What is conformism - types and reasons in 2021

This article was developed under the heading: Psychology. Section: Philosophy.

Human life in society in many of its manifestations is cyclical, but modern science does not stand still. Therefore, scientists are finding more and more psychological and mental justifications for the simplest and seemingly familiar processes. One of these is conformism. With this article you will understand the phenomenon of conformism and understand who conformists really are.

Let's figure out what conformism is

What is conformism in simple words

What does conformism mean and what special features does psychology give it? First of all, it is worth understanding the very origin of the word “conformism” and its generally accepted concept. Initially, “conformism” comes from the Latin “conformis”, which means “similar, similar”. In the 16th century in England, conformists were Protestants who, as a result, obeyed and adapted to the laws of the Anglican religion.

In general, the origin of the word correctly describes its modern meaning. In addition to psychology, the phenomenon of conformity is considered in sociology, political science and social science. However, the basic meaning remains the same. For example, sociologists believe that conformity is a necessary element of the socialization of an individual in society. In political science, conformism is often compared with reconciliation and passivity. Social science considers conformity rather than conformism, associating it with social pressure and submission to norms.

Conformity is studied by many sciences

In psychology, conformity is considered to be a human personality trait. Conformity as a phenomenon in psychology is subject to all sorts of studies from different sides, for example, this phenomenon is considered as:

Destruction of personality in the process of adaptation (E. Fromm, G.S. Sullivan);
Value that promotes stability (R. Merton);
Ability to adapt (S. Freud, G. Jung);
Consequence and peculiarity of the influence of society (G. Gerard, D. Wilder);
An integral element of socialization (I.S. Kon, E.P. Belinskaya, G.M. Andreeva).

Conformity in psychology is the passive acceptance of another opinion, the acceptance of a model, which is accompanied by changes in behavior, acceptance of norms and values by a person, occurring under the external influences of society. That is, in simple words, conformism manifests itself in cases of entry or acceptance of a person into any group. This may concern both the model of his behavior, submission to accepted norms, rules, customs, the predominance of opinions, way of thinking, his beliefs, tastes, style, and so on.

Synonyms for conformity are: humility, tolerance, submission, passive acceptance, in some cases even tolerance.

One of the most famous founders of the study of conformity and conformity is psychologist Solomon Asch. He interpreted conformity as the human ability for behavioral adaptation, including the elimination of differences with the overwhelming majority or people from the social group to which one belongs. We will analyze Solomon Asch's experiments later in this article.

What influences conformist attitudes?

Some people are more willing to obey authority.
They are called authoritarian personalities or uncontrollable personalities. Their opposite is internal nonconformists who are not easily influenced by other people. Conformist behavior is influenced by:

a person’s personality, formed in the process of socialization,
the type of social relationships in which the individual participates,
group structure,
other members of the group (as evidenced by Solomon Asch's research),
the type of task performed by a person in a group,
a method of authorizing action or a form of social control.

There are also circumstances that favor the subordination of a person to a group.
This happens when:

the person has low self-esteem and a strong sense of insecurity,
the group consists of specialists
a person seeks to participate in a group,
the group is unanimous,
the unit has no allies,
the person has a weak position in the group.

Assertiveness in Psychology - What is it?

Who is a conformist personality characteristics

Who is a conformist? Following from the definition of conformism, a conformist is a person who can consciously adapt to any conditions and is able to change his prejudices under the influence of society. Evolutionarily, all people are characterized by conformism. In ancient times, the tribal way of life, constant external threats, the need for survival and continuation of the family required special unity of the tribe; constant being in danger did not leave time for alternatives, because disagreements could lead to worse consequences.

According to evolutionary psychologists, submission to the majority was developed at the level of habit, which later became a stable feature of all people. Therefore, the tendency to stay in the comfort zone is still inherent in every modern person. We can highlight the most characteristic qualities of a conformist in modern society:

Inability to make decisions alone (difficulty in decision making)

The adaptability of a conformist is at a higher level. Such people easily enter a new social group (for example, a work team, a classroom, and so on)

Prejudice and prejudice against minorities of any kind. Conformists, upon entering a new group, immediately join the majority, which leads to condemnation for example of a different opinion

Mediocrity, lack of originality, often creative thinking, that is, traditional views

Still, from the psychological point of view, most people are conformists, but the degree of manifestation of conformism can be different. For example, a conscious conformist is distinguished by traditional prejudices in matters of family, values, religion, and patriotism. Such a person may be in the political opposition, but at the same time obeys social norms and rules of behavior (the Constitution of the country, laws, traffic rules, etc.). Other opposite manifestations of conformists are more often associated with a low level of intelligence, lack of education, and lack of value guidelines. Also, the conformity of behavior of the second type of conformists may be due to the characteristics of a person’s personality traits. They are characterized by stereotypical thinking, the need to stay in their comfort zone, rejection of personal individuality, reluctance to stand out “from the crowd,” and herd instinct.

