Conformism as a mechanism affecting relational and adaptive processes in a peer group Comparative analysis among socially adjusted and maladjusted adolescents – with and without intellectual disabilities
Conformism as a mechanism affecting relational and adaptive processes in a peer group Comparative analysis among socially adjusted and maladjusted adolescents – with and without intellectual disabilities

Summary/Abstract: The subject matter discussed in the article focuses on the problem of conformism. Behavioral conformism has been presented as a kind of adaptive mechanism connected with the predisposition to a thoughtless reproduction of patterns imposed by the group of social participation, conditioned by the needs of affiliation and the fear of peer rejection.Thus, the subject of the conducted analyses concerns the tendency to adopt a conformist attitude by respondents from three comparative groups, differentiated in terms of the level of intellectual development and the problem of social maladjustment. These features constitute additional risk factors for triggering conformist tendencies and are important for the success of the group integration process.The conclusions were drawn in a comparative diagram for three groups: group A – the maladjusted in without intellectual disabilities (n=57); group B – the maladjusted with intellectual disabilities (n=57); group C – the socially adjusted (n=60). Total sample size: 174 respondents aged 16–19 years. The research utilized an author’s original tool with satisfactory psychometric properties – the Scale of Conformist Attitudes (SCA).The results obtained allow us to conclude that the groups compared clearly differentiate in terms of conformist tendencies. Additionally, conformism, in each of the compared groups, focuses around different triggering attributes.

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