Conformity and Group Adaptability

This research provides evidence regarding the causal effect of group conformity on task performance in stable and variable environments. Drawing on studies in cultural evolution, social learning, and social psychology, we experimentally tested the hypotheses that conformity improves group performance in a stable environment (H1), and decreases performance (by hindering adaptability) in a temporally variable environment (H2). We compare the performance of individuals, low conformity (LC) groups, and high conformity (HC) groups within a four-arm randomized lab-experiment (N=240). The two group conditions were based on a novel treatment of group conformity applied in the HC condition. The findings support the hypothesis that conformity decreases performance in a temporally variable environment. Although HC groups performed better than LC groups in stable environment, the results did not provide statistically significant support for the hypothesis that conformity increases group performance in stable conditions. Intra-group individual-level analyses provide insights into the mechanisms that account for the group-level results, by showing that lower conformity in groups facilitates efficient adaptability in the use of social information.