people actually conform. Every person is an individual. However, every person belongs to a group. The nationality of a person, their sex, their age, the colour of their skin, and even their hobbies are all different kinds of groups to which this person belongs to. Group membership helps building a type of social identity, while applying its norms and rules upon the individual (Brown 2000). Moreover, even in cases in which a clear hierarchy and roles are absent because of the instant development of the group, social influence remains existent. Social influence definition given by Allport (1968) is as it follows, ‘an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and...
Words: 2995 - Pages: 12
...1. Introduction 1 1.1. About ISO 9000 1 1.2. Purpose of internal quality audit 1 1.3. Report structure 1 2. Audit review 2 2.1. Non-compliances 2 2.1.1. Case study 2 – Service and parts processes 2 2.1.2. Case study 3 – QMS manual 3 2.2. Potential for improvement 4 2.2.1. Case study 2 – Service and parts processes 4 2.2.2. Case study 3 – QMS manual 5 2.3. Good practice 5 2.3.1. Case study 2 – Service and parts processes 5 2.3.2. Case study 3 – QMS manual 6 3. Summary 8 4. Appendix 11 Introduction About ISO 9000 ISO 9000 is a family of international standards related to quality management systems (QMS) that facilitates mutual understanding across domestic and international trade. The standards are published by the International Organization for Standardization and available in the UK through the British Standard Institute. ISO 9000:2008 sets down the principles behind the quality management and specifies the QMS terminology, thus forms the basis for the standards within the ISO 9000 family. ISO 9001:2008 specifies the requirements for a QMS an organisation has to fulfil to meet the standard. ISO 9004:2008 provides guidelines for a QMS that aim to improve the performance of the organisation and the satisfaction of both stakeholders and customers. ISO 9000 represents an international consensus on good quality management practices and can be understood as a generic framework to manage a business’ processes to deliver superior quality...
Words: 3300 - Pages: 14
... Harmonization of the Auditor’s Report 1. Introduction The globalization of capital markets and the growth of international capital flows have heightened the significance of cross-national comprehension of corporate financial reports as well as the associated audit reports. The accounting literature is replete with assessments of the harmonization efforts and the international differences in the financial accounting area (Nair and Frank, 1981; Evans and Taylor, 1982; McKinnon and Janell, 1984; Doupnick and Taylor, 1985; Nobes, 1987; Archer, et. al., 1989; and Guenther and Hussein, 1995). However, there have been only three previous attempts to study the international differences and harmonization in the auditing area (Hussein, et. al., 1986; Archer, et. al., 1989; and Jones and Karbhari, 1996). The paper extends the work in the latter studies to study the impact on the harmonization of audit reports of International Audit Guideline (IAG) 13 that was issued in 1983 by the International Audit Practice...
Words: 10051 - Pages: 41
...Outline and evaluate explanations of conformity. (12 marks) Normative social influence says people conform because they feel they need to be accepted and belong to the group. They accept the majorities’ views publicly, but privately they disagree – this type of conformity is compliance. The majority control the other group members, and use the fear of rejection to get others to conform. This is because humans are a social species and need companionship and are afraid of rejection. Research to support this explanation comes from Asch’s experiment, where participants knew the group was wrong privately but chose to conform in order to be accepted. This suggests that normative social influence is a valid theory of why people conform as it states we conform to be part of a social group, not because they believe the group to be right. On the other hand, in real life they aren’t part of that social group so don’t fear rejection, so factors other than the group may influence conformity. Another explanation of why people conform is informational social influence, where the individual changes their opinion both publicly and privately, which is described as internalisation. They do this as they believe the group are right. Conformity tends to increase when the situation is ambiguous, in matters of crisis or if they feel others are better qualified to make decisions. Fein et al found that participant’s opinions of political candidates in a debate were influenced by the reaction...
