Chapter 9: Norms and Conformity
Types of norms
Descriptive social norms = agreed upon mental representations of what a group of people
think, feel, or do
Injunctive social norms = agreed upon mental representations of what a group of people
should think, feel, or do
Conformity = the convergence of individuals' thoughts, feelings, or behavior toward a social norm
Private conformity = private acceptance of social norms
o Sherif's experiment where participants sat in a dark room and observed a stationary
dot of light and are later asked to estimate how far the light moved
Due to the autokinetic effect the light appears to move even thought it does
not
Results showed that individual estimates gradually became similar as they
made estimates in groups
Due to informational influence = the process by which group norms
are privately accepted to achieve or maintain mastery of reality
Public conformity = overt behavior consistent with social norms that are not privately
accepted
o Asch's experiment where participants judged which line matched a standard line in
length
When confederates intentionally give the wrong answers, 76% of
participants conformed at least once to these incorrect answers
Due to normative influence = the process by which group norms are
privately accepted to achieve or maintain connectedness and a
valued social identity
Motivational functions of conformity to norms
Expecting consensus: false consensus effect = the tendency to overestimate others'
agreement with one's own opinions, characteristics, and behaviors
o Consensus of the reference group = those people accepted as an appropriate source
of information for a judgment because they share the attributes relevant for making
that judgment
o Can lead to pluralistic ignorance = occurs when everyone publicly conforms to an
apparent norm that no one in fact privately accepts
o Can lead to mindlessness = people accept majority views without evaluating
evidence
o Can lead to contamination = group members share the same biases which can lead
to a consensus being invalid as it reflects shared ideology rather than independent
evaluation
Need for mastery: informational influence (leads to private conformity)
Need for connectedness: normative influence (leads to private conformity)
Need to value me and mine: influence form valued in-group (leads to private conformity)
Effects of conformity to norms
Group polarization = the process by which a group's initial average position becomes more
extreme following group interaction
o Due to superficial processing
Because one uses consensus heuristic (the majority is probably right)
Because one represents a group ideal (I'll go along to be a good group
member)
Systematic processing occurs through deeper reasoning
Majority views produce more arguments
, Hearing others agree with your information strengthens confidence
(social validation)
People trust their own information more than new information from
others (ownership bias)
Groupthink = group decision making that is impaired by the drive to reach consensus
regardless of how the consensus is formed
o Symptoms are illusion of invulnerability, belief in group morality, stereotyping
outsiders, pressure to conform, self-censorship, and illusion of unanimity
o Occurs due to prioritizing social identity, harmony, quick decisions, and avoidance of
conflict
o Can be prevented by encouraging dissent, creating subgroups to explore alternatives,
inviting outside opinions, and removing leader influence during discussion
Polythink = a decision-making condition characterized by too many conflicting opinions,
causing conflict and paralysis
o Symptoms are intragroup conflict, poor communication, decision paralysis, and
lowest-common-denominator decisions
Pluralistic ignorance
Source-context-elaboration model (SCEM) = a model which explains how numerical majorities and
minorities influence attitudes by determining the extent of message processing
Minority influence = the process by which a smaller subgroup influences the majority
o Must be consistent, must show agreement among themselves, must have shared
identity, and must use systematic processing for the minority influence to be more
persuasive
o Produces private attitude change
o Stronger for long-term change and when attention is high
o The blue-green paradigm experiment shows that through a consistent minority
labelling blue slides as green the participants give incorrect answers
o Spillover effect = minority influence spreads beyond the original issue to related
attitudes
Majority influence = the process by which a larger group influences an individual or minority
to conform to its beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors
o Operates through normative influence and informational influence
o Produces public conformity
o Stronger in immediate situations and when attention is low
Cross-cultural differences in conformity
Collectivist cultures show higher conformity as they value harmony and emphasize
interdependence
Individualist cultures show lower conformity as they emphasize independence
Tight cultures = societies with strong norms and little tolerance for deviance
o Usually due to historical threats (e.g. natural disasters, resource scarcity, extreme
climate)
Under threat, strict coordination becomes adaptive (e.g. tight cultures
coordinated better during COVID-19)
Loose cultures = societies with weaker norms and greater tolerance for deviance
