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November 15, 2004
Identification and Conformity
“Conformity is the need to avoid standing out from the crowd. It
is partly based on the fear of being different; the need to go along with the
ideas or choices of others for fear of the consequences that might happen
otherwise.
“Identification is a very different flip side to this. It is
very similar to, but at the same time very different from conformity. Most
humans enjoy feeling part of something greater than themselves; their family,
their school, their nation, their church, their football team etc. This is more
than just trying to avoid being different. It is a positive desire to be like
something; to be part of it; to find identification with it. It is a desire for
the secure feeling of knowing we are not isolated – that we are not alone.
There is a warm feeling in sharing common values, common symbols, common ideas
with others.”
“People conform most when they are insecure. Adolescence is
a time of great insecurity and uncertainty. It is no surprise, then, that
teenagers are highly conformist. While rebelling against the outmoded values of
their parents, they are at the same time the ultimate slaves to conformity –
within their own peer group.”
---Max Sutherland
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rick Klinkerfuss
DATE: 11/18/2004 12:20:00 AM
I aggree with this, because of the fact that I have always been told that beeing different is not a good thing. I also agree with this, because of how I have noticed that people stare at other people whom are not conformative. I have also noticed how people make fun of people whom do not conform.
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Posted by notepad at November 15, 2004 05:32 PM