As humans, we spend a lot of deal of time communicating with one another which means that we are social animals. As social animals, we fall prey to social influence which is defined as the influence of one individual on another’s feelings, beliefs, and behavior (Aronson, 2012). An example of such influence is conformity which will be the focus of this study. Conformity is the re-adjustment of one’s own behavior and /or attitude due to an imagined or real pressure from an individual or group of individuals (Aronson, 2012). This is not necessary a negative thing. It has its adaptive function, if it did not, this trait would had long been eliminated by natural selection (Aronson, 2012). Berns et al (2005), using functional magnetic resonance imaging
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In a study done by Schachter (1951), there were three kinds of confederates that joined in on the conversation about the treatment for a juvenile delinquent. The modal confederate which is the conformist was the most liked while the non-conformist was the least liked. This is another reason why conformity is not detrimental. However, this does not mean that conformity leads to being correct. This was shown in a study done by Asch (1951), where individuals decided to choose the answer that they knew was clearly wrong in the presence of other people all choosing that option. Conformity occurs all the time and we are not even aware of it in many of these circumstances. In an experiment conducted by Gitow, Andi & Rothenburg (1997), college students showed conformity even though they claimed to be non-conformists. Had they been aware of their behavior during the experiment, they could have avoided it and act the way they claimed they are. Thus, conformity can occur even in situations that are subtle like tucking in your …show more content…
They will bring their own lunch or buy their lunch and eat a Sidney’s Café. Observations were made at a table far from for two reasons. First, it is convenient to observe the rest of the tables compared to sitting at the middle tables where I would have had to turn around very often to observe people’s behaviors. Second, it is to eliminate actor-observer bias. When people are aware that they are being watched, they act in a way that makes them look positive. They will either sit alone or sit with a group of people as they are having their meal. A person occupying one table by themselves will represent the individuals eating alone and if a table has more than one person, it would represent a group of people eating together. For those sitting alone, how often they tuck in their chairs when they leave will represent the tendency for someone to push in their chairs when they are free of outside influence such as conformity. For the people sitting as a group, observed behavior is recorded only on the individuals that leaves after one person in the group tucks in their chair before they left within a one minute window. The one that first tucks in the group will not be used in the results. From all this, there are four categories of observation: Single person did not tuck in their chair, single person tucked in their chair, person sitting with group tucked in their chair after one member had already done so, and
In a study done by Schachter (1951), there were three kinds of confederates that joined in on the conversation about the treatment for a juvenile delinquent. The modal confederate which is the conformist was the most liked while the non-conformist was the least liked. This is another reason why conformity is not detrimental. However, this does not mean that conformity leads to being correct. This was shown in a study done by Asch (1951), where individuals decided to choose the answer that they knew was clearly wrong in the presence of other people all choosing that option. Conformity occurs all the time and we are not even aware of it in many of these circumstances. In an experiment conducted by Gitow, Andi & Rothenburg (1997), college students showed conformity even though they claimed to be non-conformists. Had they been aware of their behavior during the experiment, they could have avoided it and act the way they claimed they are. Thus, conformity can occur even in situations that are subtle like tucking in your …show more content…
They will bring their own lunch or buy their lunch and eat a Sidney’s Café. Observations were made at a table far from for two reasons. First, it is convenient to observe the rest of the tables compared to sitting at the middle tables where I would have had to turn around very often to observe people’s behaviors. Second, it is to eliminate actor-observer bias. When people are aware that they are being watched, they act in a way that makes them look positive. They will either sit alone or sit with a group of people as they are having their meal. A person occupying one table by themselves will represent the individuals eating alone and if a table has more than one person, it would represent a group of people eating together. For those sitting alone, how often they tuck in their chairs when they leave will represent the tendency for someone to push in their chairs when they are free of outside influence such as conformity. For the people sitting as a group, observed behavior is recorded only on the individuals that leaves after one person in the group tucks in their chair before they left within a one minute window. The one that first tucks in the group will not be used in the results. From all this, there are four categories of observation: Single person did not tuck in their chair, single person tucked in their chair, person sitting with group tucked in their chair after one member had already done so, and