Conformity is a type of social influence that adapts one's behavior, attitudes or beliefs to fit those of other people or the group's standard. There are many reasons why people conform, it could be because of one's desire or need to fit in or be accepted by others and to maintain order in one's life. In this essay I will discuss the three main factors that influence compliance; culture, unanimity and influence of minorities. Culture can be defined as the distinct ways in which people living in different parts or areas of the world, or belonging to different social groups, classify the world, represent their experiences, norms, values and behavior . Culture can consist of many dimensions, which are certain patterns of how a particular culture tends to see the world. One of the many dimensions that can have an influence on conformity is individualism-collectivism. This dimension fundamentally describes how people in the culture define themselves as a collective and their relationships with others. In collectivist (culture) countries, such as Hong Kong, Fiji and Brazil, people tend to be more cohesive and the interest of the group is more important than individual needs. In individualistic (culture) countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, on the other hand, self-interest is more important than group interest and family ties are loosened. Traditionally, African, South American, and Asian countries are considered collectivist cultures, while North American and European countries are considered individualistic cultures. The economy of the world and countries could be the reason why the difference in the collectivism-individualism dimension has developed. A lot of cooperation is needed in these inconsistent cases, and their statements seemed too rigid or unrealistic. I personally believe that more research should be done to investigate the long-term effects of minority influence in addition to the other parts of Moscovici's theory. In conclusion, culture, unanimity, and minority influence are three important factors that influence compliance. These three factors look at three different aspects of compliance. Culture looks at the dimensions of collectivism and individualism of each country, while unanimity and minority influence look at various countries in one perspective (just one group of people). Furthermore, while unanimity occurs when people follow the majority due to peer pressure, minority influence occurs when the majority group follows the minority group, as the smaller group is more coherent, not cohesive , not unanimous and calm with their own opinions and points of view..
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