The return potential model for norms and roles is extended to yield concepts and measures of normative power and conflict potential, conceived to be complementary attributes of all normative systems. An input-output energy model is proposed to represent the normative process, without assuming either equilibrium tendencies or ego's motivation to conform. Organized, disorganized, and unorganized states of a normative system are defined in terms of the relative values of normative power and conflict potential. Results of applying the model are presented from studies of a white-collar role in a telephone company, the acceptance of an innovative nursing role, and norms for decision-making in four state mental hospitals. Theoretical assumptions and implications of the ideas are discussed, with the conclusion that role theory can be formulated to represent both stability and change and need not be tied to traditional paradigms in sociology.
\NY previous studies of conformity behavior-among them the wellknown experiments of Sherif and Asch (1, 2, 11)-have employed situations where the forces to conform were essentially cognitive in origin. A person in a situation of judgment or choice is confronted with contradictory information from two different sources. He has to weigh the evidence provided by his own perception of the stimulus against his knowledge of the actions or judgments of other persons. Festinger (5) has pointed out that a person will have a need for social reality, i.e., a need to depend upon information provided directly or indirectly by others, to the degree that his information from so-called physical sources is inadequate.Forces to conform which are created by a person's need for social reality have their source in his desire to make an appropriate rather than an inappropriate response, or to perceive the world accurately rather than inaccurately. This process of coming to cognitive terms with his environment can be distinguished from other processes of conformity that are influenced by the person's membership or nonrnembership in a group, the strength of his attraction to membership, or the relevance of the situation to the goals of the group.In experiments by Festinger, Thibaut, Schachter, and others (5, 6, 10), forces to conform were created which derived from pressures towards uniformity in a problemsolving group. These forces, generated by a process called group locomotion, are induced upon all persons who belong to the group and, especially, upon any deviant who may be blocking the group's progress toward its goal. The more attractive a group is for a member, the stronger are the forces from this source acting upon him to conform (3, 5).1 This study was conducted under Contract Nonr-1224(11) with the Office of Naval Research. A mimeographed report containing the detailed instruments and procedures is available elsewhere (9). This article is based in part on a report to the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association, September 1956.
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