Conformity In Among The Hidden

Conformity is very important to society. Many people conform every day. Conformity is important because it brings people together. Among the Hidden, in this story we see people conforming because of the situation they are in. Society encourages conformity through higher level people, social groups, and media.

First off higher level people encourage conformity. Higher level people start trends. Dr. Crandall from the University of Kansas says “high-status individuals like Elton John and Elizabeth Taylor spoke out and explicitly established a new norm of acceptance.” This shows that higher level people changed how people thought about people who are different. When Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton started dabbing after he would score a

People conform with people they are relatable with. In the article “The Wall Street Journal Under the Influence: How the Group Changes What We Think” Dr. Berger says “Your thoughts are not public but your behaviors are.” Rules of a group change how people act, people are more likely to conform with people who have the same interests. This shows that people who conform usually try to stay in the group because they are with people who they like. In the book Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Barons are rich people who get more privileges than other people. In the book, their are laws against having third children and unhealthy foods and drinks. The text states “What’ll it be? Soda? Potato Chips?” “But those are illegal” In Among the Hidden you can see the Barons have many more privileges than other people because Jen is a Baron and she has unhealthy foods and drinks that others don’t have. Barons conform over food and having third children. Barons are part of a social group. This shows that social groups encourage conformity in a

Media can make people conform. Media makes apps more popular. For example, over the summer the app Pokemon Go came out. Pokemon Go was a very popular game. When someone would see something on social media they would want to play it. People are able to communicate and see other people playing, and they conform to each other. The article “Why is Pokemon Go so popular?” it says it’s “a gaming experience with more sense of community than anything I’ve seen in years.” This shows that Pokemon Go was more popular because of media. The media also changes how people think about the presidential election. The media has been trying to make people conform with Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump by having commercials about the opponent and putting things online. This shows media has been trying to change how people think about the presidential candidates. Social media can start trends. When people on social media are wearing or using something other people will want to have the thing. One example is Segways. Many people rode these and posted it on social media and many other people saw them and wanted to have one. This shows that when something is posted on social media by someone other people will probably want to have the thing they have. This encourages conformity in a society. This shows that social media can encourage