Most people have to spend a significant part of their life in a team. When working side-by-side with other people, a person must adapt to the requirements of the group and take into account the interests of other people. But if a member of the group is excessively malleable to other people's influence and is able to change his behavior under the pressure of the collective, he is called a conformist.
What is conformism
Few manage to completely free themselves from group influence. The team very often has an impact on its members, forcing them to reckon with group opinion and take into account common interests. There are frequent cases when a group tests a person’s spiritual values and tries to change his mindset. There are those who consciously or unconsciously resist such influence, defending their right to individuality. Others tend to show conformism and change their behavior to please the team.
The term "conformism" comes from a Latin word meaning "similar." This concept and the phenomenon designated by it can have both negative and positive meaning. The tendency to conformal behavior ensures the preservation of group traditions and helps to maintain effective interaction within the team. Due to conformism, the group gains stability and becomes resistant to the influence of destructive external factors.
