What if you went to a school where all the popular kids walk around with hula hoops on their arms? This may sound odd, but I bet you could think of a few odd things at your school that are considered normal that might not be in other places. Have you ever considered why? Chances are, it's because of conformity to social roles of being "popular".
- What is the theory behind conformity to social roles?
How can we explain behaviour in terms of conformity to social roles?
What are some evaluation studies of conformity to social roles?
What are the benefits of conforming to social roles?
- What are some examples of conformity to social roles?
Conformity to Social Roles Theory
Whether people accept or reject social roles and norms, the expectations that society puts on people and how they react to them play a big part in understanding human behaviour in terms of conformity to social roles. This is why it’s an important topic in social psychology. We will now explore the theory and examples of the topic and discuss research into conformity to social roles.
Social conformity is when individuals change their behaviour to match what is expected of them by a group or within a specific social setting.
Social norms are appropriate or acceptable behaviour for members of a particular group (‘normal behaviour’).
Taking off shoes before entering a household is customary in many Asian countries; this is an example of a social norm.
Social norms can be formal, such as following ethical standards for professions, or informal, such as cultural customs.
But why do we conform to social roles? Well, Deutsch and Gerard (1955) suggested two types of influences on why people choose to change their behaviour -- informational influence and normative influence.
Informational influence is when a person changes their behaviour because they want to be correct. When it comes to social roles, someone might choose their clothes based on what is socially "correct" for their gender to wear.
Normative influence is when a person changes their behaviour to avoid some kind of punishment. Have you ever felt like you had to behave a certain way to avoid being made fun of or to seem "cool"? Chances are, this was a normative influence.
Fig. 1. - Conformity to social roles often occurs in the military due to normative influences.
Behaviour in Terms of Conformity to Social Roles
The reason that people conform is that they identify with a group. Identification is a type of conformity that means that values are shared with a group that someone wants to be a part of, but the behaviour change isn’t quite as permanent as internalisation.
Social roles are the patterns of behaviour that members of a group take on, as a part in a film or play. Expectations regarding behaviour accompany these patterns. Some roles are present from birth (e.g. gender, social status), while others are acquired (e.g., profession, marital status). Typical roles could be student, teacher, mother, child, salesperson, or customer.
The role of ‘child’ would come with the expectation that this person is carefree, dependent, and obedient, whereas, for the role of ‘parent’, the expectation would be for them to be authoritative, responsible, and caring.
Conformity to Social Roles Evaluation Studies
Naturally, social psychologists have designed several studies so they can better understand conformity to social roles. There are two evaluation studies of conformity to social roles that are quite notable in the field -- Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, and the BBC Prison Study.
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