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Conformity is the process by which individuals follow and agree with a group's norms and expectations. When people conform to a group they change their attitudes, beliefs, perspectives, and behaviors in order to match the majority.

As seen in the Asch Experiment, an experiment testing the likelihood to which people would conform, where participants were staged to give wrong answers to an obvious test question while the real participants were questioned and tested to see how they would answer when the majority of the group answers wrong answer. Most people conformed and gave the wrong answer along with the rest of the group in order to fit in. Asch found in his experiments that the bigger the group the more likely one is to conform.

Conformity was also highlighted in the Stanford Prison Experiment, an experiment suggesting that behaviors are influenced by expected social roles. Individuals who were designated to play the role of cops quickly changed their behaviors and attitudes and conformed to the role of an officers becoming more aggressive and sadistic. While those playing the role of a prisoner quickly grew more distressed and more submissive.

Conformity is also seen all day, everyday. When we wear a specific uniform to work or dress in certain attire for a fancy dinner. When we all get out to our car, put on our seatbelts, pull out and stay on the right side of the road, following the speed limit, stoping at stop signs when no one's around and using our blinkers. Following the rules and preferred standards set by society are acts of conformity.

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The picture presented above is a picture I took at Costco of the line to get out, which employees will check customer carts and receipts. Without question or hesitation each customer gets in one of the two or three lines formed, waiting their turn. This image resembles the concept of conformity because it shows how individuals will behave similarly to how they expect others around them to behave. Waiting your turn and not cutting lines are social norms or standard ways of behaving in public, so many people conform to this behavior to match societies behavioral expectations and not be looked down upon.

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Conformity can be heavily influenced by publicity and the power of authority, which is legitimate or respected person of influence or power. Adolf Hitler grew fame in his trial to overrun the German government and while imprisoned wrote "Mein Kampf" to spread word of his militant ideologies about racial purity. He then continued to grow social status and power in the election. The economy was in a depression and blaming the Jews became a wide spread idea that many had faith in. The majority of Germans accepted Nazism, changing their attitudes and behaviors towards those who looked Jewish and were completely fueled with rage and hatred, accepting the idea of pushing them out of their country. Those who became Nazi members, changed their behaviors completely to match the ideas of Hitler, implementing the genocide, murdering and torturing anyone who seemed to be Jewish. However, some in society didn't agree with the ideas of Hitler yet accepted them in order to avoid any negative sanctions, or punishments, from the dominant group, which would be the Nazi party in this case.

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As defined in the Introduction to Sociology 3e's chapter 1.3 Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology, "Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources." Conflict theorist analyze on a macro level, meaning focusing on large scale aspects of society rather than at an individual level. In conflict theory, society is perceived to be controlled by the higher class with power and inequality playing huge roles. Those who have greater wealth and social status are considered the dominant group and gain control of society through power, while those with lower social status are marginalized and put at a disadvantage.

Conformity in the eyes of a Conflict theorist would be seen as a tool used by those in power to maintain social control, status, and compliancy. The ruling class implements conformity though institutions, like the media and education system, influencing the weaker groups in society to follow and abide by the dominant groups rules and social norms. However not everyone agrees with the dominant groups ideas and the pressures to conform can spark social movements, an organized group promoting social change.

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Opportunity Inequality, Pressure to conform

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Opportunity Inequality, Pressure to conform

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Conformity can have negative affects on equality in regards to opportunity. Often those who don't conform are discriminated against, being excluded or treated poorly due to differing ideas. This can cause suppressed individuals to lack confidence in expressing their opinions and feel forced to fit in with society. On the other hand, the majority that does conform risks suppressing their uniqueness as well when conforming and complying to groupthink, which is when a group prioritizes a consensus leaving little room for alternative ideas. Conformity also minimizes individual critical thinking and limits room for growth, since people are looking to fit in or follow along with the crowd.

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The mass media refers to communication outlets, such as broadcasting networks, the internet, publishing, print news, advertising and entertainment tv. In advertisements, the concept of conformity is used often to persuade the viewer to purchase something, change their opinion about a topic, and convince someone to go do something. You often hear in ads about some "life changing" product that "everyone has", which implies that, as a viewer, you will benefit from this product and will be missing out otherwise. A sense of belonging and fear of missing out are common reasons why people conform to certain trends frequently presented by the media.

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Meyer, Philip. “‘If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably.’” Learn to Question, Feb. 1970, www.learntoquestion.org/resources/database/archives/000820.html.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/learn. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Tonja R. Conerly. Introduction to Sociology 3e. E-book, OpenStax, https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/1-introduction. OpenStax.

Zimbardo, Philip. “You Can’t Be a Sweet Cucumber in a Vinegar Barrel: A Talk with Philip Zimbardo.” Edge, 19 Jan. 2005, www.edge.org/3rd_culture/zimbardo05/zimbardo05_index.html.