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HOWARD E. ALDRICH
PETER V. MARSDENCOMPLIANCE AND
CONFORMITY
Conformity is a change in behavior or belief toward
a group standard as a result of the group’s influ-
ence on an individual. As this definition indicates,
conformity is a type of social influence through
which group members come to share similar be-
liefs and standards of behavior. It includes the
processes by which group members converge on a
given standard of belief or behavior as well as the
pressures they exert on one another to uphold
such standards. Compliance is behavioral conformi-
ty in order to achieve rewards or avoid punish-
ments (Kelman 1958). Since one can behaviorally
adhere to a group standard without personally
believing in it, the term is often used to indicate
conformity that is merely public rather than pri-
vate as well. Compliance can also refer to behavior-
al conformity to the request or demand of anoth-
er, especially an authority.
In an individualistic society such as the United
States, conformity has a negative connotation
(Markus and Kitiyama 1994). Yet conformity is a
fundamental social process without which people
would be unable to organize into groups and take
effective action as a collectivity. For people to
coordinate their behavior so that they can organ-
ize and work together as a group, they must devel-
op and adhere to standards of behavior that make
each other’s actions mutually predictable. Simply
driving down a street would be nearly impossible if
most people did not conform to group norms that
organize driving.
Conformity is also the process that establishes
boundaries between groups. Through the con-
formity process, the members of one group be-
come similar to one another and different from
those of another group. This, in turn, creates a
shared social identity for people as the members of
a distinctive group. Given the pressure of ever-
changing circumstances, social groups such as fami-
lies, peer groups, business firms, and nations, only
maintain their distinctive cultural beliefs and mod-
erately stable social structures through the con-
stant operation of conformity processes.Perhaps because it is essential for social or-
ganization, conformity appears to be a universal
human phenomenon. The level of conformity var-
ies by culture, however. Collectivist cultures (e.g.,
Japan) that emphasize the interdependence of
individuals show higher levels of conformity than
individualistic cultures (e.g., the United States)
that focus on the independence of individuals
(Bond and Smith 1996).
Although essential, conformity always entails
a conflict between a group standard and an alter-
native belief or behavior (Asch 1951; Moscovici
1985). For their physical and psychological surviv-
al, people need and want to belong to social groups.
Yet to do so, they must curb the diversity and
independence of their beliefs and behavior. With-
out even being aware of it, people usually willingly
adopt the group position. Occasionally, however,
individuals believe an alternative to be superior to
the group standard and suffer painful conflict
when pressured to conform.Sometimes a nonconforming, deviate alterna-
tive is indeed superior to the group standard in
that it offers a better response to the group circum-
stances. Innovation and change is as important to