Social Influence Compliance and Conformity - Essay Example

In my current workplace, however, there are rules regarding the dressing code. There were several occasions where I was reminded by the Human resource manager to adhere to the set guidelines. With time, I conformed to it.There are several factors that should be put into consideration before making a decision as whether or not to conform to the group. Physical and psychological factors are crucial in this determination. Physical factors involve the overall appearance of the group in terms of its size and composition of the group.

Psychological factors involve the culture of the group in terms of the behavior of the members, its social and religious beliefs (Smith and Bond, 1996).Groupthink is the tendency of approaching and solving issues as a group rather than individuals taking up responsibility for the actions (Turner and Pratkanis, 1998).Group thinking mainly results to ineffective and inefficient decision making because essential information that would have helped in better decision making is withheld. There are numerous signs that may show the existence of group thinking mentality.

One of the signs is the manifestation of pressure on an individual who seems to disagree with the view of the majority. Members also convince themselves that despite any evidence that contradicts their stand, the original decision is the appropriate one. There is also a tendency of the group to stick to the same decisions going forward whenever they succeed (Janis, 1972).