Conformity and Alienation Notes
Inquiry Question: When do Alienation and Conformity promote positive social change and negative social change?
Conformity – Positive & Negative Points
- When you stopping at a red light, you are conforming to the law and to the general agreement that for the good and safety of society, a red light means stop. You stop, even though most of the time there is not a police officer on the scene to enforce the law.
- The biggest positive of conformity is acceptance. When you conform, people will be more willing to accept you because you are falling in line with what they expect of you. The negatives are that you give up your individuality and may have to compromise your principles.
- Conforming is positive in regards to setting social standards (such as eye contact, shaking hands, dressing "appropriately," respecting ones personal space etc). Thus, a person conforming to these social and cultural norms may be accepted and "fit in" in various social settings. I think we all conform to those particular things without putting much thought into it.
- When working on group projects, keeping the students in groups of four or more will promote conformity rather than individuality. The larger a group, the more likely individuals are to conform to the others.
- Adolescents often encourage friends to do or try things that they themselves are doing in order to fit into to a group. The encouragement can be positive (studying hard to get good grades) or negative (drinking beer after the football game).
- The major negative to conformity is that it can force a person to be someone who they are not. An extreme case of this would be a gay person who is forced to stay in the closet by the need to conform. A person who suppresses a really important part of their self in hopes of conforming can harm themselves psychologically.
There are some positives to conformity, but since it's an opinion others may not agree. I am fine with schools going to some sort of
Conformity – Positive & Negative Points
- When you stopping at a red light, you are conforming to the law and to the general agreement that for the good and safety of society, a red light means stop. You stop, even though most of the time there is not a police officer on the scene to enforce the law.
- The biggest positive of conformity is acceptance. When you conform, people will be more willing to accept you because you are falling in line with what they expect of you. The negatives are that you give up your individuality and may have to compromise your principles.
- Conforming is positive in regards to setting social standards (such as eye contact, shaking hands, dressing "appropriately," respecting ones personal space etc). Thus, a person conforming to these social and cultural norms may be accepted and "fit in" in various social settings. I think we all conform to those particular things without putting much thought into it.
- When working on group projects, keeping the students in groups of four or more will promote conformity rather than individuality. The larger a group, the more likely individuals are to conform to the others.
- Adolescents often encourage friends to do or try things that they themselves are doing in order to fit into to a group. The encouragement can be positive (studying hard to get good grades) or negative (drinking beer after the football game).
- The major negative to conformity is that it can force a person to be someone who they are not. An extreme case of this would be a gay person who is forced to stay in the closet by the need to conform. A person who suppresses a really important part of their self in hopes of conforming can harm themselves psychologically.
There are some positives to conformity, but since it's an opinion others may not agree. I am fine with schools going to some sort of