Humans and other primates have been shown to conform to a norm even if it is detrimental
Chimps have been shown to copy the methods of alpha group members for opening a puzzle box even after discovering a better method. Even more striking, animal conformity can be detrimental. In a 2013 study Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews presented wild vervet monkeys with two bins of maize, dyed either pink or blue. One color tasted fine; the other had a bitter additive. The monkeys learned to avoid the latter and months later still ate only the “safe”-colored maize—even after the additive was omitted.
As infants were born or adults who had grown up elsewhere migrated into the group, they conformed to this food choice, learning to eat only the same color food as everyone else. In other words, forgoing half the potential food just because of the need to fit in—monkeys joining the herd, acting like sheep, going over the cliff like lemmings. One example starkly displays the same in humans: in life-threatening emergencies (e.g., a restaurant fire), people frequently attempt to escape by following the crowd in what they know to be the wrong direction.
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 Status:☀️