Experiment
Initially, psychologist Solomon Asch decided to study this phenomenon, having become interested in how willing a person is to defend his point of view without receiving support from others, and sometimes even opposing them.
In 1951, he assembled a group of subjects whose task was to determine the length of a presented line. They could do this by showing the cards that they had been given in advance. One showed three segments with different lengths, and the second showed one, but exactly the same as on the first card. When the subjects took this test individually, the results were positive, everyone coped with the task
But it was important for Solomon to prove the effect of social pressure on the individual. Even in a small group
Therefore, he placed the subjects in one room, colluding with all participants in advance, leaving only one in the dark. They must have deliberately shown incorrect answers. To find out whether this only non-dummy subject will succumb to the influence of the others. And, as you might have guessed, in most cases, individuals, not having information about the conspiracy, gave the wrong answer. They relied on others, ignoring their own feelings, because they did not want to stand out. Only a quarter of the participants, and there were only 123 people, showed independence and stood their ground to the last, arguing that those around them were wrong.
The phenomenon of group pressure
The presence of group members affects each of them differently. This is reflected in various phenomena that are established in social psychology: social facilitation, social inhibition, Ringelmann phenomenon, social loafing, risk shift, group polarization, group spirit, group pressure.
A number of phenomena relate to the effectiveness of group activities. The phenomenon of social facilitation is the encouragement of a person to perform better simple or familiar tasks in the presence of others; social inhibition - deterioration in the performance of such actions in the presence of others. It was found that the presence of others has a positive effect on the quantitative characteristics of activity and a negative effect on the qualitative ones.
According to the Ringelmann phenomenon, the efficiency of each group member depends on the size of the group and decreases as its size increases. An inverse relationship was also discovered between the attractiveness of a group for its members and its size: the larger the group, the less attractive it is for group members. The phenomenon of social laziness: people make less effort if their efforts are combined for a common goal than in the case of individual responsibility. However, if group members are friends, they mess around less.
A number of phenomena concern decisions made by a small group. Risk shift phenomenon: decisions made by a group are riskier than individual decisions. The phenomenon of group polarization: after discussion, the views of individual group members converge and strengthen the average tendency regarding the decision made. The phenomenon of group spirit: the obviously correct decision is sacrificed for the unanimity of the group.
Group members become intellectually insensitive to other views, in particular to opponents, and any alternative information is blocked. The most important factors in the formation of this phenomenon are a pronounced sense of “we,” high group cohesion, isolation of the group from an alternative source of information, and disapproval of the individual views of group members. In this case, the group becomes a victim of its cohesion. This often causes wrong decisions, particularly in politics.
The process of group pressure and its functions in group life
The process of group pressure and its functions in group life.
Group pressure is the process of influence of attitudes, norms, values and behavior of group members on the opinions and behavior of an individual. Normative influence is characterized by the individual’s acceptance of the majority opinion as a group norm, the individual’s dependence on the group and his desire to harmonize his behavior and his attitudes with the behavior and attitudes of the group. Informational influence is characterized by the influence of other group members as a source of information important for decision-making and taken into account by the individual.
Group pressure is a social phenomenon, the essence of which is that people within a community feel forced to agree with a certain opinion if it is supported by the majority in the environment. This is a kind of tool with the help of which society (group) influences the individual, creating certain frameworks for the person that force him to obey the demands of the environment. Group pressure can be formulated in different ways: coercion, demand, request, and simply the existence of society and its expectations. A group member has the choice to submit or disobey community pressure. In addition, one can submit to varying degrees: from accepting the norms of the group to pretending. The process of group pressure exists where there is a conflict between the individual and the opinions of the environment. A measure of resistance to the environment is the level of subordination to the group, when the opinion of the environment is perceived by a person in the form of a conflict. A distinction is made between external submission, when her opinion is accepted only externally, but in fact, the individual resists, and internal, in which case the individual actually supports the opinion of the majority. Internal submission is the result of overcoming conflict in favor of the group.
