Conformity: why do we submit to peer pressure?

You have probably ever considered why most people tend to follow the dictates of the majority.

Psychology has tried to find out what makes people bend to peer pressure, what are the causes of behavior gregarious, what is the nature of group pressure and to what extent an individual is able to renounce his own criteria in favor of masses.

Conformity: definition

The conformity can be defined as those modifications or changes that occur in the behavior or opinion of a person as a result of real or imagined pressure of people or groups of people.

Several experiments that bring us closer to the phenomenon of conformity

One of the most significant psychological experiments was that carried out in the 1950s by Solomon Asch. I propose that you put yourselves in the following situation.

You volunteer to participate in an experiment on perceptual judgment. In a room together with other participants, the experimenter shows everyone a straight line (line X), at the same time shows you three other lines of comparison (lines A, B and C). The task is to determine which of the three lines is the same length as line X.

You clearly know that the correct answer is line B and so you will indicate it to the experimenter when your turn comes. However, the first participant responds that it is line A, logically you are surprised by her response. When it is the turn of the second person, line A also answers, probably this second answer will surprise you even more and you will start to think how can it be, if it is clearly the line B? But when it is the turn of the third participant and he also says line A, you examine the lines once more and you start to doubt and wonder if you can be wrong. A fourth participant, answers in his turn clearly line A. Finally, your turn comes and you naturally answer line A, you knew it from the beginning.

This is the conflict that the participants in Asch's study experienced. The experiment was simple: it consisted of gathering university students and showing them the different cards with the standard line and with three other lines to compare. The participants had to answer aloud, and the experimental subject was never positioned in the first positions to answer, so that the rest of the participants who are accomplices of the experimenter could give the wrong answer agreed upon before the subject.

Peer pressure ‘modifies’ our perception

The results of the experiment showed that when the subject was not subjected to peer pressure and they were allowed to do alone a series of judgments on the length of the lines, there was an almost total absence of errors, given the simplicity of the homework. In cases where the subject was faced with a unanimous majority who answered incorrectly, approximately 35% of all the answers were incorrect, conforming to the incorrect judgments made by the accomplices.

Other experiments similar to Asch's

Asch's experiment has been replicated in more than one hundred studies in different countries showing identical results. The results show that before a majority that emits an erroneous judgment, people tend to settle for the wrong social perception.

In a situation in which there were no restrictions on individuality, and no sanctions against nonconformity, the participants tended to conform. Why did the participants bow to the opinion of others?

The causes and factors of conformity

The conformity was due to two possible causes: they were convinced, before the unanimous opinion of the majority, that their opinion was wrong or followed the opinion of others in order to be accepted by the majority or avoid the rejection that would produce disagreement in the group. That is, the subjects had two goals: to be right and to ingratiate themselves with the rest of the group. In many circumstances, both goals can be met with a single action.

In Asch's experiment, if the opinion of others about the length of the lines were the same as yours, both goals could be satisfied. However, both goals were in conflict, producing the effect of conformity. The effect of accommodating others' responses has not so much to do with imitation as with the need to reduce the dissonance between one's own perception and the judgments made by the the rest.

Factors that increase or reduce conformity

1. Unanimity

The unanimity or lack of unanimity in the opinion of the majority, is one of the crucial factors that determine the propensity of the subject to conformity. If one of the group members gives a different answer to the majority, the pressure towards conformity and increases the chances that the subject is more inclined to give their opinion.

Namely, it is enough for a single person to provide a different answer so that conformity is reduced and the power of the group diminishes. However, if there is unanimity, it is not necessary that the volume of the majority be high to provoke the maximum conformity in a person. The tendency to adapt to group pressure, with a unanimous majority, is practically the same regardless of the number of people that make up that majority.

2. Commitment

The commitment it is one of the factors that can reduce conformity, when individuals have publicly committed to a judgment or opinion before hearing the opinion of the majority, the person is more likely to hold her opinion and not conform to those of the majority.

3. Individual variables: self-esteem and ability

There are certain individual variables that increase or decrease conformity. In general, people with a poor opinion of themselves they are more likely to bend to peer pressure in order to avoid rejection than those with high self-esteem. Another factor to take into account is the person's belief in their own ability to perform the task successfully, for example in Asch's experiment those subjects who were allowed prior to the experiment judging the length of the lines indicating the correct answer, they tended less to conformity than those who were not allowed to perform the task previously.

4. Group composition

The group composition that exerts pressure is another factor that modulates the effect of compliance. A) Yes, a group will be more effective in inducing conformity if it is made up of experts, if the members are important to the individual and if they are in some way similar or comparable to the individual, such as classmates.

5. Feeling of group belonging

The valuation of the group membership influences the degree of conformity. A) Yes, those who value belonging to the group and feel only moderately accepted will show a greater tendency to adapt to the norms and guidelines created by the group than those who feel totally accepted.

6. Authority

Finally, the authority conformity increases. In those situations where the opinion or judgment comes from an authority figure, the appearance of authority can give legitimacy to an opinion or request and generate a high degree of conformity. As was found in another of the most famous experiments in psychology, the milgram experiment in which most of the participants showed obedience to authority.

Conclusions

In conclusion, this experiment shows the great influence that others have on our own elaboration of beliefs and opinions. It also shows that in some cases we are easily manipulated and can vary our most subjective beliefs such as ideals, political tendencies and even one's own tastes.

Bibliographic references:

• Aronson, E. (2000). The Social Animal: An Introduction to Social Psychology (8th ed. in Editorial Alliance.). Madrid: Alliance.
• Paéz, D., and Campos, M. (2005). Culture and Social Influence: Conformity and Innovation. Social Psychology, Culture and Education. (pp. 693-718) Dialnet. Recovered from: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo? code ...