Conformity

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Conformity is not just acting as other people act; it is also baing affected by how they act. It is acting or thinking differently from the way you would act and think if you were alone. Thus, conformity is a change of behavior or belief to accord with others. When, as a part of a crowd, you rise to cheer a game-winning goal, are you conforming? When, along with millions of others, you drink milk or coffee, are you conforming? When you and everyone else agree that women look better with longer hair than with crew cuts, are you conforming? Maybe, maybe not. The key is whether your behavior and beliefs would be the same apart from the group. Would you rise to cheer the goal if you were the only fan in the stands? There are several forms of conformity. Consider three: compliance, obedience, and acceptance. Sometimes we conform to an expectation or a request without really believeing in what we are doing. We put on the necktie or the dress, though we dislike doing so. This insinvere, outward conformity is compliance. We comply primarily to reap a reward or avoid punishment. If our compliance is to an explicit command, we call it obedience. Sometimes we genuinely believe in what the group has persuaded us to do. We may join millions of others in exercising because we all have been told that exercise is healthy and we accept that as true. This sincere, inward concormity is called acceptance. Acceptance sometimes follows compliance; we may come to inwardly believe something we initially questioned. Attitudes follow behavior. Unless we feel no responsibility for our behavior, we usually become sympathetic to what we have stood up for.