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The need for a positive relationship with the people around leads us to conformity. [4] This fact often leads to people exhibiting public compliance—but not necessarily private acceptance—of the group's social norms in order to be accepted by the group. [5] Social norms refers to the unwritten rules that govern social behavior. [6]
Conformity is the tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms. [16] Norms are implicit, specific rules shared by a group of individuals on how they should behave. [17] People may be susceptible to conform to group norms because they want to gain acceptance from their group. [17]
There are three processes of attitude change as defined by Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman in a 1958 paper published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution. [1] The purpose of defining these processes was to help determine the effects of social influence: for example, to separate public conformity (behavior) from private acceptance (personal belief).
The general theory suggests we think of social impact as the result of social forces operating in a social structure (Latané). The theory's driving principles can make directional predictions regarding the effects of strength, immediacy, and number on compliance. However, the principles are not capable of specifying precision on future ...
Uncertainty is a major factor that encourages the use of social proof. One study found that when evaluating a product, consumers were more likely to incorporate the opinions of others through the use of social proof when their own experiences with the product were ambiguous, leaving uncertainty as to the correct conclusion that they should make.
The Asch conformity experiments are often interpreted as evidence for the power of conformity and normative social influence, [18] [19] [20] where normative influence is the willingness to conform publicly to attain social reward and avoid social punishment. [21]
A power strategy that ultimately leads to private acceptance and long-lasting change (for example, information power) may be difficult to implement, and consume considerable time and energy. In the short term, complete reliance on information power might even be dangerous (for example, telling a small child not to run into the street unattended).
If the new information/opinions garnered from the minority are validated, this may sway the majority and lead to more long lasting changes than changes occurring via comparison processes. This is because validation leads to private acceptance, whereas comparison processes result in direct influence as members publicly comply.