An individual can make his own demands on himself to the environment. This causes conflicts between the individual and the group. Putting forward one’s own demands on the environment serves as a reason for releasing oneself from responsibility for one’s actions. The phenomenon of group pressure also has another name in social psychology - conformism. At the level of everyday perception, group pressure was recorded in the tale of the naked king. The reason for submitting to such pressure is the lack of experience in making decisions individually due to the fear of the unknown, independence, responsibility, life in which no one will tell you how to do it.
In studies of the influence of community pressure, another position of the individual in relation to the group was identified - the position of negativism. When pressure is exerted on an individual, resistance to pressure arises, which at first glance seems to be an independent position, because the standards of society are denied. But this is only at first glance; negativism can be perceived as a form of extreme denial of pressure. In reality, negativism is not true independence; on the contrary, it is a specific version of subordination, but only inside out. After all, if an individual sets the goal of resisting a group, then he depends on it, since he needs to actively defend an anti-group position, and therefore be tied to the opinion of the community. Therefore, the position that resists environmental pressure is independence and independence. Group pressure exists only where there is a conflict between the environment and the individual, and overcoming the conflict is carried out in favor of the group. Liberation from excessive group pressure and the formation of a free partnership with the environment, with another individual, requires renunciation of claims to guardianship from others, to life in a protected world, to some guarantees for the future. Unfortunately, such a decision may not be feasible for everyone; the desire to preserve childhood dreams may overcome it, which will force you to continue to seek support in a group, in religion, and so on. Together with the illusion of security, they prefer group pressure and the fear of being rejected for insubordination. And an individual who has chosen responsibility is free from subordination to social pressure. Such an individual gets the opportunity to use group pressure for good, using it as motivation for mobilization.
Group pressure and conformity. Becoming a member of a group, each individual does not want to be rejected by it. As a result of this desire, people tend to follow group norms. Many studies show that groups can have a powerful influence on individuals, causing them to change their behavior and attitudes in accordance with group standards. Such changes in behavior are especially characteristic in relation to significant groups, membership in which the individual values \u200b\u200bvery much. Such groups, as we have already noted, are called reference groups and have an exceptional influence on individual behavior. The individual feels closely connected with other members of such a group, identifies himself as a member of it, and is strongly oriented toward the opinions of other group members.
In the context of the process of group pressure, they usually talk about conformity, which is understood as the behavior of an individual relative to the position of the group, the measure of his “submission” to group pressure, his acceptance or rejection of group norms and rules. Concepts opposite to conformity are independence of behavior, independence of views, resistance to group pressure, etc.
Conformity manifests itself most clearly in conditions of open conflict between the opinions of the group and the individual. The extent to which an individual is ready to follow the opinion of the group (even if it is obviously wrong) determines the degree of his conformity.
The mechanism of group pressure was clearly demonstrated in the famous experiments of S. Ash. A group of 7-9 subjects, located in a common room, was asked to compare two cards offered by the experimenter. One card had one vertical line, the other had three, but of different lengths. One of the lines on the second card was identical to the one on the first.
The difference in the length of the three lines was quite obvious and, acting independently (outside the group), only one percent of the subjects could occasionally make a mistake in identifying the lines. In accordance with the instructions, the subject had to loudly announce which of the three lines on the second card corresponded to the line shown on the first card.
Ash wondered what would happen if everyone in the group started giving wrong answers, whether group pressure would then force an uninformed (i.e., unaware that the group was deliberately misrepresenting) subject to change his mind. The procedure was structured in such a way that in each group there was only one unaware subject and his turn to answer the experimenter’s question was the last.
The experiment began with several trial series. Here all subjects gave correct answers. Only after this did the first subject, and after him all the others, begin to give an obvious incorrect answer. The “naive” subject answered last, and the experimenter had the opportunity to check whether he would “stand” in his own, completely correct opinion or “succumb” to group pressure. Thus, the ignorant subject was faced with a dilemma: either trust his own eyes and give an obvious and correct answer, or, following his opinion, say what everyone else is saying.
