Conformity in attitudes is normal and adaptive, not a personality defect

Evidence

There are three important themes that emerge in this chapter. First, that conformity is normal, not an abnormal personality weakness. Like any other belief, attitude, and behavior, we learn how to feel about others and social groups from our family, our peers, and our culture. Having attitudes and beliefs that are very different from our friends is uncomfortable, and we are likely to change them to fit our friends, or change our friends to fit our beliefs. To desire to fit in is normal, natural, and leads to highly adaptive social behavior. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1936

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader Allport tradition and Allport’s own framing of prejudice, plus behavioral-economics literature on norm-adoption. — connects to: Conformism stays adaptive under rapid change though heavy social learning does not