Anticonformity (psychology)

Last updated

Anticonformity (counterconformity) refers to when an individual consciously and deliberately challenges the position or actions of the group. [1] Anticonformity is not merely the absence of conformity. [2] Anticonformity can be a response to certain context and social pressure or expectations. [3] Anticonformity commonly takes place in a group environment where other individuals might differ in opinion. Individuals who display anticonformity behaviours are internally motivated to disrupt the balance of the group. [1] Further, anticonformist individuals are motivated by rebelliousness and are not influenced by social forces or norms. [4] Anticonformity has been labelled a dependent behaviour as its manifestation is dependent on the group's position in regard to an event or situation. [1]

Contents

History

The psychologist Michael Argyle conducted the first study of the concept of anticonformity. [5] In his 1957 study, Argyle recruited male students and placed them in two-person groups (with one member being a confederate), then asked the pairs to judge and rate a painting on a 6-point Likert scale. In one of the conditions, Argyle instructed the confederate to reject the rating made by the participant. Following this rejection, the participant was required to make a second rating of the painting. Argyle used the difference between the two ratings to measure social influence. Argyle's results showed that nearly 8% of the participants expressed a higher disagreement with their partner on their second rating. Argyle classified these direct and deliberate disagreements as anticonformity behaviours.

Social psychologists Richard Willis and Richard Crutchfield proposed an alternate way of measuring and studying anticonformity. [6] [7] Instead of viewing conformity, independence, and anticonformity as degrees on a single continuum, the authors posited that these three dimensions represent vertices of a triangle, which allows for the simultaneous measurement of these dimensions. Social psychologists conclude that there are conditions that lead to a sense of conformity and when they are no longer present, anticonformity takes place. The two terms conformity/nonconformity are connected to one another by the conditions that conform an individual. Every set of individuals contain certain conditions that lead to feeling conformed and when they are not met, it may lead to anticonformity. [3]

Theories

Levine and Hogg [1] identified a number of theories to account for the motivations underlying anticonformity behaviours, including:

Models Addressing Anticonformity and Social Responses

The Double Diamond Model proposed by Paul R. Nail, Stefano I. Di Domenico, and Geoff MacDonald is a unified continuous response model that addresses anticonformity. The unified model incorporates two types of conformity and three types of anticonformity. Many social psychologists such as Argyle, Crutchfield, Willis, and Levine have discussed the two types of conformity: conversion and compliance. Conversion comformity is the positive influence of the individual to agree both publicly and privately to a change in opinion by another individual. Compliance conformity is the agreement occurring after a public agreement but remaining in disagreement privately. Anticonformity is the continuous need for behavioral and cognitive independence. An anticonformist is both publicly and privately in disagreement with others in the environment. The double diamond model of social responses introduces a new strategy in regards to anticonformity, strategic self-anticonformity. In other words, researchers claim that using reverse psychology could challenge anticonformist behavior. [8]

Across cultures

In 1973, Meade and Barnard conducted a study examining anticonformity behaviours in a sample of 60 American and 60 Chinese college students. [9] Their results showed that there was a greater tendency for anticonformity behaviour among the American students compared to the Chinese students. These results may be explained by the type of culture in each country, where America has an individualistic culture compared to the collectivist culture of China. [10]

Related Research Articles

Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group, or between social groups. The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-making behaviour, tracking the spread of diseases in society, creating effective therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and technologies. These applications of the field are studied in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, epidemiology, education, social work, leadership studies, business and managerial studies, as well as communication studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Asch</span> Polish-American psychologist

Solomon Eliot Asch (September 14, 1907 – February 20, 1996) was a Polish-American Gestalt psychologist and pioneer in social psychology. He created seminal pieces of work in impression formation, prestige suggestion, conformity, and many other topics. His work follows a common theme of Gestalt psychology that the whole is not only greater than the sum of its parts, but the nature of the whole fundamentally alters the parts. Asch stated: "Most social acts have to be understood in their setting, and lose meaning if isolated. No error in thinking about social facts is more serious than the failure to see their place and function". Asch is most well known for his conformity experiments, in which he demonstrated the influence of group pressure on opinions. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Asch as the 41st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Social influence comprises the ways in which individuals adjust their behavior to meet the demands of a social environment. It takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, socialization, peer pressure, obedience, leadership, persuasion, sales, and marketing. Typically social influence results from a specific action, command, or request, but people also alter their attitudes and behaviors in response to what they perceive others might do or think. In 1958, Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman identified three broad varieties of social influence.

