Social Conformity and Nonconformity

Social Conformity and Nonconformity is one of four depth studies examined in Section II. If you choose it, you answer one 20-mark question with (a) 5 marks and (b) 15 marks (about 800 words for the whole question, around 40 minutes).

The focus is the nature of conformity and nonconformity and how groups influence the attitudes and behaviour of their members and how nonconformity is perceived. The syllabus covers:

• The nature of conformity and nonconformity: factors that influence conformity and obedience; responses to social influence (acquiescence, identification, internalisation); deindividuation; where the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour lies; the costs and benefits of nonconformity; the role of the media (agenda-setting) in shaping attitudes; and how subcultures and nonconformist groups can bring social change.
• The focus study: ONE group: a community, cultural, environmental, interest, non-government organisation, political or protest group. You study its historical development, status and power structure, cohesion and identity, how it influences its members (norms, peer pressure, sanctions), its interaction with wider society, how wider society perceives it, and its likely future interactions.
• The contemporary context: an observation-based study of a current issue.

Concepts to use: deindividuation, stereotype, worldview, social cognition, social cohesion, deviance, self-concept, values, plus the course concepts.

• Conformity: changing behaviour or attitudes to match the norms of a group.
• Obedience: following the instructions of an authority figure.
• Nonconformity: behaviour or belief that departs from the norms of a group or society. It can be individual or collective, and conscious (deliberate) or unconscious.
• Norms: the shared expectations about how people should behave in a group.
• Sanctions: rewards for conforming and penalties for not conforming. They can be formal (fines, suspension, arrest) or informal (approval, ridicule, exclusion).
• Deviance: behaviour that breaks a society's norms. What counts as deviant depends on time, place and who has the power to define it (labelling, Howard Becker, 1963).
• Social cohesion: the bonds that hold a group together.
• Self-concept: a person's view of who they are, shaped partly by the groups they belong to.
• Worldview: the set of beliefs and values through which a person or group understands the world.
• Social cognition: how people perceive, think about and make sense of others, including through stereotypes (simplified generalisations about groups).
• Subculture: a group with values, norms and symbols that differ from the mainstream while still existing within it.

Research to know

• Solomon Asch (1951): participants judged which of three lines matched a target line. When the other group members (actors) gave an obviously wrong answer, participants conformed on about a third of these trials, and most conformed at least once. When one actor gave the right answer, conformity fell sharply.
• Stanley Milgram (1963): participants told by an experimenter to give increasingly strong 'electric shocks' to a learner (an actor; no shocks were real). About two-thirds continued to the maximum level. Obedience fell when the authority figure was absent or less legitimate. The study is now widely criticised on ethical grounds.
• Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971): students assigned as 'guards' and 'prisoners'; it was stopped after six days. Often used to show the power of roles and situations, but its methods have been strongly criticised, including evidence that guards were encouraged to be harsh, so use it with caution.

Factors that influence conformity

• Group size: conformity rises as the majority grows, then levels off at about three or four people.
• Unanimity: one dissenter greatly reduces conformity.
• Status and attractiveness of the group: we conform more to groups we value.
• Public or private responses: people conform more when others can see their answers.
• Task difficulty and uncertainty: we look to others when unsure (informational influence).
• Wish to be accepted: we conform to belong and avoid rejection (normative influence).
• Culture: conformity tends to be higher in collectivist cultures.
• Personality and self-esteem: people with lower self-esteem or a stronger need for approval may conform more.

Responses to social influence

The psychologist Herbert Kelman (1958) described three levels, which the syllabus names:

1. Acquiescence (compliance): going along outwardly while privately disagreeing.
2. Identification: adopting a group's attitudes because you value belonging to it.
3. Internalisation: genuinely accepting the group's values as your own.

The deeper the response, the longer the change lasts without the group present.

Deindividuation

Deindividuation is the loss of individual identity and responsibility in a group, often linked to anonymity (crowds, uniforms, masks, anonymous online accounts). It makes people more likely to follow the norms of the situation, which can lead to aggression (online abuse, crowd violence) or to positive behaviour (crowd celebration, collective generosity). Gustave Le Bon (*The Crowd*, 1895) wrote an early account of crowd behaviour; later researchers emphasised that deindividuated people follow the group's norms rather than simply losing control.

