The Social Approach: Key Assumptions and Conformity
The social approach is built on two fundamental ideas that explain why we act differently around others. First, behaviour occurs in a social context - meaning the people around you directly influence how you think and act. Second, wider culture and society shape individual behaviour in ways you might not even realise.
Conformity is basically changing your behaviour, attitudes, or beliefs to fit in with a group. It happens through two main types of social influence: normative social influence (conforming to be accepted and belong) and informational social influence (looking to others for guidance about what's correct or appropriate).
There are three levels of conformity that show how deeply social pressure affects us. Compliance is the most basic - you go along publicly but don't actually change your private beliefs. Identification means temporarily adopting a group's behaviours to be a member. Internalisation is the deepest level, where you permanently change your beliefs and attitudes to align with the group.
Quick Tip: Remember conformity levels by thinking C-I-I: Compliance (surface), Identification (temporary), Internalisation (permanent).