Words: 1167 - Pages: 5
...A research done in conformity was conducted by Sherif. He did a lab experiment where he asked participants to watch a non-moving light in a dark room. The light appeared to move when in fact it was a visual illusion. Participants were asked to estimate the movement of the light alone and then in groups of three. He found that when participants were asked to estimate the movement of the light alone there was a variation in answers. However, when they were in groups of three participants changed their answers to give an average of their individual estimates. A criticism of Sherif’s study is that its low in ecological validity, for example the task that participants were asked to do is not a task you would do in everyday life. Therefore we may not be able to generalise these results to real life situations in which people conform to a majority. Another criticism of Sherif’s study is that it raises ethical issues, for example participants were deceived as they were not told the truth about the light not moving. Therefore this can lead to the participants feeling stressed as they try to find out the answer. This would raise another ethical issue as Sherif has not protected his participants from harm therefore this shows that Sherif is valuing his experiment more than his participants. Another criticism to Sherif’s study is that the answer to the task is ambiguous; for example, we don’t know whether the participants conformed to others due to them generally being affected by...
Words: 669 - Pages: 3
...Conformity and Obedience in the 20th Century The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members' thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay "Group Minds," Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us. We, as humans, hold individualism in the highest regard yet fail to realize that groups diminish our individuality. Lessing writes, "when we're in a group, we tend to think as that group does... but we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group" (p. 334). Groups have the tendency to generate norms, or standards for behavior in certain situations. Not following these norms can make you stand out and, therefore, groups have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions in ways that are consistent with the groups'. Lessing's essay helps set the context to understand the experiments that social psychologists Solomon Asch, Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo conducted to explain conformity and obedience. Solomon Asch's experiment in "Opinions and Social Pressure" studied a subject's ability to yield to social pressure when placed within a group of strangers. His research helped illustrate how groups encourage...
Words: 1201 - Pages: 5
...M3. Explain why conformity and obedience are important in the public services, with reference to research studies. Conformity and obedience are forms of social influence which strongly affect our behaviour is social situations, from following fashions and unwritten social norms which organise our behaviour, to committing immoral acts because we are commanded to by someone who appears to be in a position of authority. This essay looks at the similarities and differences between the three, looking specifically at the factors that influence each two. 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. Conformity is a change in an individuals behaviour according to certain accepted standards within society as well as the influence of others whether this be a real or imaginary influence. There are 2 key concepts of conformity, acceptance or compliance. People plan to join a specific public service because they want to belong to that team because they may like the sentiments of the service etc. Hence...
Words: 2278 - Pages: 10
...Ridicule Targeting Other People Versus the Self Leslie M. Janes Brescia University College James M. Olson University of Western Ontario Abstract In this paper, we describe a program of research on the topic of ridicule, which explored the differing effects of observing either ridicule directed at other people or selfdisparaging ridicule. In three studies, participants listened to humor that either ridiculed another person, ridiculed the self (the person expressing the humor), or involved no ridicule. Results in two studies showed that observing ridicule that targeted another person led participants to conform more to the alleged attitudes of others and to behave in ways suggesting a heightened fear of failure, compared to self-ridicule or no ridicule. In contrast, results in a third study showed that observing self-disparaging ridicule led participants to generate more creative ideas, compared to other-ridicule or no ridicule. The implications of these “inhibiting” effects of other-ridicule and “disinhibiting” effects of self-ridicule are discussed. Keywords: ridicule, disparagement humor, self-ridicule, conformity, creativity Ridicule is defined as “the act of making someone the object of scornful laughter” (Webster‟s New World Dictionary, 2002). This type of humor is common in modernday society. It is a staple in late-night comedy shows, political campaigns, advertising, and even prime time television. Stocking, Sopolsky, and Zillmann (1977) did a content...
