Taylor MAS and group conformity pressure.

Ss with low anxiety "tend to question their own judgment more but still show 'normal conformity,' under strong pressure conditions… [those with high level of anxiety] become somewhat hostile and rigid and less amenable to conformity influence. Some general support is thus given to the findings… that increase in emotional tension reduces the effectiveness of persuasive communications." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Yielding, authoritarianism, and authoritarian ideology regarding groups.

This investigation was prompted by Asch's (1952) discussion of the personal and social significance of yielding to group pressure. For the person, yielding requires the inhibition of overt and perhaps implicit responses to objective situational requirements. For the group, malignant processes may arise and develop, unchecked by those members in whom goals of personal security predominate over group goals. In the present study, the view was taken that both meanings of yielding are assigned positive value in two separate ideologies concerning the group-individual relation. One of these is termed "conformity" and the other is "rugged individualism." In the study, group pressure was simulated by announcing bogus group judgments to small groups of Ss whose apparent task was to match one of three lines of variable length with a standard line. Questionnaires were used to measure variables, which were: the ideology of conformity (IC), the ideology of rugged individualism (RI), ethnocentrism (E), and authoritarianism (F). The questionnaires were administered to 91 college students, both day school and evening. It was found that the correlation with the F scale was .48 (P     

Conformity and character.

In 1953 "… one hundred men visited the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research… to participate in an intensive three-day assessment of those qualities related to superior functioning in their profession." Conformity is discussed with regard to individual differences, relations to personality variables, conformity behavior in different populations, psychological processes involved in expressions of conformity to group pressure, and the reinforcement of conformity behavior. The author suggests that "… we have what appears to be a powerful new research technique, enabling the study of conformity behavior within a setting which effectively stimulates genuine group interaction, yet preserves the essential requirements of objective measurement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalization of experimentally reinforced conformity.

The study investigated whether experimentally reinforced conformity, using objective stimuli, would generalize to subjective stimuli. Using the Crutchfield apparatus, E informed Ss that the false group consensus was correct on objective stimuli. Enhanced conformity to group pressure was exhibited on objective stimuli receiving such authoritative confirmation of the group. Results further showed that this experimentally reinforced conformity generalized to other objective and subjective material on which feedback was not given. An attempt to produce greater generalization by creating, through instructions, high psychological similarity among stimuli proved inconclusive. Females showed greater generalization of conformity than males. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three situational determinants of conformity to social norms.

"The present study has been concerned with the determinants of conformity to group norms. The variables under investigation were: (a) the extent of initial disagreement between the individual's and the group's opinion (known as 'distance'); (b) the number of occasions the individual was exposed to the group norm (known as 'exposures'); and (c) the size of the group… . In general, greater distance makes for greater conformity… . Conformity occurs within the first few exposures to the group norm." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal affect and conformity behavior in schizophrenics.

A group of 28 schizophrenics Ss was equated with a group of 28 normal Ss on the factors of age and education. Each S was then tested as to the number of affectual relationships he produced on 4 Thematic Apperception Test cards. A measure of his conformity to social influence was obtained by a measure of his behavior in a group situation in which he was asked to compare the length of lines in an optical illusion study. An analysis of the data by means of multiple X2 design showed a significant interaction among all 3 factors: mental health, conformity, and affect. The factors of mental health and conformity interacted to a greater extent than did any other 2 factors taken together. Conformity and affect were more closely related to the factor of mental health than they were to each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity--Good and Bad.

In reading Marie Jahoda's "Psychological Issues in Civil Liberties," (American Psychologist, 11, 1956, pp. 234-240) I was struck with the ambiguous use of the term "conformity" and the alarm which borders on the hysterical. Lest the unwary reader swallow this seeming hysteria uncritically, some clarification of the semantical differences in the term is in order. There is no argument here with the praiseworthy experimental design and methodology which Jahoda presents--it is with her ambiguous concept of "conformity." "Conformity" as used by Jahoda connotes a collective adherence by an irrational society to drab and erroneous beliefs or doctrines. Thus, the terms "arid conformity" and "stultifying conformity." There is the other concept of conformity which describes the value preferences of highly civilized societies. There is the other concept of conformity which describes the value preferences of highly civilized societies. The first connotation would apply to Hitler's Germany--the authoritarian and ethnocentric society that savagely eliminated those who disagreed. The second or favorable connotation applies to those values, laws, and institutions which have been formulated and refined with blood and tears down through the centuries and are now "conformed" to and "adhered" to by Englishmen and Americans with an intuitive grasp of their worth. In this sense no society is possible without conformity. It is our thesis that conformity (in the second sense) is necessary; and that sanctions of some sort are indispensable in order that any conformity be achieved in an orderly society. The sanctions or coercions take different forms: education, social pressures, and laws. The alarm with which liberals view these sanctions becomes clear when the concept of relativity is invoked. They formulate an inflexible doctrine of "freedom" which prohibits sanctions of any kind. Thus, through their tinted glasses of "license," every move is labeled "thought control," "book burning," or stultifying "conformity." Liberals should examine themselves for "self-consistency." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental study of three response modes in social influence situations.

