“It is impossible to live in society and be free from society” - it is difficult to argue with this saying of V. Lenin even in modern society, which extols the idea of “individual freedom”. Even the most independent person is included in certain social groups and experiences their influence.
Social ties of a modern person are numerous and diverse, but not everyone with whom a person is familiar influences him with his opinion. Such an opportunity exists only for those whom psychologists call reference persons - those who are significant for a given personality.
Reference person and group
For a preschooler, reference persons are parents, for a younger student - teachers, for a teenager - peers. The circle of reference persons of an adult is more diverse, it includes colleagues, bosses and many other people. In any social group, especially an informal one, the leader has the greatest reference for its members.
Not every acquaintance is a reference person. On the other hand, not only the one with whom the person is familiar and communicates directly becomes such. This can be a politician, religious leader, famous artist, or even a long-dead writer or philosopher.
Along with the reference persons, there are also reference groups, which are for the individual the standard of behavior, assessments and other norms. In this case, real belonging to the reference group is optional. Suffice it to recall the hero of JB Moliere's comedy "Bourgeois in the Nobility": this man is not a nobleman, which does not prevent him from being guided in everything by the lifestyle of the nobles.
Group influence
No matter how strong the influence of the reference group may be, the influence of the group to which the person really belongs - even if not of their own free will - is also inevitable.
The relationship of an individual with a group appears in three versions - conformism, negativism and nonconformism.
Conformity, or submission to a group, can be internal or external. In the first case, the person sincerely shares and approves the opinion prevailing in the group, in the second, he obeys the majority out of necessity, disagreeing with it.
Negativism is opposing yourself to a group. At the same time, you can sincerely consider yourself an independent person, and outwardly such behavior looks independent. But in reality, negativism is also dependence on the group, only with a "minus" sign. Such a person “in principle” will not read a book by a popular writer, which “everyone reads”, and if he does, he will never praise it aloud, even if he likes the book. In other words, he also turns out to be not free from the opinion of the group.
True independence is not negativism, but nonconformism: a person is critical of the group's opinion, accepting or not accepting it depending on his own attitudes.
The degree of conformity of behavior is determined by many factors. In a traditional society, where the role of authorities is great, conformity was high. In any society, adolescents are highly conformable to their peers. Individual personality traits are also important, as well as the extent to which a person identifies himself with a particular group. The higher the cohesion of the group, the more pronounced the conformity of behavior among its members.
