Groups and Conformity

• being accepted by others gives feelings of belonging, affection and attention
• being accepted normally means you conform to social norms

• Avoid feelings of discomfort when singled out
• Fear of embarrassment, ridicule or rejection from group
• Need to acceptance and approval

• If you feel insecure or incompetent
• If a group has 3 or more others
• If group is unanimous
• If the group has admirable status or attractiveness
• If you have no prior commitment 
• If the group obseves the behaviour
• If your culture encourages respect for a social standard (e.g. in China conformity among children is encouraged, but not in America)

• Studied conformity

Gave a standard line and asked people which line was the same length. All ppts but one were actors, and the actors all answered normally until the 6th (roughly) time where they all gave the SAME incorrect answer. 

• 75% conformed at least once
• 33% conformed about half the time
• 25% conformed nearly every time

High Internal Validity - possible demand characteristics
Low External Validity - not realistic situation
High Reliablity - repeated many times and got same results
High Objectivity - easy to see who conforms and who doesn't