Compliance And Conformity In The People's Life And Activities - Essay Example

Compliance And Conformity In The People's Life And Activities Abstract: The present paper is interested in exploring the compliance phenomenon in the light of the discipline of social psychology. The main purpose of conducting research on the topic above-mentioned includes the exploration of the influence of compliance and conformity on the peoples’ individual and collective life and activities. Though complying with the requests of others could turn out to be helpful for the individuals; somehow, blind and imprudent obedience to the requests made by others without analyzing the hidden purpose behind the same could be challenging and hurtful in the wake of it. The Paper: Last days, during my preparing an assignment in the reading room of my college, I found three female students from my junior grades entering the study-room. They proceeded to me and requested me to leave the study-room for fifteen minutes only, for they intended to have some rehearsal of the fun they would perform in the going college function. Since they apparently required privacy to make performance, it could be difficult to observe rehearsal in the presence of a male from the senior grade. It was the time when almost all of the students had left the college, and I had to stay at there for consulting the material relevant to my class presentation. In addition to this, the study-room attendant was also out in order to assist one of the professors in the library-hall, adjacent to the study-room. At first, I attempted to convince the girls regarding my precious time, as leaving the study for fifteen minutes would divert my concentration and delay my work as well. On this, one of them argued that since no other room was unoccupied, so they were requesting me for leaving the study just for few minutes only. At last, I collected my notes, kept them in an orderly form at the table, reiterated the girls to complete their rehearsal within fifteen minutes at any cost, and left the room. As I was out, I decided to spend my time at the college canteen, which took almost twenty minutes to return to my college study. The library assistant was already present over there, and on my arrival, I found him at his wit’s end state of affairs. On enquiry, he pointed out towards one half-closed book shelf, from where one unpublished thesis and two books were missing. I was startled at that and narrated all the details about my meeting with the girls and complying with their insistence for leaving the room. It was equally startling for the librarian, who would have to be responsible for his negligence and carelessness to his duties and obligations. The library assistant could have also been terminated from his job as well on the ground of the stealing of material from the study-room, as we had detected that the girls had just pretended to be studying in the same college, though actually they had not been enrolled at our college altogether. The incident was sufficient to teach me the lesson for future, and I heartily admit my serious mistake, which could have challenged the future of an employee. It also helped me to develop the habit of investigating into the matters instead of believing in everything to be true and complying with the requests of others without analyzing the nature and validity of the request leading to a thoughtless compliance, and subsequent damage to me or someone other eventually. The discipline of social psychology aims to study the human behavior, as well as the motifs behind peoples’ acting and reacting at different occasions while entering into interaction with other members of society. While describing compliance, it is actually introducing the change in one’s action or behavior on the request made by someone else with some motif in mind. In other words, compliance or obedience simply defines the performing or refraining from performing such an act in which man appears to be got engaged. The same is also applied to me while surrendering to the requests made by three girls in respect of vacating the study for them without detecting the real intention they maintained behind the apparently soft requests. Compliance is also viewed to be the desire of overcoming the thoughts and/or actions of some other with the pursuit of personal financial, social, political or other gains either fair or unfair ones (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004:592). Consequently, social behavior of the individuals with the aim of bringing the others under the influence or sway forces the people to comply with their requests, pieces of advice, orders, commands and policies. Thus, the compliant consciously or unconsciously surrender to the wishes and whims of others by allowing them to implement and apply the social schemes of their choice at individual or collective scale. For instance, the statesmen begging for votes actually attempt to make the minds of the masses to elect them and allow them to form their government. Similarly, the policies introduced by the employers at organizational scale look for conveying the message to the employees that they are bound to obey and abide by the schemes and by-laws against which they get paid in the form of salary or remuneration. However, collective compliance in such situations is necessary for the growth, development and maintenance of discipline and decorum at the organizational level. In addition to this, the law enforcing agencies also stress upon strict abide-by of the prevailing statutes of law in order to protect the masses from all harms and damages. Consequently, these strategies come under the definition of positive impact of orders and commands, though the request made by the three girls while persuading me for leaving the study room simply reflects the extremely opportunist nature and harmful planning to steal the material from the college library, and hence putting the career of the library assistant in grave jeopardy subsequently. Hence, social psychology reiterates on the individuals to learn the social behavior and the nature and motifs of the people entering into interaction with others. Had I applied the principles of social psychology, I could have escaped the trick played by the girls, on me and college as well, just for the sake of their personal and unfair gains. Reference Cialdini & Goldstein, (2004) Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity Annual Review Psychology 55:591–621 Retrieved from http://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~schaller/Psyc591Readings/CialdiniGoldstein2004.pdf Accessed 11.11.2013 Read More