Conformity Reactance Essay

The concept of reactance is generally used in the context of conformity when one’s freedom is threatened (S. Brehm & W. Brehm, 2013, p.363). Conformity comes into play when one is pressured into following the masses (Rosenberg & Turner, 1990, p.496). Compliance is the external action we observe from someone who has conformed (Vaughan & Hogg, 2013, p.214). Obedience is a form of compliance seen in accordance to authority (Hogg & Cooper, 2007 p.313). We see these very concepts used in our daily lives, however subtle they may be. For instance, in our families, school and even work place. These factors that help to build our social identity also impact our individual identity to a large extent. We will be seeing how the reactance theory and conformity …show more content…
When conformity threatens an individual’s freedom. This can be seen through the recent fiasco of women breast feeding their babies in public. With the upcoming issue of women breast feeding their babies in public, a lot of attention was spent on the issue alone(Wee, 2016). A social experiment was conducted by video pranksters Trollstation, to see how people react to a woman breastfeeding in public(Blott, 2016). When the lady starts breastfeeding, an Irish man who is also aware of the experiment starts verbally attacking the lady, commuters in the train started standing up for the lady breastfeeding and even tried to protect her (Blott, 2016). Through this, we can see how the reactance theory has gone against the conformity of society we are brought up in that tells women to cover up everywhere they go. The equality act introduced in 2010 also aids breastfeeding mothers as it is now illegal to try and stop them from breastfeeding (UNICEF, 2016). When one’s freedom to breastfeed is threatened, we see various people coming together to help them and defend them, even though they are not threatened in any form. This is how we are able to see Andreoli and her colleagues (1974) observations play into