Numerous experiments conducted by Ash showed that about 35% of subjects demonstrated conforming behavior, i.e. preferred obvious truth to agreement with the group, i.e. every third person gave a deliberately false answer, unable to resist the consensus omnium. In subsequent interviews, all subjects, including those who did not succumb to group pressure, reported that the opinion of the majority had a very strong impact on them, forcing even the “persistent” to doubt the correctness of their answers. It is curious that, as a rule, the subjects associated their conformity not with objective processes within the group, but exclusively with their personal characteristics.
Of course, the results of laboratory experiments are not able to fully reproduce the patterns of real group interaction and therefore cannot be unambiguously transferred to real situations. The significance of the situation proposed by the experimenter for the subjects, as well as the abstract nature of the experimental groups themselves, raises many doubts. However, the results of the experiments nevertheless convincingly showed that group pressure pushes the individual towards conformity. People tend to strive to be part of a group and are afraid of becoming the “black sheep.” Even if his opinion is based on extremely objective data, but differs from the opinion of other members of the group, whether the individual wants it or not, he is always under the powerful pressure of the group’s opinion and under these conditions only a few are able to demonstrate independent behavior.
Factors influencing the development of conformity
There are factors due to which a completely independent, independent and spiritually strong person with the makings of a leader can back down and abandon his point of view. Thanks to them, it becomes possible to anticipate and predict the development of events in the group
Which is sometimes very important, especially if it is related to business
So, the factors influencing the desire to adapt and “merge” with the majority:
- Age and gender. It is believed that women and children are more prone to conforming behavior than men.
- Significance of information. The more valuable and closer to a person any material is, the more fiercely he will defend it.
- Status and authority. It has been observed that the higher the status of those who speak out, even if incorrectly, the majority will still accept their position, even if they doubt it. Therefore, it is not uncommon for the minority to win. And it put pressure on people whose numbers outnumbered them many times over.
- Number of like-minded people. The more there are, the more difficult it is to resist.
Nonconformism
In addition to people who approve of the norms of the group or treat them conformally, there are also people who are ready to resist the pressure of the group; they are called nonconformists. There are two main types of nonconformists: aggressive and creative. Aggressive nonconformists oppose almost all of the group's proposals. They are guided by a complex of superiority or inferiority and hostility.
Creative nonconformists resist the tendencies of “equalization” in the group. The original proposals of such a person can pose a problem for the group leader, who sometimes incorrectly interprets the initiative of a creative nonconformist as a threat to his own position or position in the group.
Conformity
Conformism in its essence is a kind of “adjustment”, when there is not enough courage and willpower to contradict others, the only way out of a conflict or difficult situation is to recognize someone else’s point of view, even if it is illogical and sometimes stupid.
It manifests itself in individuals with low self-esteem who do not believe in themselves and their capabilities, are afraid of rejection, are prone to experiencing toxic shame, or are unable to cope with any type of pressure and manipulation due to their character traits and personal life history. It is also often formed in individuals with a low level of intellectual abilities, which is why they trust any conclusions that others make, since they themselves are not able to understand some issue on their own.
There are external and internal conformity. When external, the individual just agrees with the group for the sake of appearance; he demonstrates subordination in order to avoid aggression in his direction, or simply attention as a participant who is different. And no matter what, he will continue to act against them.
And with internal, a person really begins to believe what others say
Although initially I was critical and cautious about their words. There is a reassessment of values and attitudes, the internal picture of the world and its perception changes
Information theory of conformity by Mr. Gerard and Mr. Deutsch. The influence of the majority and the minority.
