Do Children Conform? Conformity Behaviors in Children Aged Two Through Five

Abstract

Prior research suggests that conformity begins during childhood, but conformity behaviors may differ as a function of age and other demographic characteristics of the child (e.g., gender). The current study was designed to investigate whether conformity behaviors occur with toddlers and children in early childhood. Data was collected from 32 participants from two daycare locations in the Midwestern U.S. Each child was placed in a group with three of their peers and given an image set of different sized dogs. However, one child in the group received images that differed from the others in their group. Participants were asked to indicate which of their images matched a sample image. Results from this study suggest that toddlers and children in early childhood do not experience strong pressures to conform to the group norm, as none of the children in the current study modified their responses to align with others in their group. The lack of findings from the current study contradicts prior studies, which suggested that conformity does exist in early childhood. The current study suggests that conformity behaviors may evolve over time and conformity may be less likely with younger children.