Informational influence and normative influence

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Conformity involves changing your behavior in order to "fit in" or "move together" with the people around you. In some cases, this social influence may include agreeing or acting like the majority of people in a particular group or behaving in a certain way to be perceived as "normal" by the group.

Researchers have found that people conform to a number of different reasons: In many cases, looking to the rest of the group for clues for how we should behave can actually be helpful. Other people might have greater knowledge or experience than we do, so following their lead can actually be instructive. In some instances, we conform to the expectations of the group in order to avoid looking foolish. This tendency can become particularly strong in situations where we are not quite sure how to act or where the expectations are ambiguous.

I want to give an example of this, I once saw a bag in a store and told my mother that this bag can be worn with sportswear. The salesman looked at me in amazement and said, "What?" sportswear and this bag? At that moment, I lost my confidence, inspected the bag several times, and then put it back.

PAGE3: In 1955, Deutsch and Gerard identified two key reasons why people conform: informational influence and normative influence. Informational influence happens when people change their behavior in order to be correct. In situations where we are unsure of the correct response, we often look to others who are better informed and more knowledgeable and use their lead as a guide for our own behaviors. In a classroom setting, for example, this might involve agreeing with the judgments of another classmate who you perceive as being highly intelligent. Normative influence stems from a desire to avoid punishments (such as going along with the rules in class even though you don't agree with them) and gain rewards (such as behaving in a certain way in order to get people to like you). Normative conformity involves changing one's behavior in order to fit in with the group.

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As mentioned previously, normative and informational influences are two important types of conformity, but there are also a number of other reasons why we conform. Identification occurs when people conform to what is expected of them based on their social roles. Internalization occurs when we change our behavior because we want to be like another person. Internalization always involves public and private conformity. A person publicly changes their behavior to fit in with the group, while also agreeing with them privately. Compliance involves changing one's behavior while still internally disagreeing with the group. Compliance involves changing your behavior in some way because someone else requested you to do so. While you may have had the option to refuse the request, you chose to comply. There are many different kinds of situations where compliance comes into play. Some examples include: Buying something because a salesperson makes a pitch and then asks you to make a purchase Responding to a friend asking "Can you do me a favor?" Seeing an ad on a website, clicking it, and then making a purchase

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Some of these techniques to gain compliance include the following: