Conformity and Behavior Modification in Health Sciences
Why do humans do what we do? Do we dictate all or our own decisions, or are there factors in society that shape our behavior? According to behavioral psychologists, society pressures us to adopt certain behavior and views.
Conformity is the act of altering behaviors or beliefs to fit social norms and group pressure, and it falls into two categories: Normative and Informational. Normative influence occurs when an individual adapts to fit in because they fear rejection or ostracism. Informational influence occurs when an individual finds themself in an in ambiguous or unfamiliar situation, looks to the group for guidance in their behavior.
Harvard Psychologist Herbert Kelman identified three additional types of conformity: Compliance, Identification and Internalization. Of these three, Compliance has the weakest influence on long term habit changes. It describes change in external action while possibly retaining internal beliefs. Compliance was famously tested by Asch in 1951 (Kelman, 1958). Identification describes the attempt to fit the expectation of a social role (like Health Science majors being fit), or to emulate a role model; it has a stronger influence on habits than simple compliance. Internalization, which involves adopting behavior consistent with one’s own values system, has the strongest influence on long term habits. Here, individuals make external and internal changes.
But how do we, as health professionals, get others to people to conform to a healthful lifestyle? Much of the diet and industry attempts to force a particular beauty standard, so they may sell their products, exploiting people to make a quick dollar. But health professionals can use social pressure and the principles of conformity to promote healthy habits and lifestyles for their clients or patients. We may incorporate group exercises into training routines, identify potential external role models to appeal to the principle of identification, or, most importantly, use informational influence to act as knowledgeable resources to clients. However, we must always be careful not to coerce others too much, or push them too far where they create unrealistic or unhealthy expectations, or injure themselves.
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Sources:
Kelman, H. C. "Compliance, Identification, and Internalization Three Processes of Attitude Change." Journal of Conflict Resolution 2.1 (1958): 51-60. Web.