Solomon Asch’s experiments revealing the phenomenon of social conformity show us how dramatically the group pressure can change our judgments and decisions. In this classic experiment, the real participants succumbed to the influence of “fake” participants who deliberately gave wrong answers to a simple question. That happened just because the “fake” participants constituted a majority.
Like any student, I often experienced peer pressure during my school years. This is the time when you try to fit into the team and often think that someone is cleverer than you are. I remember the situation in the 6th grade when I was forced to join the class in their decision to skip the last boring Geography lesson. In spite of being strongly opposed to playing truant, I had to agree because otherwise I would remain a scapegoat for the whole year for not receiving punishment from the teacher along with other students. The situation is a bit different from the one in Asch’s experiment but reflects the same psychological phenomenon.