Social structure and the effects of conformity

Abstract

Conformity is an often criticized feature of human belief formation. Although generally regarded as a negative influence on reliability, it has not been widely studied. This paper attempts to determine the epistemic effects of conformity by analyzing a mathematical model of this behavior. In addition to investigating the effect of conformity on the reliability of individuals and groups, this paper attempts to determine the optimal structure for conformity. That is, supposing that conformity is inevitable, what is the best way for conformity effects to occur? The paper finds that in some contexts conformity effects are reliability inducing and, more surprisingly even when it is counterproductive, not all methods for reducing its effect are helpful. These conclusions contribute to a larger discussion in social epistemology regarding the effect of social behavior on individual reliability.

Epistemic Trust and Liberal Justification*

“…Finally, even when warranted trust in epistemic authorities is at its strongest, there will often remain substantial discord among experts about the issues in question. 44 For example, Grim and Kokalis 2004;Grim et al 2005;Zollman 2010Zollman , 2007. I thank an anonymous referee for highlighting the significance of this work to the discussion here.…”

“…44 44 For example, Grim and Kokalis 2004; Grim et al. 2005; Zollman 2010, 2007. I thank an anonymous referee for highlighting the significance of this work to the discussion here. …”

Conformity in scientific networks

“…The actors involved will all come to correctly believe that action B is better, or else to incorrectly believe that action A is better. The parameter values of the model and network structure will determine how likely these two outcomes are (Zollman, 2007(Zollman, , 2010aRosenstock et al, 2017).…”

“…8 While this choice is arbitrary, we follow Zollman (2010a). These values correspond to an agent who has gathered relatively little evidence, and so will tend to have beliefs that can be updated relatively quickly.…”

“…Some authors, such as Zollman (2010b), have argued that there are contexts in which conformism tends to improve epistemic outcomes, basically because conforming with others can be a heuristic for pooling independent data. More generally, one can imagine cases in which conformism would be a good heuristic: if you find everyone around you acting in one way, and you are acting differently, it is natural to wonder if they know something you do not.…”