Conformity must be considered in the context of a more general theory concerning the consequences of a person's information seeking in situations where he evaluates his behavior on the basis of its correlation with others. Such a comparison is necessary in order to reduce the uncertainty of one’s behavior in a situation. A person has to not only compare himself with others, but also compare his interpretations of the situation with the interpretations of others. Comparing two interpretations is especially meaningful when majority and minority interpretations collide. This has a lot to do with breaking social consensus: it can be interpreted as turning minority views into majority views.
In this theory, two types of group influence were identified: normative (when pressure is exerted by the majority and his opinion is perceived by a group member as the norm) and informational (when pressure is exerted by a minority and a group member views his opinion only as information on the basis of which he must carry out his own choice. The mechanism of influence in both cases is different: the majority in the full sense puts pressure on the minority with a norm, subordinating the opinion of the individual. At the same time, he changes his behavior, demonstrating agreement, remaining internally with his opinion (external conformism). The minority only suggests new information to the individual if the individual trusts her, then changes his opinion, i.e., as if his conversion occurs, the adoption of a new point of view (internal conformism).From the point of view of the formation of a group, the mechanism of social influence acts as pressure from the group, which obeys its norm.
Experiment by S. Moscovici:
Two groups of subjects are shown slides that depict the color blue. In an experimental group of 6 people, 2 of the experimenter’s confederates claim that the color is green; they are a minority that influences the position of the majority. 8.4% agreed that the color on the screen was green, and when the color scheme changed (a smooth transition from blue to green), they more often recorded the appearance of green earlier than subjects in the control group.
Moscovici's conclusion: the minority will be able to win with its influence and turn its position into the norm (transforming informational influence into normative), but for this it is necessary to comply with several conditions for the behavior of the minority: stability of the position, confidence in demonstrating it, argumentation in defending the information presented. In a situation of conflict between the opinion of an individual and the opinion of the majority, it is not agreement as such that is imposed, but a demonstration of agreement, but the effect comes faster. When resolving a conflict between an individual and a minority, on the part of the minority there is, as it were, an invitation to reflection by providing information, to search for something new. Moscovici suggested that all innovations in society should be expected from the minority rather than from the majority.
Pros and cons of conformity
Among the positive features of personality conformity are:
- Increasing cohesion in crisis situations, which helps the team cope with them;
- Simplifying the organization of joint activities;
- Reducing the adaptation time of a person in a team.
But the phenomenon of conformity is also accompanied by negative features, including:
- Loss of the ability to make decisions independently and navigate in unusual conditions;
- Creation of conditions and prerequisites for the development of totalitarian sects and states, the implementation of mass murders and genocides;
- Development of various prejudices and prejudices against minorities;
- A decrease in the individual's ability to make a significant contribution to culture or science, as conformity eradicates original and creative thought.
In group interaction, the phenomenon of conformity plays an important role, as it is one of the mechanisms for making a group decision. At the same time, each social group has a certain degree of tolerance regarding the behavior of its members, while each of them can allow themselves a certain degree of deviation from accepted norms without undermining their position as a member of the group and without damaging the sense of common unity.
Bad Company: How to Resist Peer Pressure
Bad Company: How to Resist Peer Pressure?
Home > Consultations > Psychologist > Bad company: how to resist peer pressure?
There is an opinion that a person is never alone throughout his life, out of touch with society. Starting from the moment of birth, the child is surrounded by other people: first it is the mother and other family members, then friends are added at school and in the yard, then work colleagues and so on. In this sense, people always belong to one or, more often, several communities.
Sometimes teenage groups can unite around positive values (helping people, sports achievements, passion for technical design, some scientific field, etc.), but this, alas, is rather a rare exception to the rule. More often, companies arise from opposition to adults, demonstration of clearly defiant behavior, humiliation of weaker peers, and even ideas of criminal “adventures.”
The situation becomes very difficult for those teenagers who come under double pressure: parents do not understand, scold, put pressure, and peers in the company put pressure, mock, and assert themselves at their expense.
