1Noelia Hubert
Conformity and its Drawbacks
Conformity is a kind behaviour that obeys the accepted rules of society or a close group.
Throughout life, human beings are social creatures and as such, they tend to seek for the
acceptance of their close ones. This behaviour may be considered as something good as it help
us to go along with people. However, conformity has some drawbacks because it leads us to
unnecessary risks and it can restrict our freedom of choice.
Conformity can lead us to unnecessary risks. People yearn for the recognition, acceptance
and approval of others and in order to achieve this goals sometimes they sacrifice their own
believes to share their group views on sex, law, etc. This behaviour can be dangerous as some
attitudes may not be the right ones. For instance, a youngster who takes part of a fraternity at
university might not like the idea of drinking beverages every weekend, however he would not
say anything about it as his counterparts may be intolerant to dissenting ideas and may launch a
teasing campaign against him.
Conformity can restrict our freedom of choice. Since a child grows up, he conforms to
the rules of etiquette, of his faith community, and of his family. The fact of belonging to these
groups may determine his behaviour and choices as the child won't be able to choose what he is
fond of. Instead, the boy or girl will have to abstain from doing what his close group does not
like. For instance, a Muslim boy is committed to values and rules related to marriage. If he
decides to take the risk of getting married to somebody who does not belong to his religion, his
parents will probably feel upset and disappointed. Moreover, parents -sometimes- oppose to their
children choice of university career on the grounds of their believes. They may think that
becoming a nurse is not a good choice and as a consequence the son will study to...