Chapter 8: Social
Influence
Conformity
Presented by Paige Otto
12/5/25 | SOC 260
Introduction
What is Conformity?
Conformity occurs when
individuals are pressured to realign
or readjust their behavior to better
fit in with social norms.
It affects elements such as group
cohesion, decision-making, and
personal identity
It is a universal process, standard
across cultures in every area of the
world
Importance
Why it Matters Everyday Connection
Conformity has an impact on all We demonstrate
areas of life-- especially those we tie conformity through many
to our identity, such as fashion, slang, everyday actions, like:
or even political opinion following a dress code,
Examining why and how we feel showing deference to
pressured to conform helps us an authority figure, or
critically analyze situations in which even laughing when
conformity can be a problem. others laugh, or even
For example, group decision social media
failures, the spread of
misinformation, the rise of
groupthink, peer pressure, etc.
Theory
Normative & Informational Social Influence
Normative social influence is the motivator for individuals to
conform in order to feel good, fit in, and become accepted
within the group.
Informative social influence is what causes individuals to act
because of the belief that the group has correct or logical
information. Often the pressure in uncertian tasks or
situations
Simple Psychology
Theory Cont’
Kelman’s Types of Conformity
1. Compliance: the most basic level of conformity. Individuals
change thier actions/public views to reaffirm the feeling that
identifying with the group is desirable. This isn’t a change of
internal opinions or beliefs, but rather the front-facing persona.
2. Internalization: This is the deepest level of conformity. It causes
the individual to demonstrate group norms both publicly and in
private, opinionated settings. This may cause them to construe
their original beliefs and opinions as wrong because the public
nature of the group’s views convinces them they must be right.
3. Identification: Conformity relies on the desire to be apart of the
group identity, thus leading to the previous levels of conformity.
Studymind UK
Evidence
1. Asch Line Judgement Study
Participants were asked to
identify which 1 of the 3 lines
matched the reference line
Unknown to the real
participants, many of the group
were actors who provided
wrong answers
About 37% of participants
deliberately answered
incorrectly to conform to the
group consensus.
EBESCO
Evidence Cont’
2. Sherif’s Autokinetic Effect Study
Using the Autokinetic Effect (perception
of light movement in a dark room), they
asked participants to estimate the
movement of light
Phase 1 gathered individual estimates
Phase 2 gathered estimates in groups of
2-3
in Phase 2, individuals were made to
conform to group consensus, yet when
Phase 1 was repeated, the consensus
stuck, proving that conformity has an
impact even after the situation in which
conformity is necessary doesn’t occur.
Cornell Blogs
Reccomendations
What Can We Do?
We can combat We can make our spaces areas in which
conformity-influenced individuals feel like healthy disagreement
behaviors such as with authority is rewarded and
groupthink by assigning encouraged
things such as a devil’s
advocate or encourage Teaching individuals how to identify
dissent and point out unhealthy behavior or
negative social influence would also
help to combat the negatives of
conformity
Conclusion
Overall, conformity is an invisible force that shapes
our behavior in numerous unseen ways.
Recognizing and learning when and why we
conform will help us to facilitate healthy group
dynamics, promote individual thought, critical
thinking skills, and informed decision-making.
References
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social-norms/
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explanations-for-conformity/
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conformity-experiments
Does Anyone
Have Questions?
Thank You