The issue of whether a society should emphasize more on conformity or individuality can be a controversial one. One one hand, conformity in a society can provide a regulating framework that citizens of a society can follow by. On the other hand, when a society shows a greater appreciation for individualism, it promotes healthy debate and an interaction of ideas from diverse people or groups.
There is no denying that a society is a dynamic, ever evolving entity. We need some form of regulating framework to manage the different dynamics to prevent things from becoming unruly and chaotic. This is where conformity in a society plays an important role. Conformity can cover many aspects of a society. We see conformity in all sorts of form; from the uniforms students wear at school, adherence to professional behavior at work to a mass political ideologies embraced by the people. Conformity can perhaps be best defined as the behavior of following the trends, ideas, characteristics of the majority of the of a social group. Conformity at its best can foster harmony, teamwork and increase the productivity overall. This can be seen in the Japanese society, where its people work fast, efficiently and by established rules. Conformity also has the ability to provide identity and show pride of a social group. For example, the observance of wearing the 'cheongsam', the traditional Chinese dress.
Though conformity has its benefits, there are times where the 'herd mentality' stagnates creativity, which is what that is essential in driving progress in a society. Individual characters are what makes a society as a whole. If everyone were to think and act the same, there would be no variety, no color, no defining characteristics of what makes each individual unique. Pressure on conformity can take its toll on the individual expressions of the people. Take for example the expressions in artistic endeavors. If the majority of the people keep on trying to put constraints on the types of arts that are deem acceptable or viewable by public, no one would push the boundaries of artistic expressions, they would be no avant garde works, there would be no progress to be seen.
The acceptance of individual ideas can provide perspectives from different angles and breed original ideas. This can be seen in the business arena. Sometimes the most successful of business products comes from ideas generated by someone that was never thought of by others before. In this sense, individual personalities and ideas have the ability to generate new ideas and perspectives which helps to drive new discoveries and progress in a society. Also consider the positive effects individual personalities can have on a dysfunctional system. Though most societies strive to provide a functional system or framework, there are some systems or ideologies that are detrimental to its citizens in the long run. Take for example societies where the government infringes on the basic rights of its people. If people were to accept the regime blindly, old archaic systems would not be challenged, no changes would be made, and an unhealthy status quo would be perpetuated. A fresh new idea or movement can be what that pushes for positive changes in the society. Conformity can also be dangerous. A fine example would be members of a cult following the biased and unhealthy views of their leader.
For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that society should encourage a greater appreciation for individual personalities. Though conformity has its benefits, there is no denying that there should be a greater emphasis on individual differences. Individual differences can provide different perspectives and breed original new ideas. Also, we must consider that conformity at times can be dangerous as it can perpetuate traditional ideas that are unhealthy for the people of society.
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