Are You a Conformist?
Before you answer, try to look at your behaviors from an objective perspective. Ask yourself questions like: when I do the same things as everyone else, do I have my own reasons for it or do I just do as others do? Do you feel it’s easier to “get into the spirit” of things when there are others in the spirit or do you just do what you feel like doing? Are you with the crowd or are you a loner?
This is an important question to ask yourself, not because one is better than the other, but just so that you have a good idea of who you are. Solomon Asch conducted several experiments to determine how likely it is that a person would conform when they can clearly see that the majority is wrong. His study had shown that virtually everyone would give an obviously incorrect answer just because everyone else was giving the incorrect answer. The study had also shown that just one person going against the majority resulted in the person giving the correct answer even when the dissenter gave a different incorrect answer.
What does this mean? Well it could mean very little for you, but it means a lot to me. I want to be right all the time, and if I can’t see when I’m wrong because everyone else is also wrong, it worries me. I need to make sure the concepts that define my reality are as close to reality as possible, this is important because I make decisions, I vote and I talk to other people. So are you the helpful dissenting voice even when you’re wrong or are you the harmful conformist who doesn’t care if you’re wrong?
February 21st, 20102:58 am at
See not wee I assume.