Conformity: Why We Do It & How To Stop It
Hello there and welcome to Mind Tools. My name is Giulia Bagnasco, I have a background in Organisational Psychology and a passion for applying it to our daily lives.
Mind Tools brings psychological concepts into life through practical examples and challenges for you to try.
If I say conformity, what do you immediately think of?
If you are reading this from anywhere in Western World, it is likely that you associate conformity with negative concepts, ranging from “being boring” and lack of individuality all the way to peer pressure and blind obedience.
Yet, even if we don’t like to admit it, conformity plays an important role in our everyday life. In fact, if human beings weren’t naturally prone to conformity, our world would be a shapeless and chaotic anarchy. I will let you imagine a society where people did not comply to laws or spontaneously decided whether to drive on the right or left side of the road..
Of course, unless you have been hiding in a cave for the past century, you’d be well aware of the less pretty side of conformity. As we have seen, “everyone is doing it” is a rather flimsy justification in face of harmful behaviour or, worse, large-scale atrocities.
So, you may ask, what should we make of conformity? Where is the line between good and bad conformity? How do we stop ourselves from conforming?
In this article, I will aim to answer these questions focusing on the following topics:
1. Understanding conformity
2. The difference between good and bad conformity
3. How to stop conforming
1. Understanding conformity
Imagine that you and other 4 colleagues are interviewing 3 candidates applying for the same role. You all observed them while they were completing a group task. From your perspective there are no doubts: candidate 1 was by far the best. Here are your notes:
Candidate 1: prepared, collaborative, answered all questions correctly and came across as smart and friendly
Candidate 2: barely spoke, gave an unclear presentation and came across as disorganised
Candidate 3: constantly interrupted the others, answered a question directed to someone else and showed up late to the interview.
After the interview, you all head to a feedback meeting hosted by the team leader. He starts asking the person on your left and by chance, you are the last to be asked. Everyone before you recommends candidate 3. When is your turn to speak, what do you say?
Do you go with your original decision and back it up or conform with the majority?
Though you’d like to believe otherwise, chances are that you would probably comply with the majority. If you have heard of Solomon Asch’s (1951) experiment1, this example might be ringing some bells.
In Asch’s series of experiments, he asked participants to choose a line that matched the length of one of three different lines (see photo).
When asked individually, participants picked the correct line. However, when asked in the presence of a group of actors who all intentionally selected the same wrong line, around 75% of participants conformed with the group.
Why do we conform?
Reading these examples you might think that conformity in these scenarios is completely irrational and that, were you in the situation, you’d stick to your initial decision. However, as much as we like to think of ourselves as unique individuals, humans are social beings wired to fit in.
Psychologists have dedicated a lot of time understanding the reasons why we conform, and here are two of the main ones2.
Informational conformity
This type of conformity happens when we look to the rest of the group for how we should behave. This is especially helpful when others have greater knowledge or experience than us, so following their lead can be highly instructive.
For example, if you are given a fruit that you have never seen before, looking at how others are eating it and copying them can prove very helpful.
Normative conformity
In some instances, like in the case of the hiring scenario, we conform to the expectations and behaviours of the group in order to avoid looking foolish. This tendency can become particularly marked in situations where we don’t really know how to act or when expectations are ambiguous.
For example, if you enter a shop and you see that everyone is in a line, you are likely to conform and also stand in line.
2. The difference between good and bad conformity
As I’m sure you can tell, the above examples for both normative and informational conformity are pretty harmless. That is because conformity is not inherently positive or negative and there is not a “type” that is always good or bad.
Nevertheless, out of the two, normative conformity has a higher potential for danger, as it can motivate someone to conform with the group even if they know that the group is wrong3.
There is no magic formula for spotting precisely when conformity becomes dangerous; however, researchers have been able to highlight several “red flag” factors4:
Task difficulty: if a task is difficult, people are more likely to turn to others for information on how to respond
Status: when other group members are of a higher status (more powerful, influential or knowledgeable), people are more likely to go along with the group
Ambiguity: the more ambiguous and uncertain the situation, there more likely is conformity
In addition, there is one other factor that can be especially dangerous:
Fear of repercussion: conformity out of deference to authority, fear of being punished or concern for status can lead to particularly harmful situations. When group members conceal critical information or are willing to deny obvious evidence, the group is at risk of groupthink or extreme polarisation (this will be the topic of another article!)
3. How to stop conforming & challenge
So what can we do to stop these dynamics from occurring?
Once again, there is no silver bullet, but there are some tips that can prove very helpful. My challenge for you is to try these out next time you spot one or more of the conformity red flags.
Understand social influence
You might like to hear this. The more you learn and understand about social influence, the more empowered you are to stop certain dynamics from occurring. So, now that you have a better understanding of how conformity works, you are more likely to spot the “red flags” and avoid unpleasant outcomes
Practice saying no
Take time to learn how to disagree and oppose decisions in a graceful and constructive manner. Approaching the issue with curiosity, asking questions and using constructive language can really help get your message across in a non-threatening way
Encourage debate
If saying no feels too overwhelming, focus on the fact that others might feel similarly to you. Try to encourage others to share their points of view so that you can create the space for different perspectives to emerge.
In conclusion, it is perfectly natural and human for us to be influenced by the opinion of others. However, there are ways for us to stay true to our opinions and minimise our urgency to comply with others. I hope these tips can be helpful!
References
Asch, S. E. (1951). "Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment". Groups, Leadership and Men – via Carnegie Press.
Renkema, Lennart J.; Stapel, Diederik A.; Van Yperen, Nico W. (2008). "Go with the flow: conforming to others in the face of existential threat". European Journal of Social Psychology. 38(4): 747–756.
Cialdini, R. B.; Goldstein, N. J. (2004). "Social influence: Compliance and conformity" (PDF). Annual Review of Psychology. 55: 591–621.
Baron, Robert S.; Vandello, Joseph A.; Brunsman, Bethany (1996). "The forgotten variable in conformity research: Impact of task importance on social influence". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 71 (5): 915–927.