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Results for “Social Conformity”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Neurobiological correlates of social conformity and independence during mental rotation.

BACKGROUND: When individual judgment conflicts with a group, the individual will often conform his judgment to that of the group. Conformity might arise at an executive level of decision making, or it might arise because the social setting alters the individual's perception of the world. METHODS: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a task of mental rotation in the context of peer pressure to investigate the neural basis of individualistic and conforming behavior in the face of wrong information. RESULTS: Conformity was associated with functional changes in an occipital-parietal network, especially when the wrong information originated from other people. Independence was associated with increased amygdala and caudate activity, findings consistent with the assumptions of social norm theory about the behavioral saliency of standing alone. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide the first biological evidence for the involvement of perceptual and emotional processes during social conformity.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Diverse trajectories of cocaine use through early adulthood among rebellious and socially conforming youth.

This paper tests predictions of continuity and change in antisocial behavior over time as derived from population heterogeneity and life-course perspectives. These predictions are assessed with respect to a rarely studied form of delinquent/criminal behavior, cocaine use during the late-teenage and young adult years. We first examine the extent to which differential propensities toward antisocial behavior can be detected in a nationally representative sample of youth aged 14-16 in 1979. Based on self-reported delinquent and criminal activities in late adolescense, traditional cross-sectional latent-class analysis identifies three groups of antisocial/rebellious respondents and a group of non-offenders. We then follow these groups into early adulthood, examining age trajectories of cocaine usage between 1984 and 1998. Latent-class trajectory models identify clusters of respondents who show similar age trajectories of cocaine use over time and provide parameter estimates that predict membership in those clusters. In support of the population heterogeneity perspective, we find that antisocial/rebellious youth have higher probabilities of cocaine use throughout early adulthood than non-of-fending youth. There is, however, much variation in drug use patterns among the groups as they aged. In support of a life-course perspective, we find that social ties to schools, families, religion, and the labor market help differentiate youth who refrain from, maintain, or desist from using cocaine through early adulthood.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed2006

Childhood adversity, poly-substance use, and disordered eating in adolescent Latinas: mediated and indirect paths in a community sample.

OBJECTIVE: Although many studies have identified associations between childhood maltreatment and later substance use and disordered eating, few have examined causal or explanatory pathways, and whether victim characteristics predict the development of one versus the other of these outcomes remains uninvestigated. Furthermore, relatively little childhood maltreatment research has examined Latino samples. To address these gaps, this study examined among Latina adolescents the effects of sexual abuse, physical/emotional abuse, neglect, disconnection from family, and parental alcohol problems on poly-substance use and disordered eating, and whether five individual characteristics explain or differentiate these outcomes. METHOD: Data from a community sample of 361 Latina adolescents were analyzed using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Physical/emotional abuse predicted poly-substance use and weight concerns, and these associations were mediated by impaired current attachment. Disconnection from family predicted bulimic behaviors, and this association was mediated by dysphoria. One indirect path also emerged: Disconnection from family predicted low social conformity, and low social conformity predicted poly-substance use. Childhood sexual abuse did not uniquely predict any adverse outcome or individual characteristic examined. CONCLUSIONS: Dysphoria and impaired current attachment appear to play important roles in the development of substance use and disordered eating in Latina adolescents when physical/emotional abuse or disconnection from family predicts these outcomes. Dysphoria and low social conformity may differentiate the development of bulimic behaviors and poly-substance use, respectively, when family disconnection predicts these outcomes.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Social influences on young adults' alcohol consumption: norms, modeling, pressure, socializing, and conformity.

This study aims to assess which types of social influence are correlated with young people's (15-24 years) heavy drinking (six or more glasses) in public drinking places during the weekend. Drinking in public drinking places can be defined as a "timeout" situation. Therefore we assumed that situational factors (e.g., importance of socializing and direct pressures on drinking) would contribute more to the explained variance than variables indicating cognitive social influences (e.g., social norms and modeling). Stepwise regression analyses showed that in total 25% of the variance was explained by social norms of family and peers (15%), importance of socializing in drinking situations (7%), modeling (2%) and group size (1%). The results show that both a cognitive factor and a situational factor appear to be most strongly correlated with young people's frequency of heavy drinking in public drinking places. Within the category of situational influences those variables indicating direct social pressures were only weakly related or not significant. Studies focusing on measuring the impact of social influences may profit from including the concept of the importance of socializing and conformity as an additional factor.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The impact of competition on the importance of conforming to social norms: strategies for managed care organizations.

PURPOSE: This study focuses around the central question of whether or not the relative importance of conformity to institutional norms varies as markets become more competitive. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Using data gathered for 187 managed health care plans in the U.S., this study uses hierarchical regression analysis involving blocked variables. FINDINGS: This study finds that conformity to technical environmental requirements has a significant impact on performance at all levels of competition. However, the importance of conformity to institutional norms increases as markets becomes more competitive. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: From the perspective of MCOs, this means that managers need to carefully monitor the prevailing technical and institutional environmental forces and match their responses according to the competitiveness of their individual markets. From a societal perspective, this study suggests that improved health care delivery is likely to result from increased competition in the managed care market. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Prior research has shown that conformity to social norms is important for MCO performance. However, this is the first study to examine the whether the importance of conformity to social norms varies as a function of market competition.

Economic Competition↗
PubMed1999

Taking a first puff: cigarette smoking experiences among ethnically diverse adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: To study the social contexts and physiological consequences of an initial cigarette smoking experience among adolescents from four ethnic groups (African American, European American, Hispanic, Native American) who vary by gender and locale (e.g. urban vs rural). METHOD: A qualitative study using individual interviews and focus groups. RESULTS: Results both amplify and reinforce conclusions about peer and family influences on adolescent smoking initiation reported in quantitative studies of teen smoking. Within the broader themes of peers and family, several important sub-themes emerged. The study findings suggest that peer influence can be characterized as social conformity or social acceptance. Males were more likely than females to describe experiences involving peers exerting strong messages to conform to smoking behaviors. Roles played by family members in the initiation process were complex and included those of initiator, prompter, accomplice, and inadvertent source of cigarettes. European American and Hispanic girls provided descriptions of parents/family members as instigators of their first smoking experience. Hispanic adolescents descripted instances in which family members prompted cigarette use at a young age by encouraging the young person to light the adult's cigarette. Finally, ethnic differences in the physiological responses to initial smoking suggest the need to further explore the role of brand preference and variations in inhaling among ethnically diverse adolescents. CONCLUSION: In order to design effective cigarette smoking prevention programs for adolescents, it is important to understand the meaning of smoking behaviors for adolescents from different ethnic and social backgrounds.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Age differences in response to conformity pressure for emotional and nonemotional material.

Most theories of social influence do not consider adult development. Theoretical and empirical work in life span developmental psychology, however, suggests that age may reduce susceptibility to social influence. The present study examined age differences in social conformity for 2 classes of stimuli: judgments of geometric shapes and emotional facial expressions. As predicted, older people, compared with their younger counterparts, displayed lower rates of social conformity, and this age difference was most evident when judging emotional facial expressions.

Adult↗