The Power of Conformity

Study Notes

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms, which are specific rules shared by a group of individuals on how they should behave.
People often conform to society rather than pursue their personal desires because it is easier to follow the path others have made already.
The Asch Conformity Experiment shows that people are susceptible to conformity, with about 75% of participants conforming at least once.
Conformity can be conscious or unconscious, with people having an intrinsic tendency to unconsciously imitate other's behaviors.
There are two main reasons for conformity: informational influence (when people believe the group is better informed) and normative influence (when people are afraid of rejection).
Conformity often occurs within a group of a similar age, culture, religion, or educational status, and can lead to groupthink.
Conformity can be regarded as either good or bad, with it allowing one to learn and adopt appropriate behaviors to interact and develop within society.
Herbert Kelman identifies three types of conformity: compliance, identification, and internalization.
The degree of conformity is influenced by culture, gender, age, size of the group, situational factors, and different stimuli.
Minority influence, a special case of informational influence, can resist the pressure to conform and influence the majority to accept the minority's belief or behaviors.
Social responses to conformity can vary from conversion to anticonformity.
Main conformity experiments include Sherif's experiment, Asch's experiment, and Milgram's Shock Experiment.Conformity: Factors that Influence Social Influence
Humans have a tendency to seek social approval and acceptance, which is part of our nature.
Normative influence usually results in public compliance, doing or saying something without believing in it.
Asch's 1951 experiment found that people tend to conform to group opinions, but subsequent studies suggest that the participants were not known to each other and therefore did not pose a threat against social rejection.
Minority influence can sometimes override conformity effects and lead to changing the majority's beliefs and behaviors.
Gender has been found to play a role in conformity, with women being more conforming than men in group pressure situations that involve surveillance.
Age has also been found to have an impact on conformity, with older individuals displaying less conformity when compared to younger individuals.
The size of the group influences conformity, with accountability, attractiveness, accuracy, task difficulty, and group cohesiveness all playing a role.
Different stimuli can also influence conformity, as demonstrated by Stanley Milgram's study using audio tones instead of lines.
Neuroscience has found evidence for the involvement of the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) in conformity, an area associated with memory and decision-making.
The amygdala and hippocampus have also been found to be recruited when individuals participated in a social manipulation experiment involving long-term memory.
Having similar opinions to others can generate a reward response in the brain's ventral striatum.
Social influence can be predicted by a mathematical model using three factors: the number of people in the group, the group's strength, and immediacy.The Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex in Conformity
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a role in conformity both during social influence and when participants are given the opportunity to conform later on.
The OFC mirrors exposure to social influence when a decision is being made without the social influence being present.
The tendency to conform is observed in the structure of the OFC, with a greater grey matter volume in high conformers.
Research by Charpentier et al. highlights the role of the OFC in conformity.
The OFC is responsible for decision-making and reward processing.
The OFC receives input from other regions of the brain, including the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Conformity is a complex social phenomenon that involves multiple brain regions.
The desire to conform is influenced by a variety of factors, including social norms, group identity, and status.
The OFC may play a role in regulating social behavior and decision-making to align with social norms.
Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying conformity can inform interventions to promote independent thinking and reduce groupthink.
Further research is needed to fully understand the role of the OFC in conformity and its implications for social behavior.
The study of conformity is an important area of research in social psychology and neuroscience.

Description

How well do you understand the power of conformity? Test your knowledge with this quiz! Explore the factors that influence social influence, the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in conformity, and the different types of conformity. Discover the main conformity experiments and the various social responses to conformity. Learn about the brain regions involved in conformity and how they regulate social behavior. Challenge yourself and see how much you truly know about this fascinating topic.