Conformity Study
Rowenna Thorson
April 29, 2003
Hour Nine
GHS







Conformity

The Purpose of this survey is to determine the degree of comformity of people of a specific age group. We will define conformity as ‘to be similar or identical, in agreement or complient’.

Some of the examples of conformity from the 1950s are that millions of Americans moved out of large cities into suburbs. Also, the game Scrabble was played by all, and advertising, teens, adults and even children subjected to conformity.

I used several methods to get the information from my subjects; through interviews and asking questions. I achieved conclusions by examining the data my subjects provided me with.
Survey Questions

1. What is your favourite television program?

2. What radio station do you listen to most often?

3. What is your favourite non-alcoholic beverage?

4. What movie did you go to see most recently?

5. What kind of car would you most want to own?

6. Who is your favourite male movie star?

7. What subject does your age group talk about most often?

8. What is your most valued material possession (an object)?

9. What do you value most that is not an object?

10. What do you value most that is on your person right now?

11. Who is your favourite TV actress?

12. What is your favourite all-time movie?

13. What book did you read last (not for an assignment)?

14. What is your favourite fast-food eating place?

15. What famous living person do you admire most?
Survey Results


1. Do the results of your survey suggest that today’s Americans generally conform? Explain your answer.

The results of my survey suggest that generally, American students ages 14-18 that I interviewed do not tend to conform. Many of the questions ended up with not a single person creating the same answer as another, and most had one, with two as a maximum. Conformity was not seen on most questions. On the question, What is your favourite car, not a single person had the same answer as another. No one mentioned the same thing twice on Most Prized Posession either. Thus, there tended to be not a lot of conformity.

2. What categories seem to show the highest conformity? Why?

The highest levels of conformity were on favourite Fast Food places, where there were five people whose favourite was McDonalds, and two people whose favourite was Burger King. Second was on what nonmaterial thing they valued. The results showed that four people said friends/family, and two people mentioned intelligence. Most of the others had very low to zero conformity rates.

3. Comment on the other results of your survey.

For the questions Favourite Female Actress, Favourite all-time movie, and favourite material posession, there were no same answers. For Radio Station, TV show, non-alcoholic beverage, and favourite movie there was only two peole that had the same answer. So, the level of conformity was very low.

4. What agencies or instututions in our society tend to force conformity? How?

Both prisons and the Military tend to force conformity by having the same things to wear, looking the same, acting the same, being very disciplined and being confined, not allowed to be creative. Advertising also advertises false conformity, just for the sake of selling a product. I think that people who can avoid conformity are much better, individualistic and creative people.

5. In your opinion, is it possible to avoid being a conformist in today’s American society?

I believe it is possible to avoid conformity; this showed through in my own research. I asked a very diverse group of people, and they provided me with very diverse answers, if truthful. Conformity is easy to succumb to, but it can be avoided. One does not have to do what others do just because others are doing it. One should always be looking to do new things, try out new approaches to situations, etc. If you’re always just doing what the other people are doing, then conformity tends to occur.

6. What arguments can you advance to defend conformity?

Conformity is not always a bad thing. The people in the army need to have conformity to be sure that in a crisis, everything would go smoothly. And in prisons, you have to have conformity so there’s no chance that someone will escape. Conformity is also helpful in families and friends. One may conform to their family, and benefit from the love and protection there. Conformity can be good in some situations.