Some current issues in the psychology of conformity and nonconformity.

Abstract : The report covers some current issues central to the conception and study of conformity as an influence process. It urges a rectification of the imbalance created by an emphasis on conformity at the expense of nonconformity. Both kinds of responses are considered to have various properties which have value for the individual. Moreover, a further distinction is presented between movement conformity and congruence conformity in terms of responses to present versus past influence pressures. Though conformity and nonconformity have traditionally been treated as the opposite ends of a single dimension, a two-dimensional model is viewed as more appropriate to the actual response alternatives available to the individual when faced with an assertion of influence. (Author)