Who is a conformist

Conformist

They call a person who consciously occupies a subordinate position in society and agrees with its attitudes. A person who decides to change his behavior and way of thinking under the influence of another person, including his idol, is also called a conformist. Most often, however, the word is used in a socio-political context.

In fact, most people are conformists to one degree or another. Even without openly recognizing the existing political regime, most people prefer to remain on the sidelines, taking advantage of the freedom granted by the authorities. Even those who are trying to actively fight the existing system - as a rule, using non-violent methods - outwardly show a completely loyal attitude towards it; because otherwise he will be exposed, captured, arrested, executed - and his cause will perish.

A conscious conformist is characterized not so much by intellect (even people with sufficiently developed intellect can adhere to conformity), but by certain life values. They are most often low. A conformist usually values physiological survival most of all, and almost any political regime, including a dictatorial one, is ready to provide it. The conformist either does not have any higher inclinations and talents, or has them only in those areas that are supported by the government. For example, in Russia, most specialists in the oil and gas industry are conformists, since the government has made them an elite and provides them much better than all other citizens.

A supporter of conformism most often adheres to “traditional values”: he wants to start a family and have children, he is religious, he considers himself a patriot.

However, a certain conformity is neither good nor bad, and sometimes even good. After all, among social norms there are not only destructive, but also creative ones. Who argues that stealing, killing or walking around the city naked is good? Conformity in a number of cases demonstrates its positive sides. Thus, an employee accepts the rules of conduct at the enterprise, and in exchange for this he receives a salary, is promoted, and earns the respect of employees and superiors. An even more clear example: we cross the roadway in accordance with the traffic rules, thereby saving our lives.

Paradoxically, in some cases conformity is also rebellion. By completely obeying the commandments “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not steal,” a person thereby protests against current Russian social attitudes, which prescribe the glorification of thieves and murderers. It happens that in a school class internal attitudes contradict accepted behavior at school; in this case, a student who accepts the conditions of a given group thereby rebels against school rules - and vice versa, while continuing to follow school rules, he becomes an outcast in his class.

Problems begin when conformity becomes a lifestyle. Man makes the subordinate state the ultimate goal of existence. It becomes “correct” even where it is not particularly required. In addition, he begins to tell others how to behave. Politically, a conformist becomes an informer.

Strictly speaking, any manifestation of initiative is a change in reality, which means an attempt to set new, own rules for it. Therefore, a supporter of conformism who has made it his lifestyle is a pathologically insecure person. Often he does not want to change anything even in his private life, not to mention any actions directed outward. He does not dare to quit his old job and move to a new one, even if the team there is better and the salary is higher. He is hesitant to watch new films or listen to new music, especially if they seem too challenging.

Types of conformism

Having understood who conformists are, you can understand that, in general, conformism is not a negative phenomenon. It all depends on the degree of its manifestations. It is no coincidence that conformism in all its modern manifestations is called a complex socio-psychological phenomenon. Therefore, it is studied by many specialists in completely different fields, primarily, of course, psychologists and sociologists, since it is directly related to the behavior and behavioral reactions of people. In the literature you can find a large number of classifications of conformism, but before moving on to them in this article we will consider the types of conformism depending on the attitude towards the person himself. They are internal and external conformism.

In psychology and sociology, several types of conformal human behavior are distinguished

External conformism

First, let's look at external conformism. External conformism is considered to be that type of conformist behavior that is usually characterized by such words as adaptation, compliance, pliability, and sometimes even weak character. External conformism is a person’s agreement with the attitudes accepted in the group, expressed only externally. That is, this is an individual’s agreement with the general opinion and habitual behavior established in a particular group. Even if they contradict the individual’s own attitudes and values, he continues to obey existing rules, for example, out of fear of expulsion from a social or other group.

External conformism

Leonid Prokhorov

Psychologist, Gestalt therapist

Ask a Question

The appearance of conformity can manifest itself in different groups, and accordingly, people who show external conformism most often are distinguished by uncertainty, fear of public condemnation, and insufficient (possibly in their own subjective opinion) competence. External conformism manifests itself most clearly in situations when a question is raised in a group on some topic, where the individual experiences a lack of knowledge, experience, information about processes, and so on. Therefore, at the moment he passively expresses agreement with the opinions of others, however, it will be completely normal to change his opinion, subject to receiving more information on the issue at hand in the future.

