1. Conformity and Group Processes
(Ch. 8-9)
Dr. Bradford

2. Conformity
• Conformity:
changing one’s
behavior due to the
real or imagined
influence of others

3. Conformity
1. Informational social influence: when we see
other people’s interpretations of an ambiguous
situation as a source of information to guide our
behavior.
2. Normative Social Influence: when we conform
in order to be liked, accepted, or to avoid
ridicule from others.
– private acceptance- when people conform b/c they
genuinely believe other people are right.
– Public compliance- conforming without necessarily
believing in what the other people are doing or saying

4. Conformity
• Examples:
– Autokinetic effect: Sherif (1936)
discovers that people tend to
privately accept the group
decision regarding perceptions of
light movement
• We are more susceptible to
informational social influence
in high-importance conditions
vs. low-importance conditions.
(p. 202)

5. Conformity
• Gustav Le Bon (1895)- the
first person to study the
‘mind of the crowd’- how
emotions can spread like a
contagion.
• Contagion: the rapid spread
of emotions or behavior
through a crowd.

6. Conformity and Body Image

7. Conformity and Body Image

8. Conformity and Body Image
VS

9. Conformity and Body Image

10. Social Loafing vs Social Facilitation
Individual efforts Alertness/ Arousal
can be evaluated Social Facilitation
Presence of Others
Cannot be Relaxation
evaluated Social Loafing

11. Group Think
• Groupthink- A kind of
thinking in which
maintaining group
cohesiveness and
solidarity is more
important than
considering the facts in
a realistic manner.