Normative Social Influence in Everyday Life - Essay Example

Social conformity refers to a type of social influence that leads to a change in behavior so that a person can fit into a social group. Most people conform because of the fear of being ridiculed or ostracized. Informational conformity refers to a conformity that is fuelled by the desire to be correct and know what is right. Informational conformity is fueled by the fact that we see other people as a source of information and believe that other peoples interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than our interpretation. Normative conformity refers to a conformity that is fueled by a desire of a person to be accepted and liked. Normative conformity could stem from peer pressure influence. Most teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure because they long to be accepted by their peers. Peer pressure is a good example of normative conformity that also happens to adults. Standing ovation, body image, following traditions and fashion trends are some other examples of normative conformity. The paper addresses the contribution of informational and normative conformity to body image problems among women and men.

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Men continue to perceive an ideal body image as one that is more masculine based on informational and normative conformity. Informational conformity with regard to a masculine body among men stems from the fact that most men who appear in advertisements, magazines, and other informational platforms tend to be masculine. Informational conformity with regard to a masculine body among men also stems from the fact that there is a lot of information that allude that a masculine body among men is a healthy body and makes individuals less susceptible to developing lifestyle diseases such diabetes and hypertension. Normative conformity with regard to a masculine body among men stems from the fact that most men who are masculine tend to be accepted and respected in society. Therefore, a man is likely to hit the gym to work out so that he may be accepted and respected in society. Masculine men also tend to be ladies favorites (they ate attractive to women). Most masculine men in society tend to have many female friends and many female sexual partners. Therefore, a man is likely to strive to attain the ideal masculine body image so that he may have many female sexual friends and sexual partners (Mendible, 2016).

Women continue to perceive an ideal female body as one that is slim. Women who are slim are perceived to be beautiful and attractive. Informational conformity about womens ideal body image as being slim stems from the fact that society keeps on talking about how womens slim bodies have made them be more confident, increasing their chances of being successful. Most female models in advertisements and informational products have slim bodies; this creates an impression among women that a slim body is the ideal body size. There is also a high circulation of information that affirms that slim bodies are healthy. There is also a high circulation of information that suggests women who have large or fat bodies are susceptible to diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and heart diseases. As a result, most women strive to have slim bodies based on available information that highlights benefits of a woman having a slim body (Tompkins et al., 2009). Normative conformity about women with slim bodies stems from the fact that women with slim bodies tend to be liked by society, are attractive to men and most successful women tend to be slim. As a result, most women strive to have slim bodies so that they may become attractive to men, increase their chances of being liked and increase their chances of becoming successful (Vartanian & Hopkinson, 2010).

References

Mendible, M. (2016). American shame: Stigma and the body politic. Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University Press.

Tompkins, K. B., Martz, D. M., Rocheleau, C. A., & Bazzini, D. G. (September 01, 2009). Social likeability, conformity, and body talk: Does fat talk have a normative rival in female body image conversations?. Body Image, 6, 4, 292-298.

Vartanian, L. R., & Hopkinson, M. M. (2010). Social connectedness, conformity, and internalization of societal standards of attractiveness. Body Image, 7, 1, 86-89.