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Why is it important to understand conformity and that people conform?

I'm doing a presentation on a journal article which was an experiment about conformity, titled "Conformity to the Opinions of Other People Lasts No More Than 3 Days" and I've got to discuss the applications and implications of the study to the real world, how it can be applied in the real world (if it can) or whether it has content that can inform others in their work. Help someone!
1) how people dress-- all wear the same type of clothes -- age, race, etc.

2) all sit at the same lunch tables evry day with same people and go to school and everyone sits in same desks every day, and live same way every day and not many people try to change it up

3) in class, when they ask a discussion question and when everyone sides with one answer, no one wants to be the only one raising their hand for the other side

4) everyone tries to be like their own 'group' in school like the popular people, the 'middle people', the jocks, the smart people and nerds, the goths (we don't really have such clear cut groups at our school, but I'm sure every school has some type of group like that) -- music, clothes, lifestyle

5) one friend drinks and parties or smokes or makes bad choices and then a whole group of teenagers does it because no one wants to be the one that is a goody two shoes and doesn't join in

6) middle class adults -- they all want to have a nice house and a nice car and a wife/husband and give the appearance of being successful and have a family and 2.5 kids and a dog-- and if someone does something 'strange' like not being married or having kids that get into trouble or anything like that everyone 'talks' about them

7) at a pep rally or any other large crowd -- 1 person stands, everyone stands, 1 person claps everyone claps, 1 person starts chanting, everyone starts chanting

8) this is sort of like the middle class adults thing again.. but the choices that young people make with their life, when they go to college.. everyone does the same college thing, and then people who are similar major in similar subjects... and then like all the smart parents who want their kids to be really smart and 'successful' too, dominate and try to make their kid be a doctor or a businessperson or engineer or s/t like that and their all sort of in one category, and then if they want to do s/t different, the ones who give in to their parents are sort of conforming (sorry that one difficult to understand)

9) Hollywood movies and stars -- and how everyone tries to be like them and wear the same styles and lifestyle

10) how the popular group in school will have the same backpacks and same bleached hair and same purse and shoes and type of makeup and will all write the same and talk about the same things and watch the same TV shows and hang out at the same places at the weekend




Psychology i'm guessing?
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Penman12
Original post by JessicaLucy09
1)
8) this is sort of like the middle class adults thing again.. but the choices that young people make with their life, when they go to college.. everyone does the same college thing, and then people who are similar major in similar subjects... and then like all the smart parents who want their kids to be really smart and 'successful' too, dominate and try to make their kid be a doctor or a businessperson or engineer or s/t like that and their all sort of in one category, and then if they want to do s/t different, the ones who give in to their parents are sort of conforming (sorry that one difficult to understand)


Do you think it's fair to say the whole education system is geared towards teaching us to conform?
Conforming to marking schemes, conforming to the idea that exams measure intelligence, rather than memory. Conforming to playing the game? Questioning, but not questioning the system?
I suppose we can ask these questions in psychology, more than other subjects?
I'd like to do a presentation on this subject, before i grab my coat and leave the building.
Good luck.

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