Types of norms
Descriptive social norms = agreed upon mental representations of what a group of people
think, feel, or do
Injunctive social norms = agreed upon mental representations of what a group of people
should think, feel, or do
Conformity = the convergence of individuals' thoughts, feelings, or behavior toward a social norm
Private conformity = private acceptance of social norms
o Sherif's experiment where participants sat in a dark room and observed a stationary
dot of light and are later asked to estimate how far the light moved
Due to the autokinetic effect the light appears to move even thought it does
not
Results showed that individual estimates gradually became similar as they
made estimates in groups
Due to informational influence = the process by which group norms
are privately accepted to achieve or maintain mastery of reality
Public conformity = overt behavior consistent with social norms that are not privately
accepted
o Asch's experiment where participants judged which line matched a standard line in
length
When confederates intentionally give the wrong answers, 76% of
participants conformed at least once to these incorrect answers
Due to normative influence = the process by which group norms are
privately accepted to achieve or maintain connectedness and a
valued social identity
Motivational functions of conformity to norms
Expecting consensus: false consensus effect = the tendency to overestimate others'
agreement with one's own opinions, characteristics, and behaviors
o Consensus of the reference group = those people accepted as an appropriate source
of information for a judgment because they share the attributes relevant for making
that judgment
o Can lead to pluralistic ignorance = occurs when everyone publicly conforms to an
apparent norm that no one in fact privately accepts
o Can lead to mindlessness = people accept majority views without evaluating
evidence
o Can lead to contamination = group members share the same biases which can lead
to a consensus being invalid as it reflects shared ideology rather than independent
evaluation
Need for mastery: informational influence (leads to private conformity)
Need for connectedness: normative influence (leads to private conformity)
Need to value me and mine: influence form valued in-group (leads to private conformity)
Effects of conformity to norms
Group polarization = the process by which a group's initial average position becomes more
extreme following group interaction
o Due to superficial processing
Because one uses consensus heuristic (the majority is probably right)
Because one represents a group ideal (I'll go along to be a good group
member)
Systematic processing occurs through deeper reasoning
Majority views produce more arguments
, Hearing others agree with your information strengthens confidence
(social validation)
People trust their own information more than new information from
others (ownership bias)
Groupthink = group decision making that is impaired by the drive to reach consensus
regardless of how the consensus is formed
o Symptoms are illusion of invulnerability, belief in group morality, stereotyping
outsiders, pressure to conform, self-censorship, and illusion of unanimity
o Occurs due to prioritizing social identity, harmony, quick decisions, and avoidance of
conflict
o Can be prevented by encouraging dissent, creating subgroups to explore alternatives,
inviting outside opinions, and removing leader influence during discussion
Polythink = a decision-making condition characterized by too many conflicting opinions,
causing conflict and paralysis
o Symptoms are intragroup conflict, poor communication, decision paralysis, and
lowest-common-denominator decisions
Pluralistic ignorance
Source-context-elaboration model (SCEM) = a model which explains how numerical majorities and
minorities influence attitudes by determining the extent of message processing
Minority influence = the process by which a smaller subgroup influences the majority
o Must be consistent, must show agreement among themselves, must have shared
identity, and must use systematic processing for the minority influence to be more
persuasive
o Produces private attitude change
o Stronger for long-term change and when attention is high
o The blue-green paradigm experiment shows that through a consistent minority
labelling blue slides as green the participants give incorrect answers
o Spillover effect = minority influence spreads beyond the original issue to related
attitudes
Majority influence = the process by which a larger group influences an individual or minority
to conform to its beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors
o Operates through normative influence and informational influence
o Produces public conformity
o Stronger in immediate situations and when attention is low
Cross-cultural differences in conformity
Collectivist cultures show higher conformity as they value harmony and emphasize
interdependence
Individualist cultures show lower conformity as they emphasize independence
Tight cultures = societies with strong norms and little tolerance for deviance
o Usually due to historical threats (e.g. natural disasters, resource scarcity, extreme
climate)
Under threat, strict coordination becomes adaptive (e.g. tight cultures
coordinated better during COVID-19)
Loose cultures = societies with weaker norms and greater tolerance for deviance
