Conformity, Groupthink, and Social Influence in Psychology

Agents of Social Influence

As Bandura (2018) showed, social influence is a critically important concept in psychology because there are essentially three types of agents that can impact one's psychology: peers, groups, and media. Peers consist of family, friends, and people one encounters in person. Groups include schools, workplaces, churches, organizations, clubs, teams, and similar institutions. Media encompasses social media, films, music, magazines, the Internet, and so forth. People are attentive to social influence because of a natural compulsion to conform — to fit in with peers and groups (Ciccarelli & White, 2017). Conforming to social norms is something virtually all people do, owing to the fundamentally social nature of human psychology.

Understanding Conformity and Non-Conformity

The concept of conformity is one that psychologists and social psychologists have long sought to understand. Conformity is what allows people to be accepted by others. A non-conformist is one who rejects the prevailing norms of a group, peers, or the media. For example, a punk in the 1970s would have been seen as a non-conformist based on his attitudes, ideas, and manner of dress. However, by the end of the decade, punk had itself become a distinct group with its own subculture — one to which members conformed in order to fit in. So a person could be a non-conformist with respect to mainstream cultural norms while simultaneously acting the same way, dressing the same way, and holding the same ideas as other punks in the social group. They were, in essence, simply conforming to the prevailing social norms of that subgroup (Pendry & Carrick, 2001).

Groupthink and Its Dangers

Ciccarelli and White (2017) point out that while most people are willing to conform to social norms, there is a significant danger in doing so: people may fall into groupthink. Groupthink is dangerous because it means people may not take personal responsibility for their own thoughts and actions. Rather than evaluating whether what group leaders are saying or what peers are doing is right or wrong, individuals go along with the group because they assume that if something were truly wrong, someone else would say so. If everyone in the group reasons this way, no one will stand up and question whether the group's actions are good or bad. This is the primary danger of groupthink.

The example given by Ciccarelli and White (2017) is instructive: in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration made the decision to invade Iraq based on faulty intelligence. Few people questioned this intelligence, assuming that if it were wrong, someone else would raise the alarm or halt the invasion. In the end, everyone was engaged in groupthink, and as a result, a vast number of Iraqis died in the aftermath of the invasion.

Another telling example of how conformity and groupthink can prove dangerous is the story of the Titanic. Those who built the ship engaged in groupthink, collectively imagining — as everyone else involved in the project did — that the ship was unsinkable. Consequently, they failed to place enough lifeboats aboard to carry all the passengers. When the ship sank, many people died because no one had stepped outside the groupthink mindset and made the decision to act differently from everyone else involved in the project.

Conclusion: Applying Conformity Research to Personal and Public Life

Understanding the issue of conformity can help psychologists, medical doctors, and the general public understand behavior and mental processes because it can allow them to suspend judgment of others. When one is able to empathize and sympathize with someone who is making mistakes due to a strong need to conform, it becomes easier to help that person return to more authentic behavior. The ability to put oneself in a young person's shoes — to see how and why young people might get caught up in a mob mentality and engage in groupthink — is especially important when the time comes to help them. Young people may be abusing drugs, drinking, or engaging in risky sexual behavior not because they are bad, but because they believe this is what is expected of them, given what peers and media communicate as normal.

The concept of conformity is supported by experiments and correlational research such as those conducted by Bandura (2018) and Festinger (1957). It has been described by Erikson and explained as a challenge that adolescents in particular face as they work to understand themselves and their place in society. They must form a sense of self and an identity that is not wholly dependent upon peers, groups, or media in order to navigate the world effectively. That identity must be anchored in a set of values and principles — ideals about what one should be doing with one's life — otherwise the danger is that the young person will be like a leaf blowing in the wind, doing whatever those around him are doing and never being strong enough to do what he knows or feels to be right.

Conformity issues are not, of course, limited to young people. Everyone must contend with them — old and young, male and female. However, in many cases conformity is a welcome and positive behavior. For example, when a person converts to a new religion, he is expected to conform to the behaviors that the religious community promotes as virtuous. A Catholic convert, for instance, would be expected to marry in a church, to have children, and to hold certain moral positions. These are the norms that conforming behavior seeks to demonstrate and uphold.

The knowledge gained through this research can be applied in personal life by fostering a resistance to judging others and by creating space for people to think for themselves. Socrates was among the first great thinkers to caution against conformity pursued merely for its own sake. Yet conformity grounded in genuine conviction — in ideals that are good and right — remains a positive and necessary part of human social life.