Imagine a society where right was wrong, left was right, and day was night. It would be totally confusing considering our current knowledge of these ideas. Let us pretend that everyone from this society knew since birth that night was bright and day was dark because of socialization; if the idea has been active for generations it's no wonder why they grew up believing it! If everyone we asked told us that it was "day" when we know that it was obviously night time; we would eventually begin believing others' accepted standards and beliefs in a process known as conformity.

In Henslin's textbook "Essentials of Sociology," a similar situation occurred. Conformity was measured in a test best known as the Asch Experiment. Dr. Solomon Asch, a Polish social-psychologist, tested peers on how they would respond to peer pressure (Henslin 134). What Asch discovered from this experiment was surprising. His findings from fifty volunteers showed that thirty three percent (one third) gave in half the time, responding with what they knew as the wrong answer due to the pressure to conform. Forty percent (two out of five) responded incorrectly but not as frequently. Twenty five percent (one out of four) stuck with their own ideas and chose the right answers regardless of peers (Henslin 135).

As we can see, the power of conformity is great enough to make decisions of wrong over right. This is evident in yet another well known experiment as touched upon in Carole Wade's textbook "Psychology." In the early 1960s, Stanley Milgram designed a study that tested individuals on situations of obedience. In the study, the participants drew slips to decide their roles. Both slips were rigged to guarantee that the participant would always be the teacher. The teacher and learner were split up into different rooms where they could not see each other. Afterwards, the teacher was given a list of word pairs by the which he was to teach the learner. The learner would then press a button to signify his response. If the response was incorrect, the teacher would deliver a shock to the learner. The voltage would increase in 15-volt increments for every incorrect response (Wade 264). The subjects thought that each incorrect response gave actual shocks to the learner. In reality, there were no shocks. After a number of voltage level increases, many participants wanted to stop and check on the learner. Some participants paused at 135 volts and began to question the purpose of the test. A few participants began to laugh nervously or display other signs of stress once they heard the screams that came from the learner. Most participants continued after being convinced that they would not be held accountable (Wade 265).

So how do these two experiments tie together? In Mitch Albom's article "We Talk About Our Culture," the protagonist assists an ill elderly man, Morrie, whom is close to dying. At one point the Morrie tells the young protagonist how conformity can be handled. Morrie said, "Take my condition. The things I am supposed to be embarrassed about now---not being able to walk, not being able to wipe my ass, waking up some mornings wanting to cry---there is nothing innately embarrassing or shaming about them. It's the same for women not being thin enough, or not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it. Every society has its own problems. They way to do it, I think isn't to run away. You have to work at creating your own culture." (Album 87)

Albom's story intrigued me so much that I built a survey based on the topic of conformity. It has always fascinated me how these many influences can change our decisions and beliefs. So I prepared enough copies so my family and friends could be able to participate, as well as fellow Porterville College students. For most of my family I had to vocally translate the survey into Spanish, and for some people mostly strangers I chose to ask, I had to explain a bit more because they were unsure of the whole process.

As I calculated and brought together the results from the surveys I realized a few patterns. Most of the younger (18-24) survey participants disagreed on question seven. Contrary to that, most of the older tended to agree. Another interesting pattern that I found was that there were a lot of Christians who were influenced by their families. Interestingly, individuals affiliated in other religions tended to be influenced by themselves more. Overall, I think it's very interesting to know how one's religion can affect our influences!

To sum it all up, conformity is both a good thing and bad thing. It allows us to feel like a part of a group, while at the same time it has the potential to influence us drastically. Conformity can be used to change our ideals and beliefs as explained in the first paragraph of this essay. A little bit of conformity in a society is not bad, but beware of too much.

This survey is completely confidential and voluntary.

1. What is your gender?
Male 11
Female 19

2. What is your age?
18-24 12
25-31 3
32-38 5
39-45 4
46-52 2
Over 52 4

3. What is your ethnicity?
White 10
Latino 7
African American 4
Asian American 2
Native American 1
Other 6

4. What is your religious affiliation?
Christian 13
Jewish 3
Muslim 0
Atheist 8
Something Else 5
No Preference 0
Unsure 1

5. In what category does your annual income fit in?
Below $10,000 13
$10,001-$25,000 5
$25,001-$40,000 2
$40,001-$65,000 2
$65,001-$80,000 0
Over $80,001 0
Unsure 8

6. Which of the following do you consider to be the most influential on your personal decisions?
Family 13
Friends 2
Teachers 1
Boss 0
Media 4
Yourself 6
Other 4

7. I do what is expected of me because I fear how people would react if I did not.
Strongly agree 4
Agree 6
Disagree 10
Strongly disagree 5
Unsure 5

8. I feel that obeying the rules will benefit me directly in the future.
Strongly agree 8
Agree 10
Disagree 5
Strongly disagree 3
Unsure 4

9. Friendships and relationships with my peers are important to me.
Strongly agree 16
Agree 9
Disagree 2
Strongly disagree 0
Unsure 3

10. How often do you have the opportunity to do what you truly want to do?
Always 3
Often 13
Very Rarely 7
Never 1
Unsure 6