...“Everyone is buying this, so it must be good, I also want one”, this is what is called Conformity and this is what the marketers rely on. As social species, our basic need is to have a sense of belonging-to be a part of the group, a group that shares ideas or habits similar to that of our own. Once we are a part of such a group, we try to do what others are doing, becoming copycats, and in the process acquiring even the irrational desires of the group. We change our behavior to be like others. We are ready to ignore even the most obvious truths if that increases our likeability. Our answers are not based on a rational consideration of what is asked but how we should be perceived by others while answering. We do everything possible to try to...
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...The statement “a society defines ‘conformity’ as ‘that which is sane’” from Literature: The Human Experience can be analyzed through Henrick Ibsen’s drama A Doll’s House. This play allows the audience to examine the life of a woman under pressure to conform to a society’s standards, of whose manipulation she is unaware. As her eyes are opened to the dehumanization and self-serving nature of her friends and family, Nora finds that what she thought to be “sane” all along, really is quite the opposite. Webster’s Dictionary defines “conformity” as “action in accordance with some specified standard or authority.” This definition validates that those around Nora dictated her way of living. Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, views her as a child, or incapable of independent or intelligent thought which causes Nora to not delve into deeper issues and to “grow” into an adult. Toward the end of the play, Nora says to Torvald, “I was your little skylark, your doll, which you would in future, treat with doubly care, because it was so brittle and fragile.” Torvald never saw her as anything more than a play-thing, a doll, or someone that lacked knowledge or depth. It is as if society has ingrained in Torvald that women are to be treated as children and as though they cannot think for themselves. The term sane, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, means “mentally sound, able to anticipate and appraise the effect of one’s actions.” In Nora, Ibsen creates a woman who is mentally sound and...
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...Conformity as it pertains to the Military Baker College 1.0 Introduction Conformity is the practice of involving attitudes, opinions and behavioral characteristics that are applicable to a specific group, in this context the military. It entails the application of these norms to match the culture embedded in the military society. The conduction of such habitual traits assumes the control by the environment and social stimuli. These stimuli manipulate the way in which the military society conditions its performances. The military not only practice conformity in their society, but also to the general public. Conformity pertinence in the military acts a guide to military sociology by enforcing their obedience to the governments in which they serve and to how their conduct their training and operations in their role of ensuring international security of global territories. Conformity is instilled into soldiers in the advent of their recruitment in the forces and the control of their social relations in the military society. 2.0 Indoctrination Process The indoctrination process involves the inculcation of ideologies and attitudes towards a certain notion to change a person’s behavioral characteristics. In the military context, soldiers are stripped their previous personalities and develop new personalities by internalizing new values. Several techniques are applied during the indoctrination process in relation to the social psychology...
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...SOCIAL CONFORMITY In a society where people are subjected to social conformity it is difficult to realize when you should or should not conform to society’s social norms. Social conformity shapes the society that you live in and everyone has fallen subject to it. Mob mentality can be seen all around you. Mob mentality also known as herd mentality shows how people are influenced by the people around them and how it can influence your behavior. Society has been run by social conformity for years, but the negative affects of it are not clear enough for others to see. By living in a society where social conformity and mob mentality is seen all around you progressing more and more each day , people can not find themselves and be who they really are if they are following the norms of everyone around them. Herd mentality can be seen all around you , studies have been done that show just how much a person can be influenced simply by the actions and thinking of others. A popular study focusing on social conformity is the Asch study on conformity. The Asch study on conformity showed how easily a person ,who knowingly understood that others around them were incorrect ,...
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...much that most of society conform and become oblivious to what the government has done. Although there is a presence of individuality in Fahrenheit 451, the presence of conformity is more prevalent. Conformity is when a person complies with rules, regulations, and social normalities. Individuality is a quality or character that makes a person different from others. Through the use of individuals, such as Clarisse and Mildred; the government; and media and technology Fahrenheit 451 highlights the key elements of both individuality and conformity....