• Costs of nonconformity: sanctions, isolation, stress, legal penalties, damage to reputation or career.
• Benefits: self-expression, a stronger sense of identity, innovation, and social change for society.
• Agenda-setting (Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, 1972): the media influences which issues the public thinks about by choosing what to cover and how prominently. Combined with framing (presenting a story from a particular angle), this shapes attitudes to nonconformist groups.
• Moral panic (Stanley Cohen, 1972): exaggerated public concern about a group seen as a threat to social values, often fuelled by the media and followed by tougher sanctions.
• Agents of change: many changes now accepted began with nonconformist groups. As their ideas spread, the mainstream may adopt them, and the group may lose its distinctiveness (incorporation).

Choose ONE group from the syllabus list and prepare dated, specific evidence for each heading:

1. Historical development: founding, key events, growth.
2. Status and power structure: leaders, decision-making, membership, resources.
3. Cohesion and identity: shared values, worldview, symbols, rituals.
4. Influence on members: norms, socialisation, peer pressure, sanctions; which response (acquiescence, identification, internalisation) it produces.
5. Interaction with wider society: cooperation and conflict; laws and authorities.
6. Perceptions: how the public and media see the group, and the effects of these perceptions.
7. Future interactions: trends for the next 5–10 years.

Worked example: analysing an interest group (a surf lifesaving club)

This example is not one of our questions; it shows how to apply concepts to a group.

• Historical development: surf lifesaving clubs formed on Sydney beaches from the early 1900s, and Surf Life Saving Australia grew into a national volunteer organisation.
• Cohesion and identity: shared values of service and mateship; symbols such as the red and yellow flags and club caps; rituals such as patrols and carnivals.
• Influence on members: norms of training and patrol duty; peer pressure through team competitions; formal sanctions (removal from patrol for missing duties) and informal rewards (recognition, awards).
• Response to influence: many long-term members show internalisation: service becomes part of their self-concept.
• Change: clubs that were once male-only now have large numbers of women and girls, showing how a group's norms change with wider social values.

This group is mostly conformist rather than nonconformist, which is fine: the syllabus allows conformist and nonconformist groups. Just be ready to discuss how the group treats nonconformity among its own members.

Observation is the research method linked to this depth study.

• What it is: watching and recording behaviour. In non-participant observation the researcher watches from outside; in participant observation the researcher joins the group.
• Strengths: shows what people actually do, not what they say they do; captures norms, interaction and sanctions as they happen; well suited to conformity, which people often do not notice in themselves.
• Limitations: the observer effect (people behave differently when watched); interpretation can be biased; it shows behaviour but not motives; it can be time-consuming.
• Ethics: permission from those in charge, consent where appropriate, no identification of individuals, and care with covert observation.
• Strengthen it with a clear observation schedule (categories decided in advance), several observation sessions, and follow-up interviews.

Part (a), 5 marks

Common forms: explain a concept (deindividuation, agenda-setting, the three responses to influence), the factors influencing conformity, the costs and benefits of nonconformity, or justify observation. Define, explain with research evidence or an example, and link back to the question.

Part (b), 15 marks

1. Introduction: define the key term in the question, introduce your group, and state your judgement.
2. Body (4–5 paragraphs): each paragraph uses a syllabus heading (history, structure, cohesion, influence, perceptions) to answer the question, with dated evidence and concepts.
3. Interaction: show both how the group acts on wider society and how wider society responds.
4. Conclusion: restate the judgement.

• Writing about a group that is not on the syllabus list, or about an individual rather than a group.
• Retelling the group's history without linking it to the question.
• Describing Asch or Milgram in detail in a question about your focus group. Use research evidence in part (a) or briefly to support a point.
• Assuming nonconformity is always negative. Show costs and benefits.
• Forgetting perceptions and sanctions: how wider society responds is half of this depth study.

• Learn the three responses to influence, deindividuation and agenda-setting precisely; they are common part (a) questions.
• Prepare eight to ten dated facts about your group, including at least one recent event.
• For 'predict' questions, base each prediction on a current trend with evidence.
• Laws on protest and penalties for nonconformity change often; check the current law in your state before the exam.
• For 'assess the significance', say how much a factor matters compared with others.

• Core: nonconformist groups as agents of change, and resistance to change as conformity to tradition.
• Popular Culture: fan communities and subcultures; moral panics about youth culture.
• Belief Systems and Ideologies: religious and ideological groups as communities with norms and sanctions.
• Social Inclusion and Exclusion: stereotyping and labelling of people seen as different.