A Systematic Review of Research on Conformity

Abstract

This systematic review offers a comprehensive overview of conformity research conducted since 2004. Adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, the review identified 48 relevant articles from a substantial pool (literature review conducted between January and April 2023), systematically extracting valuable insights into key findings, methodologies, and future research directions. While recent studies confirm the prevalence of conformity across diverse contexts, echoing Asch’s seminal findings (1951), the review emphasizes the need for a unified understanding of influencing factors, including age, gender, and culture, with contextual variables playing a central role. Advances in digital technology have expanded research possibilities, enabling investigations across diverse digital contexts. Researchers employ innovative methods such as computer-mediated communication (Cinnirella & Green 2007) and virtual reality (Kyrlitsias et al. 2020) to explore conformity within digital spaces that closely mirror real online interactions. Given the evolving landscape of conformity research, this review advocates for further interdisciplinary and intercultural investigations, comprehensive meta-analyses, and replications to deepen our understanding of this multifaceted phenomenon.

Keywords

• conformity
• systematic review
• majority influence
• social influence
• methods
• processes
• asch