Conformity Kills Individuality
Written by Allysa Moore.
Conformity defined is to behave in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. Conformity can potentially be beneficial but also very harmful. Within a society, conformity is crucial in order for safe lives to be lived that are also in alignment with laws and accepted behaviors, or things everyone does for the greater good. However too much conforming has the ability to lead to a loss of identity and mindless actions in order to maintain acceptance within a certain group. On the contrary, not conforming creates the possibility of anarchy or developmental issues within humans. In order to have a functioning society, it must practice a balance of both. While conformity has its perks, in the end it can diminish one’s individuality and uniqueness.
Psychologists have named three different types of conformity; compliance, identification, and internalization. Compliance is the first level of conformity. At this level, people change how they act publicly but not privately… this is the most practiced form of conformity. An example of this would be saying you like a certain store when around a group of people who shop at that store, but in reality you don’t care to shop there. The next level of conformity is identification. Here, a person changes how they act and what they believe but only when around a certain group of people. An excellent example would be being vegetarian, but eating animal products when alone. And lastly, the most intense level of conformity, internalization. This includes changing public and private beliefs. A very common example of this is conversion of religions.
As a society, conforming is for the most part very beneficial. In regards to laws or ethics, conforming is much better than deviation or acting in reference to one’s wants or desires. For example, most people don’t know every law or it’s full meaning. However laws are still obeyed for the most part, due to the fact that humans know right from wrong. If people did not play into conformity, society would be full of chaos from everyone trying to do their own thing.
“Most people don’t understand how germs can cause disease — but they know they should wash their hands after using the bathroom. ‘Our whole world is made up of things that we do that are good for us, but we don’t know why,’” said Michael Muthukrishna, a Vanier and Liu Scholar and recent PhD recipient from UBC’s department of psychology. “And we don’t need to know why. We just need to know that most people do those things.” Muthukrishna said.
In addition, a recent study conducted by the UBC Department of Psychology said that people of higher intelligence have a tendency to not follow the crowd as they believe they know what’s right. In correlation people of lower intelligence tend to do what everyone else is doing. This is for the best as the sharper people are leading those who are easily influenced.
While there are instances in which conformity is beneficial, there are also cases in which conformity is harmful. The most obvious being that it kills individuality. If everyone was a conformist and never did anything to differentiate themselves from others, everyone would be the same with no contrast whatsoever. Some of the less obvious are that conformity can procreate people that wouldn’t change the world, people who don’t think for themselves, and an unjust society. In the event that no one were to question rules or think outside of set standards, the world would not evolve and therefore nothing would be revolutionized. “Non conformists are the people that change society for the better,” Health Research Funding said. An unjust society could be generated through a society full of conformists. No one would question the government, hence anything could be done and no one would blink an eye in order to fit in with everyone else. Reasons like these support the need for non-conformists, in order to keep society flowing.
Finding oneself is very important during adolescence, especially teenage years. These years are where kids start to find themselves, meaning what they enjoy and who they want to be and fitting in with everyone else will not help with individuality.
“Currently, teenagers conform to anything and everything in order to avoid standing out in the fear of being judged or exiled by their peers, even if they do not agree to the beliefs of the clique they have chosen to fit into,” Jill Bhatia of Copeland Middle School said.
Conformity destroys teens uniqueness and confidence as they have been conditioned into believing looking and acting a certain way is the only acceptable way to carry themselves.
So what is making teens believe there is only one acceptable way to look and behave? It comes from many different sources like friends and social media but another not so obvious source is family. People on social platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are where teens see firsthand what is considered “attractive” which for girls is typically skinny, tan, with clear skin and for boys; muscular, tall, and athletic. While there is nothing wrong with looks like these, there’s also nothing wrong with being yourself. Whether your passion comes from sports, school, religion, family, or anything else, it is important it’s embraced to set oneself apart from everyone else.
Overall it may be said while the term “conformity” can usually have some negative connotations, whether it be compliance, identification, or internalization. Society needs conformity in order to function civilly. Without this form of conformity, society would not be able to function properly in a safe manner. However, too much conformity can lead to a loss of originality and therefore no progress worldly. The problem is being able to find an equal amount of both. Accepting who you are and finding oneself are both important parts in teens’ lives, and conformity can not be permitted to get in the way. Whether being told how to look comes from social media, friends, parents, or T.V., every teen is entitled to be different.