Internal conformism

The second type is internal conformism. With internal conformism, the individual is characterized by agreement and approval of established rules, general opinion, and values of the group. In the case of internal conformism, a person begins to experience the presented opinion as his own. In other words, there is a change, or rather a replacement of personal opinion with an opinion imposed by the group.

Psychologists believe that the main factors in the emergence of internal conformity are: identification and the need for recognition by society. Identification consists in the individual’s effort to be like the representatives of the group due to his positive attitude towards them. Internalization in psychology is associated with the individual’s internal assimilation of imposed attitudes. We'll talk more about these factors later.

Thus, internal conformism also has two sides of the coin: on the one hand, if the individual’s attitudes initially coincided with the attitudes accepted in the group, then in this case he will feel comfortable and can quite easily achieve an internal balance between his “I” and the group . On the other hand, with a complete rejection of personal prejudices and “adjustment” of one’s inner “I” to the accepted group beliefs, a negative psychological impact often occurs on the individual in the form of a feeling of personal uselessness, worthlessness, depression and others.

Internal conformity is directly related to the individual’s desire to be like others

What is conformity and non-conformity

In psychology, conformity is considered in a narrow and broad sense. In a narrow sense, this means an uncritical attitude towards the opinion of another person, which the person considers wrong, and the simultaneous suppression of his own opinion, despite the person’s confidence in his own rightness.

In a broad sense, conformity in psychology is the subordination of one individual to the opinion and behavior of the majority. In this case, the individual may not have his own opinion at all or believe that the group is right.

Conformity in psychology is a personality trait, a tendency to conformism. This is the tendency to transform beliefs and views according to the opinion of the majority or the opinion of one (several) significant people. If conformity becomes the leading personality trait, then such a person is classified as a person of a conformist personality type. He obeys the majority always and in everything.

The severity of conformity depends on the size and cohesion of the group. The more people who stand for something, the more likely it is that an individual will conform to their worldview.

What else influences the development of conformity:

the aggressiveness of the group (the more aggressive and dangerous it is for the “others”, the more willing the loners are to step on their own throats and submit to the majority);
an individual's dependence on or attachment to a group;
gender (women are more prone to conformism);
age (children and adolescents are at risk);
social status (people from the lower strata of the population are at risk);
education (uneducated people or people with a low level of intelligence are at risk);
anxiety and suggestibility (the more pronounced these characteristics are, the higher the risk);
lack of understanding of the issues that are discussed by the majority, or indifference to them.

Conformity in sociology is a person’s increased ability to adapt and the desire to adapt. That is, a person submits to the majority in order to enter society.

Nonconformity is the opposite of conformity. This is a person's tendency to be non-conformist. Considering this as a personality trait, we can compare nonconformity with a rebellious spirit, the desire to be “different from everyone else.” Are rebels born or made? As is often the case, the truth is in the middle: some people are naturally inclined toward nonconformism or conformism, but this develops under the influence of the environment. Other people are not naturally inclined to conformism or nonconformism, but due to upbringing they can become one or the other. And there is a third category of people: they can be both rebels and conformists. It depends on the individual case and their assessment of reality.

Types of conformism

As mentioned earlier in this article, there are a large number of classifications of conformity and conformist behavior. Therefore, in addition to external and internal conformism, there are also a large number of its types. For example, types of conformism in relation to the environment and directly to the environment are active and passive conformism.

Active conformism is when the individual himself imposes on himself the need to imitate and accept the attitudes of the group and other people. Moreover, this type of conformal behavior is characterized by strict adherence to a far-fetched thought. With active conformism, a person not only unquestioningly follows his goal, but also tends to impose the idea of a single opinion, his views, on other people.
Passive conformism occurs in cases when someone from the outside, from the outside, influences and influences the individual’s beliefs. Under such pressure, a person eventually gives in and joins the imposed opinion, attitudes, and values. Most often, the person who exerted influence is considered to be to blame.

The division of conformism into active and passive types is associated with the individual’s very desire to adapt to circumstances

The following classification is based on human awareness. It is represented by conscious and unconscious conformism:

Consciousness is considered one of those types of conformity that is most rare. At the same time, regardless of external influence, a person himself understands and realizes the need to change his attitudes. Most often, conscious conformists may well not be limited to a single case of changing their prejudices of this kind.
Unconscious conformism is distinguished by the fact that the individual does not think deeply about what is happening; this is exactly the type when a person “goes with the flow” and simply accepts other people’s rules. He rarely manages to change what he has already accepted, as well as critically evaluate his conformist behavior and the process of accepting other people's beliefs, norms and values.

