Discuss what psychological research has told us about why people conform.

This is a long question that wants critical thinking. Discuss means that you have to talk about both sides of the argument.Introduce the concept of conformity - a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group.Talk about the two types of conformity. Normative - to fit in and informative - to be correct conformity. Present Sherif's study about the auto-inetic effect. - this supports the idea of normative conformity.Present Asch's study with the lines to present evidence about the idea of conformity. - this further supports the idea of informative conformity.Criticize the concept of conformity with Smith and Bond (1998)'s meta analysis. They looked at culture and how it affects conformity. They found that western cultures conformed less across studies because they want to be independent and individualistic. People in western cultures do not want to be seen as part of a group so they conform less.Concluded by saying that conformity is seen across research. There are two ways people conform but culture may affect how strong conformity is.