Most people have to spend a significant part of their lives in a team. When working side by side with other people, one must adapt to the needs of the group and take into account the interests of others. But if a group member is overly susceptible to other people's influence and is able to change his behavior under the pressure of the collective, he is called a conformist.
What is conformism
Few manage to completely free themselves from group influence. The collective very often influences its members, forcing them to reckon with the group opinion, to take into account common interests. It is not uncommon for a group to test the spiritual values of a person, trying to change his attitudes. There are those who consciously or unconsciously resist such influence, defending their right to individuality. Others tend to be conformist and change their behavior to please the collective.
The term "conformism" comes from the Latin word for "like." This concept and the phenomenon designated by it can have both negative and positive meanings. A tendency towards conformal behavior ensures the preservation of group traditions and helps to maintain effective interaction within the team. Due to conformism, the group gains stability and becomes resistant to the influence of destructive external factors.
Conformity as a way of adapting to the environment
Conformal behavior can be explicit or disguised. This personality trait usually manifests itself in a reluctance to take independent steps, in a passive adaptation to ready-made solutions offered by formal or informal leaders. A conformist easily changes his mind to suit other people's interests, although this can affect his self-esteem.
Conformal behavior is opposed by individualism, which manifests itself in the demonstration of one's own beliefs and adherence to independently developed norms of behavior, often contrary to generally accepted ones. If conformism reduces the likelihood of conflicts within the group, then individualism often becomes the cause of them. Many leaders love conformists, and those who actively defend their independent point of view are treated with irritation.
A conformist may be flexible in response to perceived or real-life group pressure. It happens that a person internally does not agree with the position of the team, but outwardly expresses his positive attitude towards the proposed solutions. This conformism is called external. The desire to be compliant is determined by the desire to avoid possible censure or to earn a reward. There is also sincere conformism, when a group member is confident that he joins the opinion of others according to his own convictions.
The level of manifestation of conformism depends on the specific situation and on how strongly the decision imposed by the group affects the interests of the person. Most often, a person is prone to conformism when he does not feel competent enough in any matter and is not sure of his beliefs. The easier the situation, the less it is natural for a person to accept someone else's point of view.