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Exploring Conformity and Obedience Concepts

Mar 19, 2025

Lecture Notes: Conformity and Obedience

Introduction

  • Conformity and Obedience: Two distinct yet related psychological concepts often confused but having different meanings.
  • Conformity: Adjusting behavior or thinking to align with a group (peer pressure).
  • Obedience: Following orders and obeying authority without cognitive engagement ("I'm just following orders").
  • Both can be positive (e.g., safety behaviors) or negative (e.g., peer pressure leading to questionable behaviors, historical atrocities).

Positive Aspects

  • Conformity: Running out of a building when others do.
  • Obedience: Following authoritative instructions like a firefighter advising against entry into a burning building.

Negative Aspects

  • Peer pressure leading to negative behaviors, commonly seen in children and teens.
  • Historical implications of obedience, e.g., the Holocaust context where ordinary people committed atrocities.

Types of Conformity and Obedience

  1. Compliance:

    • Behavior done for rewards or to avoid punishment.
    • Example: Paying taxes for fear of punishment; TSA screenings to board a plane.
    • Compliance fades once rewards/punishments are removed.
  2. Identification:

    • Behavior done to emulate someone admired.
    • Continues as long as admiration/respect persists.
    • Example: Supporting a sports star, then withdrawing support after a negative incident.
  3. Internalization:

    • Public and private conformity with a behavior.
    • Integrated into personal beliefs and values.
    • Example: Starting to exercise due to friends, continuing due to personal belief in its benefits.

Social Influences

  1. Normative Social Influence:

    • Conforming to gain social approval or avoid rejection.
    • Example: Pretending to like a popular singer to avoid group disapproval.
  2. Informational Social Influence:

    • Deferring to others who seem more knowledgeable.
    • Example: Asking locals for restaurant recommendations when new to an area.

Conclusion

  • Understanding the nuances between conformity and obedience, and their subtypes, is crucial in analyzing social behavior.
  • Both have significant impacts on individual and group behavior, with varying motives and levels of engagement.