Conformity

As a member of a group, every person has some rights and duties towards his group. Under rights, a person demands fulfilment of needs like subsistence, security, affiliation etc. from his group, whereas under duties, he learns social norms such as beliefs, values, traditions etc. and behaves accordingly and accepts group decisions. Sometimes a person accepts the group decision willingly, but sometimes he has to accept the group decision unwillingly or one has to behave as per group decision. This phenomenon has been called 'group pressure' by social psychologists. When a person changes his behaviour and attitude in the desired direction due to group pressure, it is called conformity. It is clear that conformity means bowing down or surrendering before group pressure. If a person does not try to conform to the standards of his group, then he faces obstacles and difficulty in adjusting to the different conditions of the society. In this way, conformity significantly affects a person's adjustment and work in the social environment. That is why special emphasis is given to the study of conformity in social psychology.

According to Ranch (1952), "Conformity means changing one's perception and behavior in such a way that it is more similar to the perception and behavior of others."

According to Creach, Crutchfield and Bletchi (1962), "The essence of conformity is to succumb to group pressures."

According to Kiesler and Kiesler (1979), "Conformity is the change in an individual's behavior or belief towards a group due to real or perceived group pressure."

According to Eysenck and his colleagues, "Conformity is that behavior, behavioral tendency or attitude in which a person incorporates the standards and group ideals of his reference group."

According to Worchel and Cooper (1979), "Conformity is a behavior by which an individual succumbs to group pressure even though his personal feelings dictate that he think differently."

On the basis of the analysis of the above definitions, it can be said that conformity means that behavior and action of a person arising as a result of group pressure in which, contrary to his own wishes and thoughts, he conforms his perception and behavior to the standards of his 'reference group'.

Nature and characteristics of conformity

1. The most prominent feature of conformity is that in it the person experiences mental tension or mental conflict. Because, here the person gets confused whether to behave as per his personal decision or as per the group decision, due to which he becomes a victim of mental stress and conflict.

2. A fundamental characteristic of conformity is that the individual surrenders to group pressure by giving up his personal desires and aspirations. This group pressure may be real or manifest or it may also be imaginary or latent.

3. Similarity in the perceptions, behaviour and beliefs of group members through conformity is generated. Because, in order to establish conformity with the norms of the group, all the members of the group perceive and behave in accordance with the group decision, which creates uniformity in their perception and behaviour.

4. Generally, there are two types of conformances – temporal conformance and actual conformance. Topical conformity means that the person externally shows conformity towards the group decision or group pressure but internally he disagrees with the group decision or group pressure. On the contrary, actual conformity means that the individual shows conformity towards group decision or group pressure from both outside and inside.

5. Generally, the amount of conformity and its distribution varies across groups. There is even mutual variation in the amount and distribution of similarity found among all the members of the same group.

6. Conformity depends partly on personality qualities and partly on the nature of the situation.

Factors and determinants of conformity

1. Group-related factors

Conformity is influenced and determined by some factors which are related to the characteristics or nature of the group or circumstances. Some of these types of factors are described below-

i. Group size - It has been proved through psychological experiments that the size of the group affects conformity at a deep level. Conformity is shown more (by group members) when the size of the group is large. When a group member's personal decision or behaviour is opposed by only a few members of the group, the person does not accept group pressure, i.e. does not demonstrate conformity. On the other hand, if his personal decisions or behaviour are opposed by more members of the group, then the person starts showing conformity easily and quickly. Thus, the more power there is behind social norms, the sooner conformity is established.

ii. Group composition- Conforming behaviour is also affected by the power and prestige and other abilities and influences of the people opposing it. Generally, a person shows more conformity when faced with opposition from people who are more qualified, skilled, capable and prestigious than him, whereas he gives relatively less importance or no importance at all to the opposition of people who are less qualified, less skilled and less prestigious than him.

iii. Nature of the group- It has been observed in many studies that the greater the intrinsic values and rewards of a group for group members, the more group members conform to group norms. If the nature of the group is such that it is not able to fulfil the wishes and needs of its members, then the members of the group leave their group and accept membership of other groups and conform to its standards.

iv. Group affiliation- Group affiliation meaning close and official connection between the members. Researches have shown that when there is a high level of group affiliation, more conformity is found among the group members. But if it is of low level then this conformity is also of low level. The main reason for this is that in a situation of high group affiliation, people are more attracted towards the group and there is more mutual cooperation and affection among them. This situation is extremely helpful in establishing conformity. In case of low group affiliation, the opposite situation occurs. Hence the conformity also remains low.



2. Personality related factors

A close relationship is found between conformity and personality. Both influence each other and are influenced by each other. Under this, personality related factors like motivational factors, emotional factors and cognitive factors have a significant impact on conformity.

i. Self-esteem and disability – There is a tendency to show less conformity in people with more self-confidence and a tendency to show more conformity in people with less self-confidence. How quickly members of a group conform depends on their self-esteem and the degree of incompetence and politeness.

ii. Motivational factors – Motivations and needs influence both individual and collective behaviour of the individual. If a person's motivations and needs are satisfied or have the possibility of being satisfied in the group, he is always ready to establish conformity with the social leaders. Many studies show that the people who have high prestige and position in the group have more motivation or need to conform.

iii. Emotional factors - Emotional factors like anxiety, fear, insecurity, stress etc. have a deep impact on conformity. When emotional turmoil occurs in a person due to group pressure, he is unable to tolerate the difference between himself and the group. This difference can cause symptoms of fear, anxiety, sadness, loneliness etc. to get rid of it. He starts getting oriented towards social norms and gradually he establishes compatibility with them.

iv. Inferiority complex - Various studies have shown that people who suffer from personal inferiority complex quickly accept social standards and a greater amount of conformity is also found in such people.

v. Feeling of insecurity - Feeling of insecurity is also related to conformity. When a person feels more insecure, he establishes conformity as he is quick to conform to social standards.

vi. Attitude-The members who have positive attitude towards the group quickly adopt the beliefs and ideals of the group. But on the contrary, those members who have negative attitude towards the group are late in establishing conformity with the beliefs and ideals of the group.

vii. Intellectual ability - It has been observed that people with high intelligence have more ability to think, reason, decide etc. and their ability to accept suggestions is also less. Therefore, they are not able to quickly establish conformity towards social standards. On the contrary, because people with intellectual ability are more receptive to suggestions.



3. Work related factors

It has been proved from the studies done regarding conformity that when a person has to take a decision regarding a complex and unclear task, he shows conformity. In contrast, simple and clear work situations show less conformity.