Conformity refers to how and why an individual may change their attitudes, thoughts, and behaviour in response to pressure from a larger group. Psychologists have identified different types of conformity, including compliance and internalisation.

Each type of conformity can be understood by considering three key questions:

1. Does the person change their public behaviour (e.g. how they act)?

2. Does the person change their private beliefs (e.g. their attitude)?

3. Is the change short-term or long-term?

Compliance is the lowest level of conformity. In this type, a person changes their public behaviour in the short term but does not change their private beliefs. Compliance is often driven by normative social influence (NSI). For example, during a meeting, Mr Sparks might laugh at a joke made by the Principal because everyone else is laughing, even though he privately does not find the joke funny.

Internalisation is the highest level of conformity. Here, a person changes both their public behaviour and private beliefs, resulting in a long-term change. Internalisation is typically linked to informational social influence (ISI). For example, if someone changes their voting preference from Labour to the Liberal Democrats after being influenced by others, and continues voting for the Liberal Democrats for many years, it suggests that they have ‘internalised’ this belief as part of their own values, even when the influencing group is no longer present.

Below is a summary table outlining the types of conformity and their links to NSI or ISI.