Myers (2010, p.) defines conformity as “the change of actions or attitudes caused by the pressure from some real or notional groups.” Conformity causes people to follow others rather doing what they want or what they feel are right or wrong. In my opinion, people conform because of pressures from their peers, family, society or expected norms. Conformity is something that has an extensive effect on people today and is clearly seen in almost every aspect of society today from trends, to opinions, to their actions. Psychological experiments from Muzafer Sherif and Solomon Asch have been used to try and show the extent of conformity and its strength on people. Song, G. Ma, Q. Wu, F. Li, L (2012: P.1) show what happens when someone conforms in their book: “Conformity occurs when the subject demonstrates the same behaviour or attitude as the object. The subject is the individual who conforms. The object(s) may be individuals, groups, organizations, policies, rules and regulations, or the experience or natural instinct of the subject.” This describes the actions of someone who is conforming. Conformity has …show more content…
It is much more common than people assume. In this essay, I have spoken about the informational and normative influences and I referred to famous experiments by Solomon Asch and Muzafer Sherif, I also showed how these have the ability to be resisted. I finally referred to the French Revolution as famous case of people not conforming as they did not believe it was right. Herman Merville stated “we cannot live for ourselves alone”, I personally feel this is good quote to finish on as it shows peoples need for others approval. This is one of the main factors in conformity. However, I believe conformity can be resisted as everyone has a choice whether to resist it or not. However, it seems to be resisted by people with more self-assurance and independent people