Waking Up Is Not Enough Episode 16 - The Cost of Conformity & the Tightrope of Belonging

You may believe that conformity means compliance or popularity. In this podcast, Polly and Mike talk about conformity (in terms of Loevinger’s Stage Development) as the need to feel identified with a group in which you comply with “the rules” in order be accepted and approved of. Conformity naturally begins in the 6 – 12 year old human, but it might stick around for a lifetime because a person unknowingly subscribes to certain roles and personas, even if they seem “non-conformist” — like some kind of identity that seems rebellious but has its own rules. Yes, humans can conform to non-conformity! 

Conformity is based on the conviction that group differences are real (more real than individual differences) and that people in groups are all alike. America markets conformity because it promotes products and media that are “just amazing” for everyone, as though we all want the same things.