  1. Compliance is when people appear to agree with others but actually keep their dissenting opinions private.
  2. Identification is when people are influenced by someone who is liked and respected, such as a famous celebrity.
  3. Internalization is when people accept a belief or behavior and agree both publicly and privately.

In social psychology, group polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. These more extreme decisions are towards greater risk if individuals' initial tendencies are to be risky and towards greater caution if individuals' initial tendencies are to be cautious. The phenomenon also holds that a group's attitude toward a situation may change in the sense that the individuals' initial attitudes have strengthened and intensified after group discussion, a phenomenon known as attitude polarization.

In psychology, the Asch conformity experiments or the Asch paradigm were a series of studies directed by Solomon Asch studying if and how individuals yielded to or defied a majority group and the effect of such influences on beliefs and opinions.

Herd mentality describes how people can be influenced by the majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Five personality traits</span> Personality model consisting of five broad dimensions

The Big Five personality traits, sometimes known as "the five-factor model of personality" or "OCEAN model", is a grouping of five unique characteristics used to study personality. It has been developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory.

Deindividuation is a concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the loss of self-awareness in groups, although this is a matter of contention. For the social psychologist, the level of analysis is the individual in the context of a social situation. As such, social psychologists emphasize the role of internal psychological processes. Other social scientists, such as sociologists, are more concerned with broad social, economic, political, and historical factors that influence events in a given society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In-group and out-group</span> Sociological notions

In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. People may for example identify with their peer group, family, community, sports team, political party, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nation. It has been found that the psychological membership of social groups and categories is associated with a wide variety of phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social rejection</span> Deliberate exclusion of an individual from social relationship or social interaction

Social rejection occurs when an individual is deliberately excluded from a social relationship or social interaction. The topic includes interpersonal rejection, romantic rejection, and familial estrangement. A person can be rejected or shunned by individuals or an entire group of people. Furthermore, rejection can be either active by bullying, teasing, or ridiculing, or passive by ignoring a person, or giving the "silent treatment". The experience of being rejected is subjective for the recipient, and it can be perceived when it is not actually present. The word "ostracism" is also commonly used to denote a process of social exclusion.

Normative social influence is a type of social influence that leads to conformity. It is defined in social psychology as "...the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them." The power of normative social influence stems from the human identity as a social being, with a need for companionship and association.

Ingratiating is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to influence another person by becoming more likeable to their target. This term was coined by social psychologist Edward E. Jones, who further defined ingratiating as "a class of strategic behaviors illicitly designed to influence a particular other person concerning the attractiveness of one's personal qualities." Ingratiation research has identified some specific tactics of employing ingratiation:

Behavioral contagion is a form of social contagion involving the spread of behavior through a group. It refers to the propensity for a person to copy a certain behavior of others who are either in the vicinity, or whom they have been exposed to. The term was originally used by Gustave Le Bon in his 1895 work The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind to explain undesirable aspects of behavior of people in crowds. In the digital age, behavioral contagion is also concerned with the spread of online behavior and information. A variety of behavioral contagion mechanisms were incorporated in models of collective human behavior.

