The Effect of Perceived Popularity on Conformity in Emerging Adults

This study examined the effect of popularity on conformity in emerging adults. Popularity is defined as a combination of perceived popularity among peers, duration of time spent socially, and social network size. Popularity and academic attitude valence were manipulated, as individuals may be influenced not only by the social status of a peer, but also by whether the attitudes expressed are positive or negative within a meaningful domain. Conformity was calculated as the difference in participants’ scores on the academic diligence subscale of the Student Behaviour at University Scale (Maloshonok & Vilkova, 2024) before and after exposure to a fabricated peer profile. Using a sample of 46 undergraduate students, a 2×2 between-subjects ANOVA examined the effects of perceived peer popularity (popular vs. unpopular) and academic attitude valence (positive vs. negative) on conformity. Results showed a significant main effect of attitude valence with greater conformity for positive attitudes than negative attitudes. The main effect of popularity was not significant, nor was the interaction between popularity and attitude valence. Although, non-significant, the highest conformity was observed in the popular positive condition. Overall, our findings suggest that the valence of peer attitudes may be more influential than perceived popularity in shaping conformity in academic contexts among emerging adults.