For some, the situation forces them to gather all their strength, courage and confidently resist the pressure of other guys. But not many people have such inner strength. In addition, teenagers, simply due to their limited life experience, often do not know cultural methods of self-defense from manipulation and pressure. Therefore, they still fall under the influence and begin to “dance to the tune” of the group leaders.
And yet there is an opportunity to learn to resist pressure. A teenager can learn the necessary skills on his own, but things will be much more successful if parents and teachers provide support. The main task is to help the child develop the necessary inner strength and self-confidence.
I would like to appeal to adults. Try to understand the teenager. Think back to your childhood. What kind of peer pressure did you experience as a young child? In adolescence? How did you deal with this? Did you succeed? Would you act differently now? Have you ever forced your friends to do something they didn't want to do? How did they react?
Now think about children today. How are they different from you when you were a child? Do you think there was more, the same, or less peer pressure when you were growing up than now? Why? What kind of pressure do you think your child (your student) is under? What type of pressure worries you most? Are other parents/teachers doing anything to help their children cope with the pressure?
Now I would like to offer some advice to parents, teachers, and teenagers themselves.
So, how can parents help their child?
Some tips for teachers.
Finally, some tips for teenagers on how to resist peer pressure in different situations.
The most reliable way to be ready to resist any pressure and manipulation from others is to become a more confident person. This means:
- Be firm in your beliefs. To do this, of course, you must first have these beliefs. Reading good fiction books (primarily classical literature), observing life and thinking about what you see, as well as a confidential discussion with your parents or a teacher you trust, will help to form them.
- Make independent decisions.
- Do things that you can be proud of later.
- Do what you think is necessary, worrying not about other people’s opinions of yourself, but about what you think about yourself. Try now to be the person you would like to become.
Peer pressure is not easy to deal with, so it's best to avoid situations where it might occur:
Well, if you couldn’t avoid an undesirable situation, and the pressure is happening right now, you can do one of the following:
The format of the article does not allow the discussion to be too lengthy. Therefore, I can only add that many interesting and reasonable ideas on how to resist group pressure and not lose friends can be found on the Internet. Use this opportunity, choose what works best for you. And don't lose confidence in yourself!
27.Leadership and management. Theories of the origin of leadership
The difference between the concepts of “leader” and “manager”:
The leader regulates interpersonal relationships, and the manager regulates official relationships. Leadership in a microenvironment, a leader in a macroenvironment. Leadership arises spontaneously, the leader is elected. The phenomenon of leadership is less stable. The leadership of subordinates is more durable than the leadership of a leader. The manager's decision-making process is more complex. The leader's sphere of activity is a small group, and the leader's sphere of activity is wider. But both of them deal with problems of the same order.
Leadership is a psychological characteristic of behavior, management is a social one.
A leader is a person who is promoted as a result of the interaction of group members to organize the group in solving a specific problem in a specific situation, taking upon himself certain functions. The remaining participants accept such a type of relationship that they will be led and they will be followed.
6 pages, 2758 words
LEADERSHIP(1-10)
The phenomenon of leadership The phenomenon of leadership is a certain natural process in a group, which is built on the basis of the influence of the leader’s personal authority on the behavior of members of this group. The leader not only shows the way to his followers, but has the desire to do so, and his followers also follow him of their own free will, without coercion. Leadership and Management Leadership is a type...
The phenomenon of leadership refers to the dynamic processes of a small group. There may be problems if the level of aspiration of the leader and the level of readiness of other group members do not match. Leader = authority, but not every authority is a leader. A leader must organize the solution of some problem; authority does not do this.
Theories of the origin of leadership:
1. Trait theory (charismatic)
A leader is a person with certain traits.
Everyone started trying to highlight these features. There was a wide range of them among different authors; they chose either their own traits or the traits of some ideal leader. Pervin and John identified 5 blocks of basic personal qualities of a leader: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, friendliness, openness. The first four traits are often found in leaders. The theory turned out to be of little significance.
