Conformity is a deeply ingrained and automatic instinct in humans
The deeply ingrained nature of conformity in humans is shown by the ages when they are apparent. Zillions of pages have been written about conformity and peer pressure in kids. One study nicely demonstrates the continuity of conformity between us and other species. This was the report that a chimp was more likely to conform to the behaviors of three individuals doing a behavior once each than to one individual doing the behavior three times (see Primates have been shown to copy an action if they see others doing it). The study showed the same in two-year-old humans.
The depths of human conformity are shown by the speed with which they occur—it takes less than 200 milliseconds for your brain to register that the group has picked a different answer from yours, and less than 380 milliseconds for a profile of activation that predicts changing your opinion. Our brains are biased to get along by going along in less than a second.
References
- Sapolsky, Robert. (2017). Behave Chapter 12. Hierarchy, Obedience, and Resistance (p. 521). New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Psychology / Social Psychology / Biology / Neuroscience / Neuropsychology / Evolutionary Psychology Status:☀️