When we hear the word “conformity,” many of us have an immediate negative reaction. We think of a dystopian society, of individuality being stifled, and of losing one’s own sense of self.

What we don’t think of is the everyday normal instances of compliance, like stopping at red lights, attending jury duty, and going to school. Those two situations are both examples of conformity, but they’re very different. What exactly makes them different?

To understand the modern importance of conformity, we have to explore its past. Its very roots can be traced nearly as far back as the first humans. In the dangerous landscape of prehistoric earth, there were two main components to survival: the hunting and gathering of food and protection from predators. Performing either of these tasks alone was difficult. In order to increase their chances of success, humans began to form groups and tribes that hunted prey and defended against attacks in coordinated efforts. Ultimately, without a populace willing to work in similar patterns, the human race would not have been able to exist.

Conformity was also important to the agricultural revolution. As society began to shift away from a nomadic lifestyle towards more settled agricultural practices, crop yield became integral to the survival of the human race. In order to maximize production, farmers began to share techniques, testing options and choosing to use the most successful practices. The adoption of efficient technologies is a direct example of conformance, as farmers could have chosen to continue to use old methods that they knew worked and with which they were more comfortable. Through this process, most farmers ended up using the same and most successful means of production. If agriculturalists had not conformed, there would have been fewer crops, stifling population growth and effectively hindering human survival.

Conformity’s historical necessity led to its eventually becoming ingrained in the cultural lexicon. People still tend to think they rely on groups, such as nations or political parties, for survival. While the goal has become protection from other humans, the mindset that cooperation is necessary to survival persists. Relatively like-minded individuals hoping to push their agendas and protect what they believe to be the optimal way of life form political parties. By condensing slightly disparate ideas under one agenda, parties hope to make the majority, but not all, of their constituents happy. Conformity to this party is seen as a life-or-death choice; by not supporting every one of the party’s actions, you concede to the goals of the other and lose your way of life.

When individuals ignore their own unique ambitions in order to promote one singular cause, they also remove the nuance from their parties and may never see their own opinions recognized. Yet agreeing with the chosen group is believed to be necessary to survival and the preservation of the greater collective.

The will to conform is also deeply connected to the ability to form and maintain distinct social organizations. Groups pass judgment upon their own members and those around them in order to maintain their ideals. Researchers have found that a smoker in a collective of non-smokers will likely be pressured not to smoke in order to “fit in,” and that pressure will probably keep them from lighting a cigarette around the group.

People inherently fear rejection by such groups; a 2003 study found that people who had the perceived minority opinion in a crowd were less likely to express their opinions, regardless of their knowledge of the subject. The researchers placed one expert on a subject in a room of hired actors, and told the actors to say things that were blatantly false. The more hired actors expressed dissenting views, the less the experts voiced the facts they knew to be correct. This implies that people are more interested in gaining social acceptance and approval than in saying what they know to be true, and suggests that the best way to be accepted is to agree with the opinions of others.

In a study on behavioral consequences, researchers found that people are more likely to align themselves with those they identify with, and not only react positively to other members of their group but dehumanize and distance themselves from those they feel are different. The study tested human behavior through a lost email process. Results showed the expression of a human emotion (kindness) was more common when the receiver of an email recognized the sender as a member of a collective he or she identified with. In order to save themselves from harsher treatment, it is easiest for people to conform to the organization they are interacting with.

Conformity’s role in society is multifaceted; there are both positive and negative effects. Simple types of compliance such as drivers’ mutual agreement to stop at red lights and children’s attendance of school are unquestioned and accepted because without them the fragile structure of society would collapse. We make a subconscious agreement to go along with the most basic tenets of society in order to maximize our quality of life, but there is a more insidious instance of adherence when there is less at stake. Children form cliques and shun others and adults quietly keep their opinions to themselves, even if they have greater knowledge than those around them, in order to stay in their group. These are both instances of a conformity that, while also subconscious, is driven by a human need for acceptance and a fear of rejection.

Ultimately, we conform to keep the peace and maintain order, whether it be within our political parties or on our roads. Yet we also conform in order to avoid the hassle and struggle of being a dissident, choosing to stifle our uniqueness in order to align ourselves with people we can relate to and shelter ourselves from the derision faced by those who are different. Adhering to norms isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to recognize the differences between the two types of compliance.

When you recognize yourself drifting towards conformity, think to yourself: “Am I doing this in order to ease my life and the lives of those around me, or am I doing this to fit in?” Conforming to fit in is also not always a bad thing — it's just important to maintain one’s own individuality and integrity, as those ultimately lead to an enjoyable life.

Sources:

Burger, Jerry M. "Conformity and Obedience." In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF Publishers, 2017. http://nobaproject.com/modules/conformity-and-obedience

Lumbert, Samantha P. "Conformity and Group Mentality: Why We Comply." Rochester Institute of Technology, November 2005. http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/lumbert.removed

McLeod, Saul. "What Is Conformity?" SimplyPsychology, 2007 (updated 2016). https://www.simplypsychology.org/conformity.html