2. “Situational theory”
A leader is someone who has the traits needed to solve a given problem. The main moment in the emergence of a leader was considered to be his nomination by the group, because he was expected to display the trait in a given situation.
Hartley, not agreeing with this, proposed four "models" of why people become leaders and why it is not only the situation that determines promotion
1) if someone becomes a leader in one situation, then there is a high probability that he will become one in another situation
2) Leaders in one situation are considered “leaders” in general
3) A person, having become a leader in one situation, gains authority and is chosen another time
4) some people are looking for “posts” and behave in such a way that they are “given posts”
3. “Systemic theory of leadership” (more complete than previous ones)
Leadership is the process of organizing interpersonal relationships. the leader is the subject of managing this process. Leadership is a function of the group. Two types of leaders can exist at the same time:
9 pages, 4438 words
Susceptibility to conformity
Conformity is a manifestation of a certain passivity and helplessness in relation to the group. Basically, a person chooses conforming behavior in order not to be rejected by the group, but there may be other reasons. The tendency to conformity depends on:
- increase in group size: an increase in the number of group members leads to increased collective pressure, but this relationship is not directly proportional. So, 3-4 people “pressure” more than two, but further increase in the group size to 10-15 people practically does not add pressure;
— group reference: if a group is a reference for a person, it is difficult to disagree with it;
- composition of the group: it is difficult to oppose a group in which there are outstanding people or persons who are generally recognized experts in a certain field;
— group cohesion: the more activities that connect group members with each other, the stronger its pressure will be;
- unanimity of group members: the presence in a given group of at least minor differences in views significantly reduces the level of pressure;
- professionalism of a person: when in the area in relation to which pressure is applied, a person does not feel like an expert, the pressure of the group will be stronger;
— status of a person: the lower the status in a group a certain person has, the more likely it is that he will take a conformist position; the higher the social status of the person who initiated the pressure, the greater the pressure will be;
— level of self-esteem: the lower the level of self-esteem, the more conformist the person;
- complexity of the problem: the more complex the problem is solved by the group, the greater the pressure of the group;
— clarity of the task: the more unclear the task is formulated, the more noticeable the group pressure will be;
- way of answering: with a public way of answering, conformity increases;
— age: children have higher conformity than adults;
- gender: women have higher conformity than men.
It should not be assumed, however, that all people change their views or behavior under the above circumstances. If a person is deeply convinced that he is right, he will never become conformist.
Conformal behavior plays a dual role in human life. On the one hand, if the group's view is correct, it helps correct the person's views; however, on the other hand, it interferes with the establishment of independent behavior and independent views of a person. The connection of a person with a group will be stronger and longer if the acceptance of its norms occurs on the basis of internal approval, and not conformity.
Conformism in the group
Conformity in a group manifests itself in the form of social influence on a person, while the individual must follow group norms and rules and submit to the interests of the group. It, through the norms of behavior it introduces, forces everyone to follow them in order to maintain the integration of all its members.
A person can resist this pressure, this phenomenon is called nonconformism, but if he gives in, submits to the group, he becomes a conformist. In this case, even realizing that his actions are wrong, he will carry them out as the group does.
It is definitely impossible to say which type of relationship between a person and a group is correct and which is not. Without social conformity, a cohesive team cannot be created. When an individual takes a strict nonconformist position, he cannot become a full member of the group and will eventually be forced to leave the group.
Examples of conformity
The first experiment that demonstrated the phenomenon of conformity was conducted by the American psychologist S. Asch (1951). A group of students (7-9 people) was asked to compare the lengths of the segments. Everyone was given two cards: in the right and left hand. In the left hand, the card showed one segment; on the right - three, of which one is equal in length to the segment on the left card. The other two were shorter and longer. The subjects had to determine which of the segments on the right card was the same length as the segment on the left.