Conscious conformity of a person can be considered one of the types of human behavior and part of his character

Conformism - what is it, classification and examples from life

Psychology as a field of scientific activity has one peculiarity. Many concepts that were initially strictly scientific and related to psychology subsequently acquired a slightly different meaning and began to be used in other areas, often completely non-scientific; Some such concepts have completely lost connection with psychology.

The same thing happened with conformism. Nowadays, this term is used mainly in politics and ethics, and psychologists for their needs had to invent a new one, although outwardly similar - “conformity”.

However, the former concept is also used in its primary meaning, so when referring to conformism, one should distinguish between “psychological” and “political”.

Classification of conformism

Conformisms are different. They are distinguished by the cause of occurrence, degree, attitude to one’s own thoughts and other factors. There are several classifications of conformism.

Traditionally, conformity is divided into two types

Internal conformity - in this case a person reconsiders his views, changes his position; This is practically the same thing as self-censorship.
External conformity - while internal acceptance of a different opinion does not occur, the person remains true to himself. He is only trying to appear “correct”, avoiding showing his disagreement with social norms. It is in this case that what is commonly called “conformism” is observed.

There are other divisions of conformity. Thus, Herbert Kelman proposes three stages of conformist behavior

Submission - in this case, there is only an external acceptance of influence, which continues only as long as the one who exerts the influence is in the field of vision of the individual.
Identification. It also has two varieties: in the first, a person becomes like an agent of influence because he feels sympathy for him; in the second, each participant accepts certain rules of behavior that the partner expects from him, and he himself expects certain behavior from him.
Internalization - in this case, the opinion of society partially or entirely coincides with the opinion of the individual. There is a complete interpenetration of the individual and the social environment; thanks to this, the behavior of the individual becomes relatively independent of external conditions.

G. Song proposed another classification of conformism. The first type is conscious behavior in which a person shows conformity, guided by certain considerations.

The second type is irrational conformism, or the so-called “herd instinct”; in this case, the person acts unconsciously, “purely automatically” exhibiting the same behavior as those around him.

Let us remember Vasily Alibabaevich, who, when asked what made him escape from prison, innocently replied: “Everyone ran - and I ran.”

Causes of conformity in humans

Why does a person become a conformist? This question was partially answered above: a conformist is an insecure person who submits to general opinion in order to ensure his physiological survival. Apparently, the mentioned “herd instinct” also corresponds to this.

Often, however, other factors contribute to the acceptance of conformity. For example, the desire to achieve a certain social status, success in society; It is known that others accept and respect to a greater extent a person who is not particularly different from them.

Erich Fromm paid a lot of attention to the feeling of loneliness and anxiety. He wrote that conformity for many people serves as a means of getting rid of this feeling. By submitting to the general opinion, a person in his own eyes becomes part of the team, and this increases his self-esteem.

What is social conformity?

There is such a thing as social conformism. It is opposed to group conformism and is aimed at assimilating norms common to the entire society. In everyday speech, it is precisely the social variety of the phenomenon that is meant by the word “conformism.” For this type of behavior, fashion is of decisive importance.

A social conformist strives to dress in the latest fashion, listen to what is “in trend” today, vote for “fashionable” politicians - that is, those who are praised by the majority.

This behavior, on the one hand, increases a person’s self-esteem and relieves him of the feeling of loneliness; but on the other hand, such a person is deprived of individuality, his personality consists entirely of ready-made templates created by public opinion.

A social conformist strives to go with the flow in everything, he does not dare to engage in any kind of rebellion - he even refuses to wear shoes of the “wrong” style. A social conformist, of course, does not strive to be invisible, to “get lost in the crowd”; on the contrary, following general trends is a form of self-expression for him.

Following popular opinion is not necessarily a negative character trait. Such behavior requires moderation. It is necessary to seek a compromise between the demands of society and personal desires and beliefs.

Examples of conformism from life

Conformists are all around us; Almost certainly, the reader of this text is, to one degree or another, a conformist. And it is not so rare to encounter people for whom following the “rules” has become the only meaning of existence.

We often become conformists in some social groups. For example, at a party a person drinks and even gets drunk “to hell” so as not to look strange among his friends, while in ordinary life this person does not drink and condemns alcoholism.

Teenagers are conformists: they try to dress in a certain style, listen to certain bands, play certain games - all this specifically in order to fit into a certain group or some abstract community (be it rappers, metalheads and other subcultures).

Conformists largely shape the entire human culture. Any outstanding figure - a composer, writer, scientist or politician - needs fans, who in this case are conformists - they recognize his talent, recognize his ideas and obey his decisions.

Even those who do not like the activities of a celebrity often hesitate to criticize her and, obeying the general opinion, praise her. This is how mainstream culture is formed, aimed at some average consumer; such a culture can appeal to most people, regardless of their personal beliefs and tastes.

