Conformity: Man or Sheep

640 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Breaking social norms consequences

Conformity has its ups and downs. Many people made friends thanks to conforming.
But many others became victim to mind control and death thanks to conforming. In the story, “The
Crucible” Abigail was accused of being a witch. Abigail got out of being called a witch by scape-goating the blame on others. Before you knew it, the whole city start doing the same. A sign of conformity. When people in society conform it can affect them in many ways. Positively and Negatively. The advantages of conforming are the people coming together peacefully, you’re less likely to get in trouble, and you’ll fit in with the crowd. The disadvantages to conformity are being judged, a chance of getting murdered, and being somewhat forced into doing things.
Advantage of conforming is staying together peacefully. In the beginning of “The Crucible” the town was with fill with Puritans who was friendly to each other. There were some disagreements in the town but nothing at the time to cause a big hysteria. They stood together following the puritan beliefs. In a article we read, McCarthyism, the country worked together against communist supporters. In many ways, another advantage of conformity is your less likely to get in trouble. After Tituba confessed to be a witch, Abigail also confessed to dancing with the devil. Abigail knew that confessing to what happened even if its not true would get her out of trouble. Hale, Proctor and the others seen that they wanted to go back to Jesus. Also, in the McCarthyism Act people didn't go against him in fear of being accused of being a communist. Many people believed that what he was doing was wrong, but they went with it just to stay out of any accusations that could get them in a dangerous situation. Sometimes wh...

... middle of paper ...

... communist.
When people in society conform it can affect them in many ways. Positively and
Negatively. The advantages of conforming are the people coming together peacefully, you’re less likely to get in trouble, and you’ll fit in with the crowd. The disadvantages to conformity are being judged, a chance of getting murdered, and being somewhat forced into doing things.
Given these points, its always down to what you do and how you act. Conformity can be done in a act of goodness and someone just trying fit in to feel comfortable. Main reason why people might dress a type of way, talk a type of way,etc… to fit in and make new friends. But when there is good there is bad. One minute your trying to fit in with a group of people, next minute you find yourself trying to murder someone just to stay in that group. Conformity helps some survive and causes some to die.

Show More
Related

  • The Importance Of Conformity In Society

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pursuing a personal desire and choosing to conform to societal expectations is a challenging decision to make. A person must decide if their personal desire is worth risking the shame and judgment of others or is conforming the route to take because it is easier. When pursuing a personal desire one must ask itself if it is worth the hardship to accomplish one's desire or if it is best left alone and repressed, in hopes of finding comfort in conformity. John Laroche from The Orchid Thief expresses his personal desire without a care for conformity or societal expectations. Nevertheless, Laroche never stopped being strange as he grew up with fascinations of many objects such as orchids, turtles, old mirrors and fish tanks.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Conformity To Society

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    In society, it's difficult to go against the norm. Individuals are compelled to act a specific way, or look a specific way in order to be accepted. For instance, teenagers may encounter pressure from their peers to partake in specific exercises that may not be moral, since they feel the need to fit in. This weight of conformity isn't just present in reality; it can be found in literature as well. The story "St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell depicts that in order to conform to society, individuals abandon their selflessness and compassion and become selfish and apathetic.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Being A Conformist

    87 Words  | 1 Pages

    Many people assume that being a conformist is fine because you fit in into groups. Even though being a conformist might be okay have you ever thought about being an individual ? Quit being a follower and start being a leader. Think about it if you were in a classroom and all of a sudden there is an earthquake but you see no-one moving, what do you do ? do you move for your safety or do you stay so that you won't look like a fool.

    Read More

  • On Conformity and Obedience

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we grow up we are told to be individuals, but once we grow up we obey authority figures and change our beliefs to fit in with others. No matter what age we are we will always comply to a behavior or belief to fit in with a group different than ours or to be liked. We do not like to be judged or looked at as an outsider; this will remain the same in which ever situation we find ourselves in. Whether it be in a professional setting such as work or a social setting with friends. When thinking of conformity and obedience we mostly think of cults and prisons but it is not always the case.

    Read More

  • Internal Conflicts Caused by Conformity

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conformity can often seem like the best path to take in a situation. Going along with everyone else will cause less conflict for the group as a whole. Unfortunately conforming simply to protect other people's feelings can lead to powerful internal conflicts if a person does not fully agree with the situation. Ruth from A Raisin in the Sun, Langston from "Salvation," and Mama from "Everyday Use," all felt internal conflicts resulting from conformity.