Words: 9372 - Pages: 38
...to the following individuals who generously offered help, invaluable assistance, support and guidance: The Almighty God, for giving the researchers the strength, courage and good health to carry out this study. Parents of the researchers, for their never-ending all out support morally and financially, for the encouragement that made the completion of this work possible; Mr. Paul Sherwind Belciña, the adviser, for being there, guiding the researcher and sharing his expertise and knowledge; Dr. Imelda Lagrito, the Chairman for the Social Behavioral Sciences, for assisting and permitting the researchers to conduct this study in the Department’s Psychotherapy Laboratory and for being one of the respectable panelists, for her intellectual advice and support in pursuing this research to its completion; Dr. Arlene Sotelo, the researcher’s thesis coordinator for her patience and understanding towards blemishes. To the panel members; Miss Najie B. Responte, Dr. Virginia P. Mollaneda, Dr. Araceli P. Villacarlos, and Dr. Louise Anne D. Librando for their valuable suggestions and intellectual advice for the refinement of this study; Dr. Leovigildo Manalo, the researcher’s statistician for sharing his knowledge and skills with the statistical procedure needed for the study. Dr. Renita Calago, Principal for the Elementary Department Main Campus of Southwestern University and Ms. Milagros Pinili, the adviser, for accommodating and assisting the researcher’s needs to have their...
Words: 7304 - Pages: 30
...MGMT2200 PROJECT PROPOSAL Students undertaking tertiary education in this day and age are often seen exhaustingly conducting the futile exercise of dividing and budgeting their scarce funds across a variety of spending platforms in order to support and satisfy their university needs and wants. In this project, we attempt to analyse specific spending behaviours of the young university student demographic and define the reasoning behind specific consumption patterns, supported by the findings of primary and secondary research. The primary research conducted by our group will primarily focus on behavioural factors that influence different aspects of students’ consumption, and will predominately be in the form of questionnaires and surveys from a large sample. The primary research steps our group undertakes to will be two-fold: 1. Identify what the target audience is purchasing and the proportion of income spent on particular categories. Clear defined categories will be provided, with examples given Eg. Food, recreation, entertainment, going out, other etc. 2. Examine reasons why money is proportioned in this way, explanations as to what leads students to spend on particular categories, rather than others. Eg. Those who spend more on food have less to eat at home, those spending a lot on clothes/music/magazines/etc. why? Do students have a tendency to save? For what reason? In surveys, open-ended questions may be asked eg. “Your money is proportioned so that 60% is spent...
Words: 1014 - Pages: 5
...influences affects people’s views of one another. Children’s peers, media and family all play a huge role in social influence and prejudice. Prejudice can be easily developed by an arise of social influence and conformity to people within their in-group. Intergroup prejudice is unwarranted feelings of dislike or hatred towards the members of other social groups. In The psychology of prejudice: Interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary issues by Dale Russell, He focuses on the development of children’s intergroup prejudice with an emphasis of the involvement the children have in social peer groups. And what he found was peer group membership is exceedingly important to young children, at least from as young as three years. If there is a possibility of being accepted and included in a group, most children will seek to be included (Russell & Russell, 2012). Consistent with social identity development theory which is a...
Words: 683 - Pages: 3
...Social Influence Social facilitation – The tendency for people to perform better on tasks in the presence of people than when alone. Triplett 1898 found that cyclists rode faster when racing together than when alone because of the competitive element. He also tests this with children and how long it took them to turn a fishing wheel 150 times. Sometimes they were alone and sometimes together, and found that many children worked in co-action CO-ACTION- people working together on the same task. Allport also found college students work in co action completing more multiplication problems together and when Chen looked at ants he found they dig 3 times as faster Allport said that competition is not always affects us if we do better and that sometimes it could just be the presence of an audience that could result in social facilitation. Though audience effect could also affect people in a negative way and cause them to do worse, this is known as social inhibition. AUIDENCE EFFECT – the impact of the individual task performance of the presence of an audience SOCIAL INHIBTION- The tendency for an individual to perform less well in the presence of others than when alone. AROUSAL THEORY OF SOCIAL FACILIATION Zajonc said that arousal acts as a drive that will bring out the most dominant response. In an easy or well-practised task our dominant responses tend to be correct so social facilitation occurs but in a unfamiliar task the dominant responses tend to be incorrect so social...
Words: 2375 - Pages: 10