Thus, high-quality pop music (or “pop music”) is liked by fans of any “pop,” as well as by rockers, rappers, and even lovers of classical music.

Thanks to conformists, even money was created. At first, someone suggested that certain metals be considered precious and express the value of other goods through them, and the rest agreed, since there was a need for currency.

Subsequently, the ruling circles proposed conventional means of exchange - paper and then electronic money, and again the majority of people agreed with this.

It can be noted that in such important issues the specific form of the phenomenon does not play any role - society only needs the phenomenon itself as such; Therefore, society allows the question of the specific appearance of a phenomenon to be decided by some influential structures.

Social conformism in psychology

There is also social conformism in psychology. Social conformism is the refusal of an individual to take full responsibility for decision-making, any actions and their consequences. Psychologists associate the emergence of this type with a set of personal attitudes, accepted customs and traditions, religion, mentality, and social norms. The main factor of social conformity is the almost global subordination of advantaged groups, influential people, to the majority. In modern society, it is social conformism that is considered the most unfavorable phenomenon. This is explained by the fact that a person, even in conditions of complete non-acceptance of established attitudes, still mindlessly follows them, suppresses his own values and does not try to express his own opinion.

Conformism as a universal phenomenon in Russia

Leonid Prokhorov

Psychologist, Gestalt therapist

Ask a Question

Many scientists, both sociologists and political scientists, note that in Russia every year the population is becoming more and more conformist. But where are the origins of such opportunistic behavior? Historically, the population of Russia was constantly in a depressed state, which was expressed in pressure from the state. This state reached its apogee during the period of the Soviet Union, when the communist system actually turned the population of the USSR into a faceless society. The emergence of many dystopian novels is connected with this: “We” by Zamyatin, “1984” by J. Orwell.

The reasons for the conformism that developed during the Soviet period are directly related to the political and state system of equal distribution of income, the principle “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.” It was precisely this suppression of society that became the reason for the long existence of the totalitarian Soviet regime.

Factors influencing conformity

The manifestation of conformity is determined by many factors. Some of them were studied experimentally, for example by Solomon Asch. The following factors stand out:

individual psychological characteristics of the individual (level of intelligence, degree of suggestibility, stability of self-esteem, level of self-esteem, need for approval, and so on);
microsocial characteristics of the individual (status and role of the individual in the group, the importance of the group for the individual, and so on);
situational characteristics (personal significance of the problems being discussed for the individual, the level of competence of the individual and members of the community, whether the decision is made publicly, in a narrow circle or in private, and so on);
gender and age characteristics of the individual;
cultural characteristics (in Western cultures, for example, in the USA, England, Italy, with their emphasis on self-expression and defending one’s opinion, conformity is usually associated with humility and compliance and is considered a clearly negative phenomenon; and in cultures where the harmony of interpersonal relationships is highly valued, for example - in Japan and China, compliance with the opinion of the majority can be interpreted as tact and social sensitivity, as a highly positive and desirable phenomenon, a social value and norm).

Reasons for conformity

What influences the emergence of conformism and conformist behavior? Psychologists and specialists in other fields have established some causes and factors that contribute to the emergence of the phenomenon we are considering. Let's figure this out.

First of all, among the reasons is the lack of education of the individual. The level of intelligence directly affects a person's conforming behavior. The less knowledge and outlook a person has, the more inclined he is to join and share other people’s opinions;
A certain type of apperception (human perception of reality). A person sees in conformity a completely standard way out of many situations and an answer to many questions.
The individual's level of self-esteem. Low self-esteem gives rise to self-doubt, thus a person is not sure of the correctness of his own prejudices, so it turns out to be an easy way out for him to follow the leader whose opinion is shared by the majority;
Upbringing. In the process of raising and becoming an individual in the family, parents or the older generation used an authoritarian parenting style. Psychologists have found that in families where parents overprotected the child (overprotection), conformists grow up much more often;
Insufficient level of communication skills. When communications with other people cause difficulties and stress for an individual, then in this case, people try to stay in their comfort zone and rely on more influential people, accepting their position on any issues;
Level of awareness. In cases where a person understands that he does not have a sufficient level of knowledge on the topic under discussion, most often, he obviously agrees with those who understand this issue;
External aggression. When joining a new group, an individual experiences aggression from its members, and thus quickly agrees with group attitudes in order to quickly avoid such an attitude towards himself, to “pass as one of his own”;
Social position also influences conforming behavior. It has been proven that representatives of lower strata more often adhere to the prevailing opinion;
Age. Children's conformity is considered normal, as they are just beginning to socialize and adapt to society. They adopt existing attitudes in the family, in an educational institution, and so on;
Psychological maturity. This factor no longer depends so much on age, but on the psychological processes of the individual;
Another reason may be fear of loneliness. In this case, a person accepts other people’s attitudes in order to get closer to a person or group in order not to be rejected by these people;
National characteristics and politics. For example, in the East, conforming behavior is considered normal due to established rules.

