"To be like everyone else, at any cost" Everything there is to know about the phenomenon of 'conformity'

We've all experienced it: sitting with a group of friends, a moment when everyone agrees on something, but inside there's a feeling that it's not quite right. Yet, most of us go with the flow. This phenomenon is called conformity (in Hebrew: תַּלְמָנוּת, from the word "walking the line") – the tendency of people to align their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with social norms. Sometimes it's beneficial, but in other cases, it can be dangerous.

Is conformity an inseparable part of humanity, or is it a destructive force that leads us to make wrong decisions? Join us on a fascinating journey through psychological studies, captivating historical examples, and moments when social pressure shaped history.

1. Sherif's experiment - the foundations of conformity

Sherif's famous experiment from 1935 actually laid the foundations for the phenomenon of conformity. Sherif studied the formation of social norms through a phenomenon known as the "autokinetic effect." This is an optical illusion in which a stationary point of light in a completely dark room appears to move. In reality, the point does not move at all, but in the absence of reference points in the completely dark room, the brain "creates" movement.

Sherif asked participants to estimate the distance the point of light "moved." Since it was an illusion, there was no "correct" answer - it was a completely ambiguous situation. He conducted the experiment under two conditions: participants who estimated the movement alone and participants who estimated the movement in a group.

The results showed that when people evaluated alone, each developed their own personal standard and held onto it over time. However, when evaluated in a group, a shared group standard gradually developed - the participants' evaluations converged to a similar range, and they continued to use this standard even when re-evaluated alone.

This experiment demonstrated how, in situations of uncertainty, people tend to create and adopt shared social norms even if they would think differently if they were alone.

2. Solomon Asch's experiment – how do we all become part of the "herd"?

In 1951, Solomon Asch conducted a famous experiment that examined this phenomenon, as a continuation of Sherif's studies that showed social influence in ambiguous situations. Asch presented a group of participants with two pictures - one with three lines of different lengths and the other with a single line that clearly matched one of them. The only real participant in the group (the rest were actors) was asked to indicate which line matched, always being the last to answer.

In 12 out of 18 trials, the players intentionally gave an incorrect answer. The results were surprising: 74% of the participants succumbed to group pressure at least once, on average starting from the third trial, and 37% of all answers were conformist. In follow-up experiments, Asch found that three collaborators were enough to create a conformity level of over 30%, and larger groups did not significantly increase the effect. Additionally, when there was one "dissenter" in the group who gave a different answer, whether correct or not, the level of conformity dropped significantly—one person cracking the group's uniform front was enough to weaken its power. He also found that compliance due to normative influence is particularly common during adolescence.

Indeed, the experiment proved that people prefer to be part of the group rather than being right. We are afraid of being the outliers.

3. Milgram Experiment – How far will we go to obey authority?

The obedience experiment by Jewish psychologist Stanley Milgram (1961) was one of the most influential and controversial experiments in the history of social psychology. In the study, participants were asked to take part in what was presented as a study on learning and punishment, where they played the role of a "teacher" who was required to punish a "student" (who was actually an actor) with increasingly stronger electric shocks for each mistake in word memorization.

The researcher, dressed in a lab coat, instructed the participants to continue increasing the voltage despite the "learner's" (who was pre-recorded) screams of pain, using four levels of verbal pressure: "Please continue," "The experiment requires you to continue," "It is absolutely essential that you continue," "You have no other choice, you must continue." The results were shocking: 65% of the participants continued to the maximum level of 450 volts, despite believing they were causing real pain to another person, simply because an authoritative figure instructed them to continue. The experiment demonstrated how ordinary people might obey authority even when it goes against their conscience, raising troubling questions about the nature of human obedience and moral responsibility.

What does it mean? That people are capable of committing acts that they themselves find immoral and even suffer from, just because an authority figure tells them to do so.

When conformity changes history - historical examples

1. Nazi Germany – How did "ordinary" people become accomplices in crimes?

In the 1930s and 1940s, under Hitler's rule, millions of people in Germany became passive or active partners in the horrific war crimes of the Holocaust. Most of them were not monsters – they simply went with the flow and could not stop.

Historians and psychologists like Christopher Browning (in his renowned book 'Ordinary Men') have shown how completely ordinary people, who had a moral sense no less developed than others, served in battalions that carried out mass executions, not because they wanted to – but because everyone around them did.

2. McCarthyism – when everyone was afraid of being "communists"

The McCarthyism period in the United States (1950-1954) was characterized by a political witch hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, during which thousands of Americans were investigated, accused, and ostracized on suspicion of ties to the Communist Party or loyalty to the Soviet Union.

McCarthy, who served as the chairman of the Senate investigation committee, claimed to have lists of hundreds of communists who had infiltrated the American government, the education system, and the entertainment industry in Hollywood. The public atmosphere of fear and paranoia, intensified by the Cold War, led to "blacklists" and arbitrary investigations that affected thousands of citizens, many of whom were cultural and academic figures. People lost their livelihoods, were socially ostracized, and sometimes even imprisoned based on unfounded accusations, with the mere refusal to testify against others seen as proof of guilt. The period ended only when McCarthy lost his credibility following the televised hearings, which exposed his bullying methods, and the Senate condemned his conduct in a historic vote in 1954.

What was the force that drove this? Conformity. People were afraid to speak out against the system because they feared being considered traitors themselves.

Conformity in our times

1. On social media

We are all influenced by social pressure on social networks. Studies show that people tend to like or share certain posts just because they are popular, even if they don't necessarily agree with them.

2. In the workplace

How many times have you adjusted your opinion to fit in, just to avoid being the odd one out? We often agree with the popular opinion even though, if we think about it alone, it seems we are not at all comfortable with it.

3. Among teenagers

Studies in psychology show that teenagers are particularly prone to conformity – whether it's in clothing, fashion, or even behaviors like smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages.

So is conformity bad or good?

The truth is – it depends. Conformity is a complex social phenomenon with both positive and negative aspects. On one hand, it serves as an essential social mechanism that allows for the development of shared norms, values, and behavioral rules crucial for the proper functioning of society. It aids in the transmission of social information, facilitates social learning, and enables cooperation and group cohesion.

However, as demonstrated in the experiments of Asch and Milgram and in historical events like McCarthyism, conformity can lead to destructive behaviors when it hinders critical and independent thinking. The real challenge lies in the ability to develop "balanced conformity" - knowing when to adapt to positive social norms and when to stand by personal and moral principles. Research in social psychology shows that people with high self-esteem and independent thinking are better at achieving this balance and can resist social pressure when it contradicts their values.

How to identify and prevent the influence of harmful conformity?

In conclusion, conformity is a double-edged sword in human society. On one hand, it allows us to live together in harmony, cooperate, and build a functioning society. On the other hand, as seen through Asch's and Milgram's experiments and chilling historical examples, it can lead to devastating outcomes when it overrides our independent judgment. Our real challenge, as individuals and as a society, is to find the delicate balance—being part of the community without losing our unique voice, and especially the ability to recognize when the majority is wrong and when we must stand against it. Only then can we build a society that combines the need for unity with the importance of independent and critical thinking.