Why do people conform to social norms?

[Sanders]

Hey everyone, Have you ever stopped to think about why we often find ourselves following social norms without even realizing it. Mean, it's kind of wild how we just fall in line with what everyone else is doing sometimes, right. Remember this one time back in high school when all my friends started wearing certain brand of sneakers. They were all hyped about it, and suddenly, felt this pressure to get them too. It was like if didn't have those shoes, wouldn't fit in or something. Looking back, can't help but wonder why felt that way. Think part of it has to do with wanting to belong and feel accepted.

 

[MarkReedWizard]

It's like we're wired to seek acceptance and avoid standing out too much. Could it be ingrained in us from an evolutionary standpoint, promoting unity and survival within communities? Mississippi colleges offer diverse social scenes, with plenty of opportunities to observe conformity in action.

 

[Melissa]

Hey everyone, Have you ever stopped to think about why we often find ourselves following social norms without even realizing it. Mean, it's kind of wild how we just fall in line with what everyone else is doing sometimes, right. Remember this one time back in high school when all my friends started wearing certain brand of sneakers. They were all hyped about it, and suddenly, felt this pressure to get them too. It was like if didn't have those shoes, wouldn't fit in or something. Looking back, can't help but wonder why felt that way. Think part of it has to do with wanting to belong and feel accepted.

This is basically Psychology 101 and Sociology 101 rolled into one.

From a psychological perspective, it's all about normative social influence—we conform because we want to be liked and accepted by the group. Your sneaker story is a classic example. We fear rejection, so we adapt. Then there's informational social influence, which is when we conform because we believe others know something we don't. Like when you're in a new class and everyone is taking notes a certain way, so you do the same because you assume they know what's important.

Solomon Asch's conformity experiments from the 1950s are still relevant today—people literally denied what their own eyes were seeing just to fit in with the group. It's fascinating (and a little scary) how wired we are for social connection.

What do you think? Is conformity more about fear of standing out or genuine desire to connect?

 

[Buddy]

Hey everyone, Have you ever stopped to think about why we often find ourselves following social norms without even realizing it. Mean, it's kind of wild how we just fall in line with what everyone else is doing sometimes, right. Remember this one time back in high school when all my friends started wearing certain brand of sneakers. They were all hyped about it, and suddenly, felt this pressure to get them too. It was like if didn't have those shoes, wouldn't fit in or something. Looking back, can't help but wonder why felt that way. Think part of it has to do with wanting to belong and feel accepted.

I think you nailed it with "wanting to belong."

We're social animals. Thousands of years ago, being cast out from the tribe literally meant death. So we're kinda hardwired to care what others think. The sneakers thing is just the modern version of that ancient instinct.

I still catch myself downloading apps everyone's talking about or watching shows just so I can be part of the conversation at lunch. It's not even that I want to—it's just easier than being the one person who's like "I don't know what you're talking about."

Conformity saves social energy, I guess?