The reasons for opportunistic behavior are often related to the politics and history of a particular population

Pros and cons of conformity

Conformity is a cohesion mechanism formed in humans during the process of evolutionary selection. This means that he once helped primitive people survive. And even today it can provide a person with significant advantages, but it also has disadvantages. Let's look at both in more detail.

The main advantages of conformity:

It provides a person with psychological protection, eliminating doubts and long thoughts. Agreeing with the generally accepted point of view, the conformist believes that he made the right choice.
Conducting various social experiments, psychologists have become convinced that conformity enhances team cohesion.
The conformity of subordinates helps management to better solve business problems. It provides employees with the opportunity to move up the career ladder faster.
Conformity in matters of faith, patriotism and family values contributes to social stability, improved relations in society and an increase in the birth rate.
Obeying traffic rules is also a useful manifestation of conformity.

The main disadvantages of conformity:

loss of individuality, internal conflicts;
loss of ability to make decisions independently;
decreased self-esteem, formation of complexes;
from the point of view of the development of society, the state, commercial and non-profit organizations, conformity is an inhibitory factor that interferes with the development and implementation of new approaches, methods and technologies.

Levels of conformity

Levels or stages of conformity were studied by psychologist Herbert Kelman. He identified three main levels of conformity, two of which were already mentioned earlier in this article:

The first level is submission. Submission is expressed mainly only by external acceptance of imposed attitudes. The duration of subordination is determined by the time during which the individual is influenced by a group or one person. As a result, the acceptance of attitudes ends and the individual’s personal prejudices remain the same as they were before such influence.
The next level is called identification. In turn, identification can be:

Classical

That is, acceptance occurs due to testing the source of influence of sympathy, good attitude, and so on. Simply put, you like the person himself, for example, with some traits or you sympathize with his prejudices, and you feel a desire to adopt certain qualities from him, you share his opinion

Reciprocal role relationship

In this case, we are talking about meeting expectations. That is, you do and say what is expected of you. And at the same time you expect the same in return

The third level is internalization. It represents both partial and complete coincidence of attitudes with a group or a specific person. Thus, external influence is practically eliminated.

Motives for conformism

There are three main motives for conformist behavior. These are the fear of rejection
, the desire
to be right,
and the presence of sanctions for
following or not following group norms
. In this context, normative conformism and information conformism appear.

Normative conformism

is a type of conformity that is motivated by the fear of being rejected by a group or the desire to be accepted by a group. Because we fear rejection or ridicule, we conform to the behavior of others in the group.

Information conformism

motivated by the desire to be right and to take appropriate, correct and appropriate actions. Because we often don't know what appropriate behavior is, we imitate others, understanding that if someone behaves this way, this is the right thing to do.

We are also mobilized to conformist behavior due to the presence of sanctions for both compliance with group norms (positive sanctions) and non-compliance (negative sanctions).

Are you a nihilist, or do you simply not care about everyone and everything?

Examples of conformity

Cases of conformism in our lives occur quite often. Let's start with childhood: the child's acceptance of parental opinions, attitudes, and values. In various sections, school, university, at work, when joining a new group, a new team - in all these cases, we enter a group of people where certain rules and guidelines have already been established, where their own leaders or adherents act. Leaders, when joining a new group, play a unique role for an individual as a guide, a guide, by looking at which one can understand how to behave in an unusual environment.

In the modern world, the media, advertising and other similar sources also play a very important role in the development of conformism. Now they literally dictate trends and remain for a long time in the memory of a person who sooner or later begins to obey them.

The Internet is a modern reason for the development of conformist behavior

Is conformity good or bad?

In modern Western society, conformity is usually frowned upon. Agreeing with a group is not considered bad, but it should be based on inner conviction, and not on the desire to “not stand out from the crowd.” From the point of view of the values of individualism, a person must defend his views and fight for the truth, without fear of public condemnation.

An example of non-conforming behavior. August Landmesser, a shipyard worker in Hamburg, refuses to raise his hand in a Nazi salute. Landmesser's wife had Jewish roots. Photo from 1934, author unknown

In collectivist societies this issue is looked at differently. There, the ability to not quarrel with people and accept common opinions is perceived as wisdom.

For example, conformity is very strong in Japanese culture. From childhood, the Japanese are taught to put the common good above their own, to be ashamed of public condemnation. This is how some explain the high standard of living of the Japanese, their hard work and mutual assistance, and the low crime rate in the country.

