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conformity
Your opinion shifts to match the perceived group consensus.
A 1951 study showed that participants would give a clearly incorrect answer just to align with the rest of the group.
Social pressure creates a desire for cohesion that overrides the accuracy of our own senses. Even when the group is clearly wrong, individuals often doubt their own perception to avoid being the outlier. We are biologically predisposed to prioritize belonging over objective truth.
You will trade your accuracy for the safety of being one of the group.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Asch, 1951, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
- What the check found
- The 1951 date and the study's conclusions are accurate, though the cited journal is often confused with Asch's 1956 publication.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.