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms, politics or being like-minded. Norms are implicit, specific rules, guidance shared by a group of individuals, that guide their interactions with others. People often choose to conform to society rather than to pursue personal desires – because it is often easier to follow the path others have made already, rather than forging a new one. Thus, conformity is sometimes a product of group communication. This tendency to conform occurs in small groups and/or in society as a whole and may result from subtle unconscious influences, or from direct and overt social pressure. Conformity can occur in the presence of others, or when an individual is alone. For example, people tend to follow social norms when eating or when watching television, even if alone.

Psychological research refers to research that psychologists conduct for systematic study and for analysis of the experiences and behaviors of individuals or groups. Their research can have educational, occupational and clinical applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Introspection illusion</span> Cognitive bias of people thinking they understand their own mental states but others are inaccurate

The introspection illusion is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly think they have direct insight into the origins of their mental states, while treating others' introspections as unreliable. The illusion has been examined in psychological experiments, and suggested as a basis for biases in how people compare themselves to others. These experiments have been interpreted as suggesting that, rather than offering direct access to the processes underlying mental states, introspection is a process of construction and inference, much as people indirectly infer others' mental states from their behaviour.

Social determinism is the theory that social interactions alone determine individual behavior.

Activity-specific approach in temperament research is the theory related to a structure of temperament, i.e. how temperament traits can be classified and organized. This approach suggests:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theory of basic human values</span> Theory of the basis of human cultural values

The theory of basic human values is a theory of cross-cultural psychology and universal values that was developed by Shalom H. Schwartz. The theory extends previous cross-cultural communication frameworks such as Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory. Schwartz identifies ten basic human values, each distinguished by their underlying motivation or goal, and he explains how people in all cultures recognize them. There are two major methods for measuring these ten basic values: the Schwartz Value Survey and the Portrait Values Questionnaire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crutchfield situation</span> Experimental procedure and apparatus to study conformity.

The Crutchfield Situation was an experimental procedure and apparatus created by Richard S. Crutchfield in 1955 to study conformity. Essentially, the Crutchfield Situation was an attempt to improve upon the methodology employed in the Asch conformity experiments. One of the major criticisms concerning the Asch studies was the need for many accomplices in order to study one participant. According to Forsyth, an additional criticism of Asch's design was that “participants in the Asch studies stated their choices aloud under the watchful eyes of all the other members, and this procedure likely increased their feelings of embarrassment and of being evaluated.”

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Levine, J. M., & Hogg, M. A. (2009). Encyclopedia of groups processes & intergroup relations: Anticonformity. doi:10.4135/9781412972017
  2. ↑ Willis, R. H. (1965). Conformity, independence, and anticonformity. Human Relations, 18, 373-388. doi:10.1177/001872676501800406
  3. 1 2 Willis, Richard H. (November 1965). "Conformity, Independence, and Anticonformity". Human Relations. 18 (4): 373–388. doi:10.1177/001872676501800406. ISSN   0018-7267. S2CID   146357360.
  4. ↑ Forsyth, D. R. (2009). Group dynamics. New York: Wadsworth.
  5. ↑ Argyle, M. (1957). Social pressure in public and private situations. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 2, 172-175. doi:10.1037/h0040490
  6. ↑ Willis, R. H. (1963). Two dimensions of conformity-nonconformity. Sociometry, 26, 499-513. doi:10.1177/001872676501800406
  7. ↑ Kretch, D., Crutchfield, R. S., & Ballachery, E. L. (1962). Individual in society. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  8. ↑ Nail, Paul R.; Di Domenico, Stefano I.; MacDonald, Geoff (March 2013). "Proposal of a Double Diamond Model of Social Response". Review of General Psychology. 17 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1037/a0030997. ISSN   1089-2680. S2CID   145070014.
  9. ↑ Meade, R. D., & Barnard, W. A. (1973). Conformity and anticonformity among Americans and Chinese. The Journal of Social Psychology, 89, 15-24. doi:10.1080/00224545.1973.9922563
  10. ↑ Bond, R., & Smith, P. B. (1996). Culture and conformity: A meta-analysis of studies using Asch’s (1952b, 1956) line judgment task. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 111-137.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.