Sam, a 17-year-old high school student, has just moved to a new city and enrolled in a new school. At his old school, there were
strong social norms against teenagers smoking cigarettes. At his new school, several of his friends regularly smoke and say that "It’s no big deal." As a result, Sam begins smoking also. Which type of conformity is this?
Social influence is a type of influence where one or more than one persons change someone else's behavior and attitude. It's both unconscious and conscious.
Sam has shown the change in his behavior since he has been surrounded by new people at his new school.
In this type of conformity, Sam is changing himself in ways that he can be more similar to the others, because he wants to feel like he belongs there and that he will be accepted, so his self-esteem will rise once they acknowledge that he is one of them now.
