Conformity is the adaptation of behavior that happens in response to unspoken group pressure. Compliance is the alteration of one's behavior because of open pressure.
Scientists have found more about conformity using controlled experiments. It is actually quite funny how people are influenced by others, even if it is completely and obviously the wrong answer. Although I laugh when I hear of experiments done with people, I know that if I was in a situation similar to that I would probably do the same. Solomon Asch, in the 1950s, did an experiment with a group, where all but one was “controlled” or knew about the experiment. In a specific experiment he asks them to choose which line was exactly like the example.
The size of the group is a very large factor. The larger the group the more someone will be willing to conform to the rest of the group. Another factor that affects the willingness of a person to conform is the opinion of an expert. In my opinion conformity can be good and can be bad. When someone really needs to change an attitude or a way of thinking, good influences are necessary to help the person make a right decision. Conformity is bad when a person tries to hide his differences and his way of thinking. When a person does not want to stick up for what is right and moral, then conforming is bad.
Compliance can also be considered “foot or face in the door”, this came up with door to door salesmen. “Foot in the door” compliance starts out by asking a person to do something small then after a period of time ask to do something bigger. Personally, I think this is very effective, but it can be very destructive. The person starts out be feeling good for accepting something, then when asked to do something that they would not normally do; this can make the person fell as if they are not good people and they can then feel cheated.
Compliance is based on making the person have a feeling of high self-esteem. “Face in the door” is when a person is asked to do something outrageous, and they decline. Then that same person is asked to do something smaller, and in comparison to the first request it seems more acceptable. For my part I think that compliance hurts more people than it helps. People just need to learn how to say no and not be pulled in to traps.
Society is a person's greatest pressure. This pressure can help or hinder a person in his task. Also social influences can make a person do something they themselves would never think to do alone. It is so sad to see other people get hurt because society has deindividualized a group.
People just want a feeling of place and significance, even if it means to become like the others. We as Christians should watch out to whom we conform, comply and who in society we allow to influence us. We should put our feelings of significance and place in Christ and in him alone.