Critics point out, however, that thanks to a culture of collectivism in the 1930s and 40s, Japanese society readily submitted to the militaristic leadership that established a totalitarian regime and dragged the country into World War II.

Children in a Japanese school greet their teacher. 1956. Photo: Getty Images

Conformism and nonconformism

While conformism is the acceptance and sharing of society’s attitudes, nonconformism is the completely opposite phenomenon. The word itself comes from the Latin “non” - no, “conformis” - similar, similar. That is, nonconformism is non-acceptance of the majority opinion, the desire to behave outside the generally accepted framework. Sometimes nonconformists are those who have a negative attitude towards society, its norms and foundations. Such representatives also occur, but most nonconformists are characterized by rebellion, innovation, creativity, and originality.

They are not afraid to take initiative and responsibility and often become group leaders, provided they have sufficient knowledge and skills and can convince the rest of the group. However, conformists are not always able and strive to understand nonconformists, so the latter often unite in their own groups. Typically, such groups are subcultures characterized by informality. The desire of nonconformists to introduce various innovations in society is either not approved or causes distrust due to the novelty and unfamiliarity of people. But over time, their ideas may turn out to be quite significant.

The phenomenon of conformism

The term conformism comes from the Latin word conformis (similar, conformable); it is a moral and political concept denoting opportunism, passive agreement with the existing order of things, prevailing opinions, etc. It includes the absence of one’s own position, unconditional adherence to any model that has the greatest pressure (traditions, recognized authority, majority opinion, etc.).

The phenomenon of conformity was first described by the American psychologist S. Asch in 1951. Modern research makes it the object of study of 3 sciences: personality psychology, social psychology and sociology, therefore it is advisable to separate conformism, as a social phenomenon, and conformist behavior, as a psychological feature of a person.

In psychology, personality conformity is understood as its compliance to real or imagined pressure from a group, while a person changes behavior and personal attitudes in accordance with the position of the majority, which he did not previously share. A person refuses his own opinion and unconditionally agrees with the position of others, regardless of how much it corresponds to his own ideas and feelings, accepted norms, moral and ethical rules and logic.

There is also social conformism, which is understood as uncritical perception and adherence to prevailing opinions, mass standards and stereotypes, traditions, authoritative principles and guidelines. A person does not resist prevailing trends, despite their internal rejection, perceives any aspects of socio-political and economic reality without criticism, and does not want to express his own opinion. With conformism, the individual refuses to bear personal responsibility for his actions, blindly submits and follows the requirements and instructions emanating from society, the state, party, religious organization, leader, family, etc. Such submission may be due to mentality or traditions.

Social conformism includes all forms of collectivist consciousness that imply the subordination of individual behavior to social norms and demands of the majority.

Famous nonconformists

Among the people who were not understood at first, but then the results of their work were appreciated at the world level, we can name the well-known Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and others. They can also be called nonconformists to some extent. For example, they said about John Lennon: “He was known as a nonconformist, a rebel and a hooligan who lived as he saw fit and who was not at all embarrassed by the public opinion of the prim West.”

John Lennon is one of the most famous nonconformists

How to get rid of conformity and conformity

Getting rid of conformity and conformity is not always necessary. The phenomenon of conformity is one of the important mechanisms for the socialization and adaptation of a person in society. Both conformism and nonconformism in extreme degrees of their manifestations can be equally destructive for people. Just in the case of an extreme degree of conformity, psychologists advise working towards getting rid of, or rather reducing, manifestations. So, what do experts advise in this case:

Make a personal plan for the month, year, the next five years. By having such a plan with your personal goals, you will have a clearer idea of what you yourself are striving for, rather than what external influences are pushing you towards.
Learn to accept yourself. Work on your self-esteem, try to become more confident in yourself.
Stand up for your opinion. At this point, the main thing is that your position is reasoned and supported by specific facts.
Don't take criticism personally. Especially unfounded. If you hear truly constructive criticism addressed to you, mark it as your growth zone and strive for improvement.
Listen to yourself. If you want to refuse, refuse without fear of other people's judgment if you really are not able to do what is asked of you. Respect the personal interests of both your own and those around you.

You can get rid of conformity in various ways

Conformity is good and bad

The phenomenon of conformism cannot be approached unambiguously. It is necessary to see the positive and negative sides in it. Let us first highlight the advantages of conformism:

strengthening the cohesion of both individual groups and society as a whole, which is important for overcoming crisis situations; optimization of corporate labor organization; increasing the adaptability of the individual in the team.

