Conformity

1. PSYA2 Social Influence

2. Social Influence
So what is ‘Social Influence?’
…the ways in which external social
factors alter our behaviour.
Conformity: a type of social influence
where we choose to go along with the
majority (Majority Influence).
E.g. Peer Pressure or Fashion Trends
We can yield publicly or
privately.

3. Social Influence
Today we will take this further by
considering…
• What is conformity?
• Why do people conform?
• How does conformity take shape in real life?

5. Social Influence
First studied by Sherif (1936)
Sherif: ‘people use the behaviour of others to
decide what to do.’
Studied ‘autokinetic effect’ an optical illusion in
which a stationary spot of light in a room looks like
it’s moving. Asked participants individually to
estimate how far the light moved.
The second time around they were placed in
groups of 3. Participants changed their individual
views and converged on a group estimate or
‘norm.’
But why do we choose to conform..?

6. Social Influence
Jenness’ (1932) Jelly Beans
First study on conformity:
1) Asked individuals to guess how many jelly beans
were in a jar individually.
2) The group then had to arrive at a group estimate.
3) He interviewed the individuals after and asked
them if they would like to change their estimate.
Almost all changed it in line with the group
estimate.

7. Social Influence
Why do we conform?
Informational influence
During an uncertain situation, we desire to be correct and look to our
social group for answers.

8. Social Influence
Conforming for informational reasons
leads to…
Internalisation
When an individual is exposed to the views of a
group, they examine their own beliefs.
They may convince themselves that they are
wrong and the group is right.
This leads to public and private
acceptance of the group’s beliefs – e.g.
they internalise these beliefs, producing attitude
change.

9. Issues with the previous research
• Sherif and Jenness both used ambiguous
situations to investigate conformity.
• Little was known about conformity in non-ambiguous
situations (where the answer was
clear/obvious)

10. Social Influence
Why do we conform?
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11. Social Influence
Task: Lift Experiment
In pairs think about and discuss:
1) What was happening in the
experiment?
2) What was influencing
behaviour?
3) Why were the men conforming
in this experiment?

12. Social Influence
Why do we conform?
Normative influence
E.g. Facebook: ‘Be the first of your
friends to like this’

13. Social Influence
Conforming in order to fit in with a group
(normative influence) leads to…
Compliance
Because identifying with a majority is desirable, they change their
views/actions to fit in with them. They go along with the majority without
necessarily privately agreeing with their view.
e.g. Following Social Norms or Social Roles (Unwritten societal rules) –
Smoking socially with friends even if you don’t smoke, just because they are
all doing it and you want to fit in.
This results in Public Compliance, without Private Attitude Change

14. Social Influence
To Finish: When have you conformed?
Think of and write down two times in
which you have conformed. Make sure
you write down the situation and what
you did to conform.
Pass your sheet to the person on your
left.
Think about the points in front of you.
Why did conformity occur? Was it due
to normative or informational influence?