    Read More

  • Conformity Or Collectivism: Is Individualism Or Collectivism?

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    Conformity can be useful when in unfamiliar surroundings or activities. Several examples make their appearance everyday like dancing. Dancing is a fun activity, but when it’s unclear what kind of dancing to do. What happens then? It’s in everyone’s best interest to mimic the people who know what they’re doing to avoid embarrassment. In some way or another, everyone has done it throughout their life but it is really handy in the right

    Read More

  • Conformity In Never Let Me Go

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    How do the actions and words of a society affect the way people act? In Never Let Me Go, author Kazuo Ishiguro depicts a society in which individuality is threatened by the pressure to conform through methods such as peer pressure and social expectations. Without a doubt, peer pressure is most commonly found in schools today just as social expectations are suffocating the middle class’ desire to become their own unique person.

    Read More

  • How Nice People Get Corrupted

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conformity is defined as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. (Meyers 170) What other people do and say can gradually influence others to deviate from ones beliefs and conform to others. One of the most famous documented studies to better illustrate this was a procedure performed by social psychologist, Solomon Asch.

    Read More

  • Conformity and Obedience in Society

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conformity and Obedience in Society 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.

    Read More

  • Social Psychology: Conformity And Obedience

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conformity, compliance and obedience are behavioural consequences of social influence (real or imagined social pressure) that occur in the presence of a group or other individuals (Elsenbroich & Xenitidou, 2012). Often these concepts are misinterpreted as being the same or even synonymous and while they do have similarities they are also very dissimilar. In social psychology conformity, compliance and obedience are distinct concepts that coincide due to their effect on behaviour in the presence of others. Pascual, Line Felonneau, Guéguen & Lafaille (2013) define conformity as an altering of behaviour and beliefs in an individual in order to reflect the behaviour and beliefs of the group that holds influence, though Myers (2014) emphasises that

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud's Theory Of Conformity

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    Conformity is defined as behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. This is not a good or bad thing, this just is. It exists as a compliment to earlier humans congregating into larger groups, using agriculture and domestication to create sustenance. Also, conformity is essential for life. We need people to share the same ideas, ideologies and a way of thinking in order to work efficiently and effectively. There many examples that exist like, at work or in your house and even within yourself. Sigmund Freud has explained the phenomena of group psychology in a piece titled, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Using Freud’s theory of conformity I will explain the self, what we call “me”,and its different constituents using The Principles of Psychology by

    Read More

  • Conformity

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hence, conformity is only acceptable when others are not hurt and their thoughts are their own. In The Giver, conformity cannot be tolerated, because innocent babies and seniors are being killed for the sake for their society. In “The Pedestrian”, conformity has gone wrong due to the fact “different” people, like Leonard Mead, are being punished for their uniqueness. Prisoners are currently conforming to an unacceptable degree in North Korea, believing their horrible dictators are gods, instead of the causes of their misery. This matters because as seen in the article “Life in a Labor Camp”, overboard conformity is currently harming others. Thus, humans must learn to stop conforming when conformity alters one’s thoughts and actions and/or harms them.

    Read More

  • Conformity Speech

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conformity involves the changing of one’s attitudes, opinions, or behaviours to match those of the ‘norms’. The “norms”, established by society, are what we should or ought to be thinking, feeling, or doing if we wish to be accepted into a group. This desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need.

    Read More

  • Two Types Of Conformity And Non-Conformity In Society

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    In contrast, non-conformity is a deviation from social norms. This transpires when a person violates the expectations and norms of a group. This repeatedly occurs when a person chooses to act upon their own thoughts and intuition, in opposition to the expectations of the group, society, and culture in which they live. An example of non-conformity is attending a wedding and wearing only casual clothes when everybody else is dressed

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Conformity

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    On a daily basis, people are being influenced by the people around them, whether it is directly or indirectly. A person’s thoughts, feelings and actions can influence and be influenced by society. These social interactions provide enough opportunity for the presence of people to influence and change behavior, views, and attitudes of an individual. There are several forms of social influences, such as conformity, which I will be discussing. Why we conform has been a topic of considerable interest to social psychologists in particular such as he classic and well-known studies of Muzafer Sherif and Solomon Asch. In addition to researching why we conform, there’s also the question of whether conformity is good or bad.

    Read More

More about Conformity: Man or Sheep

Open Document