10 Websites

1.Science News (Science Daily)-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114124109.htm
This aritcle reveals the brain activity that explains the exsistence of conformity. The results show that social conformity is based on mechanisms that send off a "prediction error" signal that signals when one is about to make the social mistake of being too different. This relates to my concept because it shows how conformity is actually caused by activity in our brains.


2.Psychology Experiment(PsyBlog)-http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/08/elevator-psychology-and-london.php
This article describes an experiment that took place on an elevator. On an elevator with doors on both sides, one person would confidently turn to the door that no one else was facing, forcing the other passengers to decide to stay with the group or turn around with the confident man. This is an example of conformity because it shows how other people’s behaviors influence a person’s decision.


3.Psychology Experiment(Age of the Sage)- http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/social/asch_conformity.html
This experiment deals with social pressure. Subjects are asked simply questions that have to do with the lengths of lines, and only one of these subjects is a real subject; the other ones are actors who know what is going on. The experiment’s purpose is to see if the one real subject will give the same answer as the other actors, even if their answer is obviously wrong. This is an example of conformity because it shows how the subject was influenced by the answer all the actors gave so that he or she wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary.


4.History(Visions of Perfection)-http://library.thinkquest.org/27648/cgi-bin/ais.cgi?display=html&type=html&page=5
This article focuses on Hitler’s concept of the Aryan Race during World War II. To him, if everyone had blonde hair and blue eyes, then everyone would be happy and perfect. He wanted to have this Aryan race dominate the majority of Western Europe.This is conformity because it shows how Hitler wanted everyone to look exactly the same, and how anyone different was not accepted.


5.Sociology Guide-http://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Conformity.php
This article is all about the social aspect of conformity. It states the sociologists have been trying to find the answer to why social activity always ends in order and not chaos. To explain this, they study social conformity. This is an example of conformity because it shows how conforming to a mass group in society can actually cause order and stability.


6.Book Review of Hello, I’m Special by Hal Niedzviecki (City Lights) http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100021260
This review is of a book called Hello, I’m Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity by Hal Niedzviecki. In the book, Hal calls out the thousands of people who try to stick out so that they can finally fet their fifteen minutes of fame. He points out that it’s not indviduality if one purposely tried to dress and act the opposite way that the people around that one person. This shows conformity because it shows how other people’s appearance and behavior influences other people to stick out more. Also, it shows how other people are influenced by these people who are displaying individuality to do the same.


7.History (The Flow of History)-http://www.flowofhistory.com/readings-flowcharts/the-world-since-1945/the-post-war-world-1945-60/fc142
This article explains the different kinds of pressures to conform the people living in the 1950’s experienced. It talks about how millions of men were pressured to join many of the large cooperations that were a huge part of the economy of America. People were also pressured to get married, start a family, and move into the suburbs after the war. Several other events are brought up throughout the article. This shows conformity because it explains how millions of people were pressured to join mass groups in work and in their personal lives.


8.Psychology Experimenthttp://www.spring.org.uk/2007/02/stanley-milgram-obedience-to-authority.php
This psychology experiment mainly focuses on obedience to authority. Normal people were asked to give a subject (who was really an actor) different levels of electric shock. The point of the experiment was to see how long these people would stay and obediently issue the electric shock, even though the person didn’t know that no electric shock was actually being given. This shows conformity because the person giving the shock would just listen to the man in the lab coat, even if he or she thought it was wrong.


9.Editorial by Carol Noble (Associated Content)-http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/468398/is_conformity_within_society_a_good.html
This editorial addresses whether or not conformity in society is a good thing. The author talks about how people conform as a group or even as a nation to create order and stability. She says that people have lost the idea of indivuality over the years because of this. This is an example of conformity because it shows how people just go with what other people are thinking or doing just so there won’t be any chaos, and how they lose their individuality because of it.


10.George Tooker Biography-http://www.leninimports.com/george_tooker.html
This is a biography of the American artist George Tooker. In this biography, it states the George once said that he was more of an observer of society, not an interpreter. In several of his paintings, all of the people in them look exactly the same. This shows conformity because it states the Tooker thinks he observes society in a way where nobody is their own individual.