Conformity In Today's Society

In today’s society, we find ourselves conforming to society’s rule. We often mimic the gestures, languages, posture, and other behaviors of those we are surrounded by. Why do we feel the need to comply with those around us? Why are people considered different for going against the social norm? There is said to be two reasons for conformity, normative influence and informational influence. Normative influence is when people conform in order to be liked or accepted by others. An experiment by Solomon Asch was used to test this reason for conformity. A group of students, one was a victim while others were confederates, were asked to perform a simple task. There were two cards, one card had a line and the other had three lines labeled A, B, and C. The participants had to pick which of the three lines is the same size as the line on the other card. Confederates were told to agree on the answer that was obviously incorrect. The real participant was seated so that he would give his answer after all other “participants” have given an answer. When confederates agreed on an answer that was incorrect the real participants, in different trials, also agreed even though it was obviously incorrect. The confederates gave an incorrect answer on twelve out of the sixteen trials and 76 percent of the real participants conformed to the wrong answers. This shows that people conform so they could fit in the group they are with. People do not want to be criticized for their actions so they …show more content…
Conformity helps us connect with others, but also takes away individuality. It can lead to obedience which is good in situations such as following instructions from the police, firefighters, or doctors. It can also lead to bad decisions and putting others in danger. Since being taught to obey means we automatically follow orders of those of higher authority, sometimes we don’t think of the