Nonconformity And Conformity

In today’s society, we increasingly value individuality and creativity. Ironically, many people are still conforming. This creates an interesting paradox; we maintain that we value nonconformity, how we label those who do not conform as deviates and subsequently exclude them from many social interactions. This has ultimately led to a prevalent phenomenon of deindividuation. That is, when put in-group situations, the individual has a reduced sense of self-awareness, and thus suppress their personal opinions . This has ultimately resulted in people believing that they are nonconformists when in reality they conform. Social media has affected heavily on the perception of conformity. As discussed previously, social media and technology is making

When questioned, only 12% of participants responded with answers, which tended towards conformity. The remaining 88%, however, demonstrated a tendency towards nonconformity . This is fascinating, as the minority of the participants labelled themselves as conformists. However, when put in-group situations the majority of people conform.

In one study of perceived conformity, members were given 16 situations and asked if they would conform in each. Over every situation, each participant revealed they believed the group would not influence them. That is, they believed they would not to conform.

From these two studies, it is evident that the majority of people view themselves as nonconformists. This presents an interesting thought. In both of these studies, each participant functioned as an individual. These situations, although portraying how an individual believes they would operate, ultimately lack in social pressure. Consequently, the participants in these studies would intrinsically exhibit lower levels of

In this experiment, 75% of participants had conformed at least once leaving only 25% of participants never conforming. This experiment shows that when put in social situations; the majority of people would conform.

When these results are compared, they reveal a discrepancy between how one thinks they would behave, to how they conform in reality, when put in unambiguous social situations. From this comparison, it is evident that people believe they are nonconformists when in reality they are still susceptible to social pressures, and as such conform.

To a certain degree, our perception of how we act determines how we behave . This idea brings rise to a paradox: if how we think we act determines how we act, why is there this discrepancy? It is my belief that this arises from the fact that although our perception is reality, it is not in fact actuality. That is how we perceive our behaviour is primarily a function of ourselves and accordingly is not affected by the surrounding