Don’t Let Social Norms Hold You Back
Bahhh Bahh — Your #1 Newsletter for Accelerated Learning
“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” -John F. Kennedy
Social Norms, Moral Judgments, and Irrational Parenting
From Chinese foot binding to today’s extreme constraints on children’s freedom.
We are all conformists, whether we admit it or not. It’s part of our human nature. We couldn’t form and live in human societies if we weren’t conformists. To a considerable degree, conformity is a good thing.
Social psychologists commonly describe two primary reasons for conformity. One reason has to do with information and pragmatics. If other people cross Bridge A and avoid Bridge B, they may know something about the bridges that we don’t know. To be safe, we had better stick with Bridge A too. A great advantage of living in society is we don’t have to learn everything by trial and error. We don’t have to try crossing Bridge B and have it collapse on us in order to learn to avoid it. We just look and see that other people avoid B and that those on A are surviving, so we take A too. This kind of social influence is referred to by social psychologists as informational influence.
The other general reason for conformity is to promote group cohesion and be accepted by others in the group. We depend for our survival and wellbeing on membership in social groups, whether they be bands, tribes, nations, friendship groups, or work groups. Social groups can exist only if some degree of behavioral coordination exists among the group members. Conformity allows a group to act as a coordinated unit rather than a set of separate individuals. We tend to adopt the ideas, myths, and habits of our group because doing so generates a sense of closeness to others, promotes our acceptance by them, and enables the group to function as a unit. We all cross Bridge A because we are the Bridge A people, and proud of it! If you cross Bridge B you may look like you don’t want to be one of us, or you may look strange and therefore possibly dangerous to us. Social influence that works through each person’s desire to be part of a group or be approved of by the group is called normative influence.
-Peter Gray
Trending Today…
Why you should ask dumb questions — “The stigma against dumb questions stifles creativity. When we don’t ask dumb questions, when we stick with what’s known, we retain the status quo. Look at any monstrous company or bloated bureaucracy collapsing under its own weight and you’ll find a historical lack of someone raising their hand and asking a dumb question.”
Friday Finds…
Why the Best Leaders Have Conviction — Humans crave safety and certainty. Uncertainty breeds fear, and it the job of an effective leader to make sure their team feels secure and confident. These are the nine traits that leaders with great conviction have.
Life Is Math — Not Magic — Success is not magical or random. Like in math, there are patterns in life. Here’s how you can recognize and use these patterns to find success.
How Being Vulnerable Opens Up Bold New Frontiers of Confidence and Joy —
I also encourage you to assert yourself confidently, without worry. What you speak over your life will become your reality… Don’t be swayed easily. Strive to see your plans through to completion. Pursue your passions and never give in for lack of effort and attitude. The more that we conform, the less we resemble who we truly are. We are meant to live boldly. In all these things we are more than conquerors! We are leaders who should never surrender to a life that isn’t our own.
The Mission Holiday Gift Guide is coming!
Our team at The Mission is compiling the Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide and we need your help. What is the best gift you have received in the last year? Email info@themission.co with your ideas and we will feature the best “fan picks” in the guide.
Sponsors! Want to have your product featured in the gift guide? Email ian@themission.co to learn more about the guide.
Happy Friday!
As always, we want to provide you with the most valuable content possible. So hit us up on social media with your comments or suggestions, and we’ll get back to you. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Medium. We’d love to connect!
If you’re enjoying this newsletter, please click here to clap it up on Medium!
Interested in what else we’ve found around the web? Check out our M-F Newsletter to get more awesome content from us and others delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up here.
