KEY TERMS:

Compliance - Occurs when an individual accepts

influence because they hope to achieve a favourable
reaction from those around them. An attitude or
behaviour is adopted not because of its content, but

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WHAT IS CONFORMITY?
Our social lives are characterised by many social influences
(some we are aware of, others we are not). An individual
conforms if they choose a course of action that is favoured by
the majority. People conform for many reasons, from complete
acceptance of the majority viewpoint (internalisation), to going
along with the crowd at the (compliance). Two commonly cited
explanations are normative social influence, when we Follow
the crowd' in order to be accepted, and informational social
influence, when we accept the majority viewpoint because it is
most likely right.
TYPES OF CONFORMITY
Compliance: individuals go along with the group in order to
gain their approval or avoid their disapproval. When exposed
to the views or actions of the majority, individuals may engage
in a process of social comparison, concentrating on what others
say or do so that they can adjust their own actions to fit in.
Fitting in is seen as desirable so this motivates conformity.
Compliance does not result in any change in the person's
underlying attitude, only in the views and behaviours they
express in public.
Internalisation: Individuals may go along with the group
because of an acceptance of their views. When exposed to the
views of others, individuals are encouraged to engage in a
validation process, examining their own beliefs to see if they or
the others are right. Close examination of the group's position
may convince the individual that they are wrong, and the
group is right. This is particularly likely if the group is generally
trustworthy in their views and the individual has gone along
with them on previous occasions. This can lead to acceptance of
the group's pov both publicly and privately.
Identification: An individual might accept influence because
they want to be associated with another person or group. By
adopting the group's attitudes and behaviours, they feel more
a part of it. Identification has elements of compliance and
internalisation, as the individual accepts the attitudes and
behaviours they are adopting as right and true
(internalisation), but the purpose of adopting them is to be
accepted as a member of the group (compliance).
The differences: Each type of conformity has s set of motivating
conditions. To fit in they comply rather than internalise, to find
an appropriate way to respond in a particular situation they
internalise instead.
EXPLANATIONS FOR CONFORMITY
Normative Social Influence: It is possible to go along with the
majority without really accepting their point of view. This type
of conformity is usually referred to as 'compliance'. Humans are
a social species and have a fundamental need for social
companionship and a fear of censure and rejection. It is this
that forms the basis for normative social influence. For
normative influence to occur is that the individual must believe
they are under surveillance by the group. When this is the case,
people tend to conform to the majority position in public but do
not necessarily internalise this view and carry over into private
settings or endure it over time (Nail, 1986).
Informational social influence: Informational influence occurs
when an individual accepts information from others as
evidence about reality. Human beings have a need to feel
confident that their perceptions and beliefs are correct. Initially
individuals may make objective tests against reality, when this
is not possible, they must rely on the opinions of others.
Informational influence is more likely if the situation is
ambiguous. As a result, the individual does not just comply in
behaviour alone but also changes their behaviour in line with
the group position. Because this involves changing both public
and private attitudes and behaviour, this is an example of
internalisation.
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EVALUATION/DISCUSSION
It is difficult to distinguish between compliance and
internalisation because the relationship between compliance and
internalisation because of difficulties in knowing when each is
actually taking place. E.g, it is assumed a person who publicly
agrees with a majority yet disagrees with them in private must
be demonstrating compliance rather than internalisation.
However, it is also possible that acceptance of the groups views
has occurred in public yet dissipates later when in private. This
could be because they have forgotten information given by the
group or because they have received new information that
changes their mind.
There is research support for normative influence, such as US
research that supports the important role played by people's
normative beliefs in shaping behaviours such as smoking and
energy conservation. E.g. Linkenbach and Perkins (2003) found
that adolescents exposed to the message that the majority of
their peers did not smoke were subsequently less likely to take
up smoking. E.g.2 Schultz et al. (2008) found that hotel guests
exposed to the normative message that 75% of guests reused
their towels each day ( indication of energy conservation
behaviour) reduced their own towel use by 25%. These studies
support the claim that people shape their behaviour out of a
desire to fit in with their reference group, demonstrating the
power of normative influence.
Research support for informational influenceStudies have
demonstrated how exposure to other people's beliefs and
opinions can shape many aspects of social behaviour and beliefs.
E.g. Wittenbrink and Henley (1996) found that participants
exposed to negative information about African Americans (which
they were led to believe was the view of the majority) later
reported more negative attitudes toward black individuals.
Research has also shown how informational social influence can
shape political opinion. E.g.2 Fein et al. (2007), participants saw
what was supposedly the reaction of their fellow participants on
screen during a presidential debate. This information produced
large shifts in their judgements of the candidates' performance,
and shows the importance of informational influence in shaping
social behaviour.
Normative influence may not be detected. Although normative
influence undoubtedly has a powerful effect on the behaviour of
the individual, it is possible that they do not actually recognise
the behaviour of others as a causal factor in their own
behaviour.There is some support for this claim. E.g. Nolan et al.
(2008) investigated whether people detected the influence of
social norms on their energy conservation behaviour. When
asked about what factors had influenced their own energy
conservation, people believed that the behaviour of neighbours
had the least impact on their own energy conservation, yet
results showed that it had the strongest impact. This suggests that
people rely on beliefs about what should motivate their
behaviour, and so under-detect the impact of normative
influence.
Informational influence is moderated by type of task. A problem
for the informational explanation of conformity is that features
of the task moderate the impact of majority influence. For some
judgements there are clear criteria for validation, but for other
judgements, there may be no way of validating them. E.g.
deciding whether Bristol is the most highly populated city in the
SW of England can be determined through objective means, such
as consulting statistics. However, other judgements (E.g. deciding
whether Bristol is the most fun city in the South West of England)
cannot be made using objective criteria because such criteria do
not exist. Consequently, these kinds of judgements must be made
on the basis of social consensus.
As a result, majorities should exert greater influence on issues of
social rather than physical reality, and this is precisely what
research tends to show (Laughlin, 1999).