Microsoft Word Chapter 1 done doc

Justifying Conformity : The Cognitive Consequences of Going 
Along with the Group : 
Asch reported that some people who conform do so without 
any much thinking. They conclude that they are wrong and the 
others are right. For these people, conforming to others poses only 
a temporary dilemma, at most.
However, for many persons, the decision to yield to group 
pressure and do what others are doing is not so straight but it is 
more complex. Such persons feel that their own judgement is 
correct, but at the same time, they do not want to be different from 
their group; so they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their 
private beliefs i.e., they follow behaviour or opinion followed by 
group to which they belong. This process can be interpreted as 

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defence mechanism adapted by a person to overcome his anxiety 
of not following his own opinion. 
Recent findings suggest that one may involve a tendency to 
alter their perceptions of the situation so that conformity appears or 
rather to be justified for his decision to follow group’s or others’ 
decision or opinion.
Several studies suggest that the decision to conform may be 
followed by changes in perceptions of the facts that make 
justification available for conformity.
The Need for Individuality and the Need for Control: Why, 
Sometimes, We Choose Not to Go Along : 
It becomes important to understand the underlying process 
or reasons for the ability of an individual to resist even powerful 
pressures toward conformity. Research findings point to two key 
factors underlying this process. 
First, most of us have desire to maintain our uniqueness or 
individuality. Even though, we have tendency to be like others still 
not to the extent that we lose our personal identity. Most of us 
possess a desire for individuation-for being distinguished from 
others in some respects. 
Second, many individuals have desire to maintain control 
over the events in their lives. The conforming behaviour develops a 
feeling of driven away by the external factors, which threatens the 
desire to be control life events. Therefore, they choose to resist 
group pressures. Most persons want to believe that they can 
determine what happens to them, and yielding to social pressure 
sometimes runs counter to this desire.