PSY101 Reflection Paper: Conformity and Group Influence Analysis

This reflection paper delves into the concept of conformity and group influence, exploring how individuals adapt their behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes to align with group norms. The paper examines conformity through the lens of personal experiences, particularly within the context of college life, highlighting how factors such as group size, peer pressure, and social expectations shape individual actions. It discusses the duality of conformity, acknowledging both its positive aspects, such as fostering social cohesion, and its potential negative impacts on personal decision-making. The paper draws on relevant psychological concepts like normative social influence, internalization, and the social impact theory to analyze various scenarios where conformity plays a role. It provides examples of instances where the author conformed to group norms to gain approval or avoid disapproval, while also detailing situations where they resisted conformity, emphasizing the importance of independent thought and moral evaluation. The analysis integrates insights from studies like Asch's conformity experiment to illustrate the pressures that lead individuals to conform to the opinions of the majority, even when they privately disagree. The paper concludes by reiterating the complex relationship between group influence and conformity and highlights the importance of critical self-assessment in navigating social dynamics.

Running head: REFLECTION
Research Paper Assignment
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1REFLECTION
Introduction- Conformity can be defined as the procedure of matching beliefs,
behaviours, and attitudes, to the norms of a particular group (Koban & Wager, 2016). I hold
the belief that group norms are quite implicit and are shared amid several individuals that
guide us, while interacting with others. Several factors that outline the concept of conformity
are namely, group size, prior commitment cohesion, unanimity, status, and public opinion.
The reflective account will elaborate on the fact that group influence and conformity are
closely associated to one another.
Discussion- My experiences till date have made be believe that conformity acts in the
form of a social influence that encompasses a change in personal behaviour or perception,
with the aim of fitting in a group. This variation typically occurs in response to actual
(encompassing the physical attendance of others) and/or fictional (encompassing the burden
of social expectations/norms) group force (McDonald & Crandall, 2015). Furthermore,
although most researchers have elucidated peer pressure as a negative component, I consider
conformity as both good and evil. Being a male, I have often encountered situations where I
had to publicly agree with the decision of a group, I was a part of, thus finding myself
showing conformity with my peers. However, there had been instances where despite
agreeing with the wider opinion, I had privately disagreed with the consensus of the group.
Depending on the knowledge and experiences that I have gained so far, I feel that conformity
is more prevalent among college students.
An excess of new things that are experienced by college students, while adjusting to
their graduate life often create overwhelming situations. In addition, having a strong attribute
of self also makes the transition to college difficult, thus forcing the students to conform to
the ideas and opinions of classmates, who form a large group (O'Hara, Armeli & Tennen,
2015). Young adults are also prone to conformity since adolescence has been identified as a
perilous crisis of life and encompasses a time of sensitive risk taking that involves several

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activities such as, sexual encounters, driving, smoking, and alcohol consumption (Gubner,
Delucchi & Ramo, 2016). Thus, adolescent decision depends on the notion of conformity
whereby the adolescents show an increased likelihood of doing things and manifesting
behaviour that are common among their friends.
On reflecting at my personal experiences I can state that there were situations where I
had to accept influence of my seniors, while in high school, because I had the hope of
achieving an approving reaction from the group, in relation to completion of my assignment.
Hence, I had adopted the induced behaviour with the aim of gaining reward and/or approval
that would have benefited my academic performance. There is mounting evidence for the fact
that people show conformity to the opinions and feelings of the majority, despite not actually
agreeing with them in private (Huang, Kendrick & Yu, 2014). Under situations that lack any
group pressures, compliance directly stops and there occurs a temporary change in behaviour.
I also hold the perception that there might arise several situations when a person
accepts the influence of a larger group owing to the content of the persuaded behaviour,
commonly referred to as internalisation. Internalisation has always been found to comprise of
private and public conformity. Furthermore, an individual publicly alters their conduct, in
order to be an active member of the group, while being supportive of them privately. I have
also learnt that normative social influence is a major component of conformity, which in turn
originates from the conception of human identity being as an important social being.
The role of social impact theory also holds relevance to my personal experiences as I
had resisted conformity to my family members, even when they were of considerable
personal importance to me, large in proportion, and close. However, there also exists a view
that presence of a unanimous group in agreement to a norm, increases the pressure on a
person to follow suit (Hodges, 2014). In addition, a small disruption in unanimity also brings

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about a reduction in the authority of normative influence. I am of a similar opinion since I
have understood from Asch's study that even when correct answer was provided by a
confederate, the study participant gave incorrect answers in lesser trials.
Conclusion- To conclude, conformity is largely governed by normative group
influence that is based on the necessity for a positive association with people surrounding us.
I have resisted conformity at certain instances by having an ally who provided me more
confidence in my personal opinion. In addition, I have tried to morally evaluate the
conditions, in order to determine whether I will become morally wrong on showing
disagreement to the opinions of others. Hence, it can be stated that although group influence
and conformity are intricately linked, elimination of the governing factors will prevent
manifestation of induced behaviour.

4REFLECTION
References
Gubner, N. R., Delucchi, K. L., & Ramo, D. E. (2016). Associations between binge drinking
frequency and tobacco use among young adults. Addictive behaviors, 60, 191-196.
Hodges, B. H. (2014). Rethinking conformity and imitation: Divergence, convergence, and
social understanding. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 726.
Huang, Y., Kendrick, K. M., & Yu, R. (2014). Conformity to the opinions of other people
lasts for no more than 3 days. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1388-1393.
Koban, L., & Wager, T. D. (2016). Beyond conformity: Social influences on pain reports and
physiology. Emotion, 16(1), 24.
McDonald, R. I., & Crandall, C. S. (2015). Social norms and social influence. Current
Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 3, 147-151.
O'Hara, R. E., Armeli, S., & Tennen, H. (2015). College students’ drinking motives and
social-contextual factors: Comparing associations across levels of
analysis. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29(2), 420.