The disadvantages of conformity are:

depriving a person who is not ready to make his own decisions of responsibility for his destiny;
creating the preconditions for totalitarianism, fraught with mass crimes;
the spread of tenacious prejudices that stand in the way of progress;
the eradication of creative, extraordinary thought, which is the engine of culture.

Conclusion

Conformity often helps a person survive. However, there are circumstances when people walking in step can end up in a ditch if there is not at least one who steps out and warns them of the dangers.

Famous experiments with conformity

One of the most famous experiments is Solomon Asch's experiment - the Asch Experiment. It consisted in identifying the phenomenon of group pressure. The subject was given two cards, and he had to determine which segment from the second card corresponded to the segment from the first. When the subjects solved the task independently and in isolation, everyone answered correctly (Segment C). And then a group was invited, where in advance everyone except one person - the test subject - gave obviously incorrect answers.

The Asch experiment is one of the most famous psychological experiments on identifying conformity.

Asch's next experiment was the elevator experiment. The subject entered the elevator and stood as usual, facing the doors (there is only one exit from the elevator). Other people, arranged in advance, followed him, and they stood facing the wall. Then the subjects, under pressure from the group, turned their backs to the exit.

According to the results of the experiments, 75% were subjected to group pressure and gave the wrong answer. Later, participants were asked why they were influenced and responded/turned around in the same way as the dummy group of people. Most of the subjects answered that they were afraid of ridicule and did not want to take risks.

Another experiment in conformity was the fire experiment. At the beginning of the experiment, one person enters the waiting room. The fire alarm sounds, smoke comes from the door - the subject begins to take actions to extinguish the fire / leave the room. At the next stage, a group of dummy people are placed next to another test subject, who were told in advance not to respond to alarms and smoke. The same thing happens - the fire alarm starts to sound, smoke comes out, but this time the subject looks at the others and does nothing. Only 1 out of 10 people approached the place where the smoke was coming from and wanted to leave. However, he was also stopped by the group “after all, they were told to wait in the room.”

Features of conformal behavior in a social group

Conformity in the group is higher when subjects answer in the presence of the group; this, of course, indicates normative influence (whether subjects respond publicly or privately, they receive the same information). Moreover, the larger the group, the more the private reaction differs from the public reaction. On the other hand, subjects' conformity is higher when they feel incompetent, when the task is difficult, and when subjects are worried about making a mistake or giving the correct answer, that is, when all the signs of informational influence are present. Why do we adapt? We can give two main reasons: We want to please others and want to be approved of, or because we want to do the right thing.

Conformity depends not only on the situation, but also on the personal qualities of people. The study of the relationship between personality traits and social behavior by social psychologists parallels the study of the mutual influence of attitudes and behavior. In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychologists studied the influence of internal motives and predispositions on people's actions. They found that people who acknowledge their need for social approval are more likely to conform. If you wanted to know how conformist, aggressive, or helpful a person was, a detailed description of the situation in which he was expected to behave was much more useful than numerous psychological tests.

The idea that individual tendencies play little role prompted personality psychologists in the 1980s to study the circumstances under which they actually predict behavior. The results of their study confirmed the principle that, although internal factors (attitudes, personality traits) rarely accurately predict specific human actions, they are much more reliably predictive of usual behavior in most situations. The following analogy helps to understand what has been said: Predicting your behavior in a specific situation is as difficult as predicting your answer to a specific test question. But just as your final test score is fairly predictable, so is the consistency (sociability, aggressiveness, etc.) of your behavior in most situations.

Personality traits are also better predictors of behavior in the absence of strong social pressure. Personality traits are even more pronounced in “weak” situations, such as when two strangers are sitting in a waiting room with nothing to guide their behavior. When we place two similar people in completely different situations, we find that the influence of context outweighs individual differences.

Results from a number of personality tests do not predict specific acts of conformity, but rather predict the tendency to conform (and other forms of social behavior) in everyday life. The influence of personality traits on conformity is stronger in “weak” situations, when social forces are not strong enough to “outweigh” individual differences. Although conformity and subordination are universal traits shared by all people without exception, susceptibility to social influence varies across cultures.

People value their own freedom and autonomy. Therefore, they often rebel when social pressure becomes so strong that there is a real threat to their personal freedom.

The theory of psychological reactance, which states that people behave in ways to protect their sense of freedom, is supported by experimental evidence that attempts to limit a person's freedom often lead to an anti-conformist "boomerang effect." The phenomenon of reactance convinces us that people are not puppets.

When people are very different from those around them, they feel uncomfortable. But they are just as uncomfortable, at least in Western countries, when they are the same as everyone else. People feel better when they perceive themselves as unique individuals. By their behavior they also defend their right to be unique.