In the first part of the experiment, during individual execution, the problems were solved correctly. In the second part of the experiment, a so-called “dummy group” was formed. The experimenter agreed in advance with all participants except one (“naive subject”) that they would answer incorrectly. The survey began with this “dummy group.” The results of the answers of such “naive subjects” were different, but more than a third (37%) accepted the view imposed by the majority, demonstrating a reluctance to defend their own view in conditions where it did not coincide with the opinion of other participants in the experiment. This proved the existence of conformism.
The phenomenon of conformism
The term conformism comes from the Latin word conformis (similar, conformable); it is a moral and political concept denoting opportunism, passive agreement with the existing order of things, prevailing opinions, etc. It includes the absence of one’s own position, unconditional adherence to any model that has the greatest pressure (traditions, recognized authority, majority opinion, etc.).
The phenomenon of conformity was first described by the American psychologist S. Asch in 1951. Modern research makes it the object of study of 3 sciences: personality psychology, social psychology and sociology, therefore it is advisable to separate conformism, as a social phenomenon, and conformist behavior, as a psychological feature of a person.
In psychology, personality conformity is understood as its compliance to real or imagined pressure from a group, while a person changes behavior and personal attitudes in accordance with the position of the majority, which he did not previously share. A person refuses his own opinion and unconditionally agrees with the position of others, regardless of how much it corresponds to his own ideas and feelings, accepted norms, moral and ethical rules and logic.
There is also social conformism, which is understood as uncritical perception and adherence to prevailing opinions, mass standards and stereotypes, traditions, authoritative principles and guidelines. A person does not resist prevailing trends, despite their internal rejection, perceives any aspects of socio-political and economic reality without criticism, and does not want to express his own opinion. With conformism, the individual refuses to bear personal responsibility for his actions, blindly submits and follows the requirements and instructions emanating from society, the state, party, religious organization, leader, family, etc. Such submission may be due to mentality or traditions.
Social conformism includes all forms of collectivist consciousness that imply the subordination of individual behavior to social norms and demands of the majority.
Negativism
Negativism, at its core, is a protest against structure, methods, systems, etc.
The psychology of a person prone to negativistic behavior is that it is important for him to confront the majority. And sometimes it doesn’t even matter whether she agrees with this majority of opinions or not
The position itself is important - against everyone. Usually these are people with a strong will and character. They don't take criticism or devaluation personally. On the contrary, the more they have to endure in this position of “the only one,” “misunderstood by everyone,” the more they satisfy their need for self-expression and attention.
An interesting fact is that negativism is the same manifestation of conformity, just polar, as if “inside out.” That is, a person, despite attempts to prove something to the contrary, is dependent on those with whom he fights. He will not be able to rebel if he is not attached to the opinions of others.
He takes an anti-group position, and if it changes, he will have nothing to rely on. Otherwise, how can you choose a strategy of behavior when you are used to being guided by models formed by other people? This is how teenagers usually behave during puberty. And no matter how they try to show their autonomy and maturity by organizing conflicts and protests, in fact, they need their parents, their love and care.
Since the information in the article is provided briefly, I would like to give a simple example that will show how the phenomenon of group pressure works. Remember the fairy tale “The King's New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen? It told the story of two weavers who were able to convince the entire kingdom that they had sewn the most beautiful dress. Although in fact the king was naked. And only a child dared to tell the truth.
By the way, I recently published an interesting article about Savant syndrome - a disease of geniuses. I recommend reading it.
Finally, I would like to note that this phenomenon performs important functions - bringing together and maintaining the integrity of the group. Which becomes capable of jointly achieving the goals set for it. If you are interested in finding out how you usually behave in society, I recommend taking this test. That's all for today! I wish you success and achievements.
Guys, I’ve recommended this more than once, but I’ll do it again. Check out these 27 lessons on luck, I'm sure they will be useful to you.
The material was prepared by a psychologist and Gestalt therapist, Alina Zhuravina.