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...Written in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 depicts a society where books are outlawed and people indulge in modern technology. Because books contain profound knowledge, they represent individualism, which refers to free and independent action or thought. The totalitarian government in the novel fears that individualism will lead to rebellion; therefore, books are banned and burned. The government also implements various modes of indoctrination in order to establish conformity, or correspondence to certain standards, in society. Montag, the protagonist, is a fireman whose job requires him to burn books, but several mentors help him recognize the faults of government suppression. By doubting the government and defying...
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...Conformity in society is something that is seen in a mostly negative light. With that being said, while conformity in the outside world is frowned upon, it is not only being encouraged, but required in schools. With the implementation of common core in 2009, guidelines in schools have continually become more and more strict over recent years, lessening teachers range of freedom. Not only is conformity a major topic of debate in the present, it has actually been an ongoing problem for many years. Conformity, especially in schools, was a major topic in Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s 1971 play “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail.” This play, based in the year 1846, depicts the many problems with society’s need to conform, especially in the classroom setting. In this play, teacher...
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...Farm composed by George Orwell, conformity versus individualism is a key concern for both composers. Although both contextually different, both texts promote a warning for their respective societies that apparent utopian ideals can lead to the corruption and destruction of values such as individuality, caring and compassion, being replaced by deceit and manipulation to gain control and power. Both texts, written at different times historically, share many significant lessons. In the sterile society of Gattaca, life is genetically controlled right from the beginning so that everyone gets the “best possible start”. The sterile setting metaphorically captures a tyrannical and authoritarian atmosphere that prizes genetic perfection above all else. It is a world that blocks human aspiration. This becomes evident through the robotic-type characters that inhabit Gattaca. In the film Vincent says: “Engineered like the rest of us” this puts an emphasis on that everyone is the same and individual characteristics such as personality, beliefs and values are irrelevant. Identity is seen in this world as being entirely defined by your status as a valid or in-valid. Beyond this, nothing else is important. The first scenes in Gattaca set an atmosphere of controlled bodily perfection. Vincent is seen shaving and washing. There are extreme close-ups of body matter: blood, skin, hair, eyelashes, urine and fingernails. The use of such shots shows how Gattaca’s society magnifies the importance of...
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...Power of Conformity Conformity refers to an individual’s behavior that is performed because of group pressure, even though that pressure might not involve a direct request. Many people want to think that they are conformist enough so that they are not looked upon as strange to others and nonconformist enough to demonstrate that they are capable of thinking by themselves. For many years, psychologists have been interested in human conformity. Usually when people are in groups, they behave according to how those in the group behave. That indicates that conformity can affect a person’s behavior and make a person do things that may be against their ethics, attitudes, and morals. The study of conformity was first studied in the 1950s by Solomon Asch. His experiments were very important to the study of conformity. Asch wanted to find out how conformity could influence behavior. He did not want to focus on the general concepts like ethics, morals, attitudes, and belief systems. Instead, he focused on a more obvious concept which was perceptional conformity. Since he performed the experiment on a simple task, he was able to study conformity in a controlled environment. Asch wanted to apply group pressure to the experiment so he could manipulate a person’s behavior. For the experiment, he made three pairs of cards with three different lengths of vertical lines on one side. On the other side, there was a single line that was the same length ... Conformity and Obedience in Society ...
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...Conformity and Obedience in the 20th Century The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members' thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay "Group Minds," Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us. We, as humans, hold individualism in the highest regard yet fail to realize that groups diminish our individuality. Lessing writes, "when we're in a group, we tend to think as that group does... but we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group" (p. 334). Groups have the tendency to generate norms, or standards for behavior in certain situations. Not following these norms can make you stand out and, therefore, groups have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions in ways that are consistent with the groups'. Lessing's essay helps set the context to understand the experiments that social psychologists Solomon Asch, Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo conducted to explain conformity and obedience. Solomon Asch's experiment in "Opinions and Social Pressure" studied a subject's ability to yield to social pressure when placed within a group of strangers. His research helped illustrate how groups encourage...
