SOCIAL CONFORMITY AND SELF-CONFIDENCE: A RESEARCH REVIEW FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL AND NEUROLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63034/esr-607Keywords:
Social conformity, confidence, gender differences, self-esteem, social influence, decision-makingAbstract
The research review examines how confidence, gender, self-esteem, and social influence shape social conformity in decision-making. Five studies were analyzed, focusing on behavioral, cognitive, and neural mechanisms underlying conformity. The review highlights that men consistently report higher confidence than women, even in tasks where women typically perform better. Women are more sensitive to social information, which increases their likelihood of conformity, particularly in low-confidence situations. Self-esteem, task difficulty, and gender norms further modulate conformity behaviors. Neural evidence supports that reduced conformity over time is linked to increased trust in private information rather than diminished importance of social cues. These findings underscore that conformity is multidimensional, context-dependent, and influenced by both psychological and social factors, with important implications for education, workplace behavior, and social decision-making.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nargiz Sultan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
