Children’s Conformity: The Child's Age and Level of Privacy
Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The present research investigated children's conformity to their peers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the influence of the child's age and the level of privacy on children's conformity was assessed. Conformism in children was proven to exist in Western cultures. When we look at cultural patterns in conformism, it was found that people in collectivistic cultures conform more, than people in individualistic cultures. It was hypothesized that children in collectivistic cultures such as Saudi Arabia are highly likely to show conformism, just like children in Western cultures. Conformism is a functioning human tendency, especially in collectivistic cultures such as Saudi Arabia. In addition, this research gathered data through experiments in order to answer the research questions, developed after the literature review from western studies and cultural patterns in Saudi Arabia. The current research investigated children's conformity in 76 Saudi children who were divided into two groups. The first group contained about 36 children who were between the ages of 5-6. The second group contained about 40 children who were between 4-5 years old. Also, two arguments that explained the factors will be explored. First, the influences of age on conformity. Second, the influences of the level of privacy of the child's response. The results demonstrate that there is not conformity behavior in children in Saudi Arabia. Further, that there is no relation between age and conformity. Possible reasons for not finding significant results and suggestions for future research are given.
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2495842466