Examples of social structure include family, religion, law, economy, and class. Thus, social structures significantly influence larger systems, such as economic systems, legal systems, political systems, cultural systems, etc.

Collective representations are symbols or images that have a common significance amongst members of a group in that they convey ideas, values, or ideologies. collective representations refer to the ideas, beliefs, and values elaborated by a collectivity, and which are not reducible to individual constituents.

Comte compared society and sociology to the human body and anatomy. “Comte ascribed the functions of connection and boundaries to the social structures of language, religion, and division of labor.”

Durkheim believed that society exerted a powerful force on individuals. According to Durkheim, people’s norms, beliefs, and values make up a collective consciousness, or a shared way of understanding and behaving in the world. The collective consciousness binds individuals together and creates social integration.

The major components of social structure include culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and social institutions. Social structure guides people’s behaviors. People develop these perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors from their place in the social structure, and they act accordingly.

Understanding conformity can help you make sense of the reasons why some people go along with the crowd, even when their choices seem out of character for them. It can also help you see how other people’s behavior may influence the choices you make.

Conformity is not inherently positive or negative. When conformity occurs because of fear, concern for one’s social standing, or has dangerous consequences, it may be seen as negative.

What are the advantages of conformity? Conformity saves lives. Conforming to social norms like traffic rules or safety guidelines keeps one from killing oneself or others. Simple rules like everyone driving on the same side of the road, or complicated ones like drug safety testing are best conformed to.

In some cases of conformity, a person’s desire to fit in with a social group can interfere with the ability to make moral or safe decisions. One example is when a person drinks and drives because friends do it, or because friends assure that person he or she can safely do so.

Researchers have found that peer conformity is strongest for individuals who reported strong identification with their friends or groups, making them more likely to adopt beliefs and behaviors accepted in such circle.

A person conforms if he or she chooses a course of action that a majority favors or that is socially acceptable. In contrast, an individual deviates if he or she chooses an action that is not socially acceptable or that a majority does not favor.

Conformity is opposite to social deviance which implies obedience to the norms that make a person acceptable in a particular society, group, or social setting. The concept of conformity was also used by Robert Merton (1957) to refer to acceptance of cultural goals and the legitimate or approved means of achieving them.