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...Conditioning makes way for Conformity What is one’s individuality composed of? Of what is it forged from? The majority of one’s personality is influenced by hereditary and the environment. The world around us influences us more than people think, more than people should wish for. Everyone grows up, constantly being conditioned by the world around them. For example, people begin to talk the way their friends and co-workers do, using similar diction, phrases, and dialect. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the differentiated hereditary aspect of individuality is completed taken away as the world’s “hatcheries” are able to produce and purposely condition infants to become like everyone else. The government determines what the humans’ lives...
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...The famous civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemy but the silence of our friends.” This seems very relevant to what our society has been in the past as well as how it is in the present. As history depicts, conformity has allowed many actions and events that would be frowned upon, with very few challenging, condemning, or actively speaking out against it. For example, take a look at the many genocides that have been allowed to occur. When a person or group of authority establishes an idea, very seldom do people challenge to defy or deter. Literature, which lives forever as a critique of our past mistakes and errors, reveals the negative consequences of our conforming...
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...Human beings lives are lived around the separation of individuality and conformity. Sometimes we are confused and pressured into deciding if we want to be individuals or conformists. We live in a society that functions as a whole and need conformity in life. People want to be accepted by others and belong to something bigger. Living in society, we are under pressure to surrender our individuality to our surroundings. Acceptance is one of people’s most demanding goals in life. Logan Feys is correct in regards to being strong and free enough to live independently. The writer points out “entering society on no one’s terms but your own.” Advisors, teachers, friends, family, etc. should not pressure an individual into entering society and conforming...
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...the identity defining book The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan, explore the challenges faced with being different. Although there are some slight differences, they are overcome by the striking amount of similarities. Characters in both texts come face-to-face with the challenge of being different, which consumes most of the texts. However , there are minor differences that revolve around society’s reactions to the challenges and changes faced by some individuals, such Edward Scissorhands and “the thing”. Conformity and social isolation are both explored and scrutinised deeply throughout both texts, with strong messages delivered about the problems with being different. Whilst the texts focus so strongly on the challenges or problems of being different, they ironically reveal a stronger message about the ignorance of a society that behaves exactly the same. Conformity is a result of the influenced change in one’s behaviour and beliefs in order to fit in with a group or individuals or society. It is a main theme explored in Edward Scissorhands and The Lost Thing. The ‘thing’ in The Lost Thing is different as it is a red mechanical being , as opposed to the human characters on the beach in the book. Alternately, Edward’s character In Edward Scissorhands is seen as different from he neighbourhood, as he hides himself away in a dark castle, away from the bright, sunny town. He has scissors for hands and has pale features with dark hair, as opposed to the human neighbours. This is seen...
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...Emily Dickinson believes that conformity limits one’s ability. She has written poems about societies’ views on conformity and the containment society has on different ideas and people. She even gives examples of this by explaining how society expected women to act as a wife. Through her poems, Emily Dickinson portrayed her views of conformity through the explanation of domesticated housewives in “She Rose to His Requirement” and the views of conflicting new ideas in society in “Much Madness is Divinest Sense.” “She Rose to His Requirement” explores what women during Emily Dickinson’s time had gone through. As the title suggests, women were expected to become a domesticated housewife to their husband. The first stanza describes that these housewives have to give up everything for the husband, “to take the honorable Work / Of Woman, and of Wife“(line 3-4). The “honorable work” Dickinson writes about is that women were relied upon to be in charge of the house. The ironic tone sets up the following stanza. It talks about everything a woman gives up when she becomes a wife. The wife loses things, “Of Amplitude, or Awe – / Or first Prospective – Or the Gold” (6-7). She loses her potential of becoming a great person when she decides to marry. She is also not given the chance to experience new things or even get a job for herself. The last stanza expresses the wasted potential of the wife. Dickinson compares a wife’s potential to a pearl that, “lay unmentioned… But only to Himself”...
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