A test is provided of Willis' conceptual framework, which specifies 3 response modes in a social influence situation. These are referred to as conformity, independence, and anticonformity. An individual can exhibit, over the course of several trials, any combination of independence or net conformity, i.e., conformity minus anticonformity. The object of this experimental demonstration was to manipulate simultaneously a number of independent variables so as to elicit 1 of the 3 basic modes of reacting from each of the 3 experimental groups. Conditions for 1 group were designed to maximize conformity, those of the 2nd to maximize independence, and those of the 3rd to maximize anticonformity. The prediction that these reactions can be brought under experimental control and can be substantially and differentially produced in the laboratory was confirmed. Differences among experimental groups were sizable as measured either by overall differences in independence and net conformity or by movement scores. In the case of the condition designed to maximize independence behavior, the theoretical limit was closely approached. For the conformity and anticonformity groups, the respective limits were less closely approached, but magnitudes of movement towards these limits were larger than in the case of the independence group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Involvement and communication discrepancy as determinants of opinion conformity.

"This research studied the relationship between conformity and (a) the extent of the discrepancy between the opinions of a communicator and a recipient and (b) the degree of involvement of the recipient. These variables are central to a dissonance theory analysis of the social influence process, as well as to many previous investigations of attitude change. It can be derived from the theory that opinion change increases with increases in both involvement and discrepancy between communicator and recipient." "… opinion conformity [did increase]… as a function of involvement and discrepancy. This theory with its consideration of the tension-producing effects of these variables, provides a sound framework for the understanding of some of the dynamics of social influence." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity and problem solving.

Tests of problem solving, conformity, and intelligence were given to 77 women and 64 men introductory psychology students to investigate the possibility that conformity, a nonintellectual variable, contributes to the variability in achievement in problem solving. The results show a negative correlation between tendency to conform and achievement in problem solving when the influence of intelligence is statistically removed. 17 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of feedback from the experimenter on conformity behavior.

The first experiment dealt with the importance of continuous feedback from the experimenter as a factor in conformity behavior as contrasted with discontinued feedback. Discontinued feedback was shown to be less effective but only when the feedback reinforced independence. The second experiment tested the generality of the previous finding that feedback in line with consensus has little or no effect whereas feedback in favor of objective reality drastically reduces the level of conformity behavior. It was found that reinforcement of conformity had a strong effect and that the effect of reinforcing independence was still significant but reduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coercive power and forces affecting conformity.

"In a laboratory experiment… Ss worked on a card sorting task under a supervisor who created various conditions of coercive power… . It was hypothesized that the supervisor's inductions would set up punishment forces and opposing resisting forces both of which would determine S's conformity… . It is concluded that punishment forces and resistance forces are independent determinants of conformity to coercive power." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity and achievement-related characteristics of depressed patients.

Conformity and achievement-related characteristics of 10 hospitalized depressed patients and 11 matched acute schizophrenics were studied in an Asch-type conformity situation, and by the use of self-report inventories. It was found that in the conformity situation, depressed Ss showed a greater tendency to conform to social pressure than did the controls. When conformity and achievement were assessed by the use of self-reports, the results were either nonsignificant or opposite to those found in the conformity situation. The results were compared with recent theory and research dealing with cyclical affective disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality correlates of social conformity.

A group of 89 female social welfare case workers were administered the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey and a social conformity scale developed by the author. The latter comprised 37 items utilizing the direction of perception technique of attitude measurement. For the selected sample, the relationship between the two scales appeared to be limited to a correlation of -.47 between the social conformity scale and the Objectivity scale of the GZ. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competence and conformity in the acceptance of influence.

"A study was conducted to test the relationship between competence on a group task and conformity or nonconformity to procedural norms in determining a person's ability to influence other group members… . Influence was measured by the number of trials… in which the confederate's recommended solution was accepted as the group's choice… . a significant increase in his influence occurred as the trials progressed… . Past conformity… was also found to be positively and significantly related to the acceptance of his influence… . there was a statistically significant interaction between past and current nonconformity." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GE65H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

External validation of measure of conformity behavior.

A group measure of conformity behavior is described in which subjects are requested to choose one of two names which most aptly describes an ambiguous design, then are informed that on five "critical" designs they have chosen names with which the rest of the group disagrees. Several days later, the subjects are retested and the names chosen are compared with the result of the first test. "The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between conformity as measured by changes in judgment on an ambiguous design task and behavior in a nonlaboratory situation." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

企业重组后如何实施文化整合

企业文化具有异质性和历史延续性，不同的企业进行重组后，伴随着不同企业文化的相遇和交汇，必须会存在文化冲突和文化融合这样两种不同文化现象，不同企业的文化差异以及由这些文化差异所导致的管理理念与价值观念的冲突也必须会走向公开化，渗透到企业管理的各个方面，并突出地表现在组织，领导，决策，经营，用人等方面，企业重组的难点就在于跨企业文化条件下如何协调双方面的文化冲突，因此，实施文化整合，消除文化冲突是企业重组后的首要任务。