The least direct social influence on behavior is the pressure to conform, or to modify one's attitudes and

behavior to make them consistent with those of other people. People who conform bring their behavior
into line with that of a group. The group A DAY IN may be a formal organization, such as a school club, or
a loose collection of people, such as several friends who always hang out together. Linda, Marc, Todd,
and the others in their circle of friends are an example of such a group.

Importance of Groups

Being accepted by a group can be important because groups help people satisfy many needs. Groups can
fulfill an individual's needs for belonging, affection, and attention. Meeting such needs is one reason why
many teens join clubs at school, sports teams, academic clubs, and other social organizations.

Groups are also important because they offer support to individuals when they are facing difficult
problems. People who are grieving the loss of a loved one, for example, may benefit by joining a support
group. (See Chapter 19.) Groups may also help people accomplish things they could not accomplish on
their own. For instance, workers may join together to form a labor union in order to fight for better
working conditions or higher wages.

Social Norms

Belonging to a group usually means following, or conforming to, the group's social norms. Social norms
are the standards that people share. They serve as guidelines for what people should and should not do
or say in a given situation. For example, social norms tell people what to eat, what to wear, and when
and where to make a joke.

Social norms can be explicit or implicit. Explicit norms are spoken or written rules. Examples include
traffic rules and school dress codes. Implicit norms are unspoken, unwritten rules. Examples include
modes of dress or ways of greeting that are unique to a particular group. Although implicit norms are
unstated, they nonetheless guide people's words and actions.

Social norms can be useful or harmful. They are useful if they help promote the safety and well- being of
individuals or groups. Bathing regularly and not talking in a theater during a movie are examples of
useful social norms. Social norms are harmful when they promote risky behavior. Smoking cigarettes and
drinking alcohol excessively are examples of harmful social norms.

Asch's Studies of Conformity

To what extent will people conform to social norms? Psychologist Solomon Asch (1955) addressed this
question in a series of well-known experiments. Asch wanted to determine whether people would go
along with group opinion even when the group opinion differed from their own.

Procedure Asch asked participants in the study to look at three lines of varying length and to com- pare
them with a standard line, as shown in Figure 21.2 on page 486. The participants were asked to indicate
which of the three lines was the same length as the standard line. Each participant was tested in a group
of several other people. However, the other group members were really Asch's associates, who were
simply posing as study participants.
For the first few comparisons, all of Asch's associates gave the correct answer. However, for many of the
remaining comparisons, all of the associates gave the same wrong answer. For example, they might have
said that line 1 was the same length as the standard line.

Results When Asch's associates gave an answer that was obviously wrong, many study participants
conformed to the group opinion and gave the same wrong answer. About three fourths of study
participants went along with group opinion at least once, one third went along with the group at least
half the time, and one fourth went along with the group virtually all the time. Study participants who
con- formed to group opinion later admitted that they knew the answers they gave were incorrect, but
they went along with the group so as not to appear different from the others .

Why Do People Conform?

"Going along with the crowd" is probably at least as common in everyday life as it was in Asch's
experiments. Most people avoid talking, acting, or dressing differently from other members of the
groups to which they belong. Why is conformity so common?

Several factors may contribute to the tendency to conform to social norms (Bond & Smith, 1996; Myers,
1996; Smith & Mackie, 1995).

Cultural Influences: Some cultures are collectivistic, which means that they place greater emphasis on
the group than on its individual members. In many Asian cultures, for example, the person is seen as part
of the family and society rather than as an individual. (See Chapter 14.) In such cultures, individuals show
a greater tendency to conform to the group, and they may feel extremely uncomfortable if they are
singled out as different from the others in the group.

Need for Acceptance Some people conform to social norms in order to be liked and accepted by others.
This needs to conform stems from the belief that people who dress, talk, or act differently from other
people stand out from the crowd and thus draw negative attention to themselves. In actuality, however,
this is not always true.

People who depend the most on the acceptance and approval of others tend to be those with low self-
esteem and high social anxiety (Singh & Sharma, 1989). They may value being liked more than they value
being right. They may also be very self-conscious about standing out from others, fear- ing that others
will ridicule or reject them if they appear different.

Other Factors: Several other factors contribute to the tendency to conform to social norms. For example,
the chances of conforming to a group's norms increase as the group grows in size-at least up to about
eight members. Further increases in size (past eight members) seem to have little effect on the tendency
to conform.

Individuals are more likely to conform to the group when all other members of the group are unanimous
in their words and actions. However, if even one person disagrees with the rest of the group, others in
the group also are less likely to conform.