What is the difference between compliance and conformity?

Compliance and conformity are two very similar ideas in psychology, in that they both fall under the umbrella of social influence. However, there is a crucial difference that distinguishes the two. Compliance describes a person's change of behaviour due to a command, though the person does not agree with the way they are behaving. Simply put, this illustrates a situation where someone does something just to follow an order, even though this does not sit well with their opinions on the action. On the other hand, conformity implies that it is a change in belief that leads to a change in behaviour. This means that a person's thoughts are changed due to the command, and their subsequent actions are attributed to that. The significant difference here is that compliance means a person's actions do not match what they think of it, but for conformity they do match. 

Answered by Malcolm W. Psychology tutor

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