Question

do you think that groups of people who already knew each other would demonstrate more or less conformity if placed in these experimental situations? what if the teachers were men and the learners were women? would teenagers confirm the same as adults?

Answer 1

1. In my view, people who already knew each other would be less likely to conform when placed in an experimental situation. As the relationship relationship with others has already been established, the effects of normative influence on the participants would be lesser. In other words, if participants already share a rapport with other people in the room, they would not simply go along with how others respond because they have already been accepted or rejected by them.

Conformity can increase if teachers were men and learners were women, as stereotype threat may lead women to doubt their own judgment. Dominant social beliefs of men being superior to women in certain areas may lead women to underestimate their own judgment ability and conform to views presented by men, especially when men are placed in a position of authority. Similarly, teenagers are more likely to conform when compared to adults as they are strongly driven by the need to be accepted in a group and are therefore readily influenced by them.