Conformity

As human beings our lives are centered on a thin line that separates conformity and individuality. Conformity is essential to life. Humans, being very complex species live in a society that functions based on rules and obligations by an audience. If anyone commits a mistake, the society may crumble. Therefore, we are obliged to stick to the rules and respect the laws. This is what binds the people living in the society.

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy theory states the most fundamental and basic human needs in four layers, which is shaped like a pyramid. Physiological, safety, belonging, esteem and self- actualization needs are fulfilled when we are a part of a group and conform to the group norms.

When we conform to a group’s norms, we tend to get a sense of security, belongingness, self esteem and acceptance. Therefore, it is normal human tendency to conform to group pressure as we feel we belong to something bigger. In the modern society, acceptance can be obtained only by going further than natural conformity and rather leaping into popular conformity. At that stage we tend to follow the trends rather than personal taste, whether it be music, movies or even personal morals. Conformity is like psychological shelter. If we do not know what to do and are scared, we can blindly follow the steps of others and eventually find a group to take shelter. Therefore, conformity becomes a remedy for isolation.

Below is a video that is an excellent example of conformity. This experiment was conducted by a social psychologist Solomon Asch that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. This is also known as the Asch Paradigm.



As seen from the video, the group was told to announce their answers to each question aloud. The confederates always provided their answers to each question before the real subject. The real subject always gave the same answer as the others. They answered a few questions correctly but eventually began providing incorrect responses. It is understood that when an individual is surrounded by other individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, they usually provide incorrect responses on a high proportion of the questions. This is because individuals do not want to be deviant from the group. What we can understand from the third paradigm is that one confederate has virtually no influence and two confederates have only a small influence. When three or more confederates are present, the tendency to conform is relatively stable. The third paradigm introduces unanimity of the confederates. It can be seen that when the participant’s answers are anonymous, they tend to not conform to group pressure as they aren’t exposed to criticism or any kind of discomfort from other participants in the group.

Modern life is confusing, so sometimes our vision is so blurred and our choices are endless that we in a midst of confusion. We often force ourselves in two extreme directions of either conformity or individuality. To chose a path, is our choice.