Normative social influence

Classic research In 1955, Solomon Asch conducted his classic conformity experiments in an attempt to discover if people still conform when the right answer is obvious. Specifically, he asked participants in his experiment to judge the similarity of lines, an easy task by objective standards. Using accomplices to the plot, also known as confederates, Asch created the illusion that an entire group of participants believed something that was clearly false (i.e., that dissimilar lines were actually similar). In this situation, participants conformed over 36% of the time on trials where the confederates gave blatantly false answers. When asked to make the judgments in private, participants gave the right answer more than 99% of the time. Asch's results cannot be explained by informational social influence, because in this case, the task was easy and the correct answer was obvious. Thus, participants were not necessarily looking to others to figure out the right answer, as informational social influence predicts. Instead, they were seeking acceptance and avoiding disapproval. Follow-up interviews with participants of the original Asch studies confirmed this. When participants were asked why they conformed, many provided reasons other than a need for accuracy. Participants in this conservation study did not believe that such normative messages could influence their behavior; they attributed their conservation efforts to environmental concerns or social responsibility needs. Thus, normative social influence can be a very powerful, yet unconscious, motivator of behavior. Consequences Lastly, different studies have illustrated the consequences of deviation from a group's influence. In a study by Schachter (1951), participants were placed in groups and asked to discuss what to do with a juvenile delinquent they had read about. A "deviant" was instructed by the experimenter to take a stand strongly opposing that of the rest of the group and to hold this position in the midst of any arguments from other members. After the conclusion of the discussions, participants chose to reject this deviant the most, considering him the least desirable of the members, and relegating him to the least important tasks. Recent work by Berns et al. (2005) examined the physiological effects of deviation by using fMRI to scan participants' brains as they completed an object rotation task with other "participants", who were actually confederates. The researchers were interested in examining participants' brain activity when they were under pressure to conform to an incorrect group majority. The amygdala region (which is associated with negative emotions) was activated when participants sought to break off from the influence of the majority; providing support for the point that resisting normative social influence can often lead to negative emotional consequences for individuals. == Affecting factors ==

Social impact theory Latane's social impact theory posits that three factors influence the extent to which we conform to group norms: personal importance, immediacy, and size. Unanimity When a group is unanimous in its support of a norm, an individual feels greater pressure to follow suit. In another variation of the Asch study, the researchers allowed the participant to privately write down his answer after all of the confederates had publicly stated their answers; this variation reduced the level of conformity among participants. In addition, the control condition of the Asch study revealed that participants were almost perfectly accurate when answering independently. Minority influence It is possible for a vocal minority to stem the normative influence of a larger majority. It is often the case that whereas a majority influences public compliance with a norm, a minority can engender private acceptance of a new norm, with the result often being conversion (public and private acceptance of a norm). Women do conform (slightly) more under normative influence than do men when in public situations as opposed to private ones. Eagly and Carli found that male researchers reported higher levels of conformity among female participants than did female researchers; the authors speculate that each gender could be implicitly biased towards portraying itself in a positive light, thus leading to actions (e.g., setting up experimental conditions under which males or females may be more comfortable) that might favor one gender over the other. ==Examples==

Fashion choices are often impacted by normative social influence. To feel accepted by a particular crowd, men and women often dress similarly to individuals in that group. Fashion conformity promotes social cohesion within the group and can be a result of both conscious and unconscious motivations. Similar to fashion conformity, the male and the female views of the ideal body image are often affected by normative social influence. Social media and marketing helps to portray what is commonly considered the current view of physical attractiveness by the masses. As each generation defines the ideal female figure, women feel the pressure to conform to avoid the disapproval of others. Likewise, as society continues to define the ideal male body type as muscular and fit, men also come under pressure to conform, which often leads to changes in eating habits to reach that ideal. ==See also==