avoiding conformity
“If everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, I’d rather build my own wagon. It might have square wheels, but at least it’s original!”
Contrarian thinking is hard to do. It is uncomfortable. It’s much easier to follow the crowd and not stand out. Psychologically we are not wired to accept we are wrong and therefore being part of the group allows us to take comfort in being wrong with others. The contrarian has to take the opposite view and know they are leaving themselves open to, at best, criticism and at worst, ridicule.
In the 1950’s Solomon Asch became famous for his series of experiments that demonstrated the effects of social pressure on conformity. Asch began his career on the back of World War II and got interested in the effects of Nazi propaganda and indoctrination. Asch also supervised Stanley Migram’s PHD at Havard that highlighted the effects of obedience and its relationship with authority (this is for another post!).
One of the most famous experiments conducted by Asch was conducted as part of a 1962 Candid Camera episode titled “Face the Rear.”
The experiment is worth watching on YouTube when you get a chance but for those too busy, it shows a series of men entering the elevator and acting normally (pressing his floor of choice and facing the doors). People start to come into the elevator (actors) and all begin to face the rear (with their backs to the door). Slowly the subjects conform to the way the actors are facing.
In the original Asch conformity experiments, he found that 75% of participants went along with the rest of the group at least one time. When asking participants why they had gone along with the rest of the group, the students stated that while they knew the rest of the group was wrong, but they did not want to risk facing ridicule.
In investing or life, it’s easy to conform with the majority rather than take a contrarian view. Being a contrarian can be a lonely place to be and you have to ensure you are psychologically comfortable being there. It can also be dangerous to take a counter view just for the sake of it, particularly if you are doing it with finances. Square wheels on a wagon wont get you in trouble but it also won’t get you very far.
It’s also important to keep questioning why it is you are doing something. Are you doing it because everyone else is doing it or do you really understand the reason for it. Checking yourself and asking “why” can help avoid conformity.
