Conformity Effect
Context and social norms are important. We are far more likely to act in certain ways if those around us are doing the same, or if it is the ‘expected’ behaviour (particularly if we value conformity highly).
When campaigning for sexual and gender diversities, this is of course a problem, as in most contexts it will be difficult to make believe that friendly attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities are the dominant social paradigm.
Nevertheless, campaigns could try to activate broader social norms to the benefits of sexual and gender minorities. One example of this would be a campaign signaling that ‘most people oppose physical violence against sexual and gender minorities’.
Still, alternative formulations could help leverage this effect, such as highlighting the direction of change within the reference group, for example with formulations such as ‘more and more people support marriage equality’.
“Everyone expected us to deliver a video where we would complain about how bad the situation in our country is, how intolerant people are, how homophobic Bulgarian society is – instead, we wanted to produce a positive video. Therefore, we staged an experiment with three different gay couples kissing and holding hands in public. It was shot in hidden camera mode. We used actors to act as provocateurs and turn the people against the gay couples. We wanted to see what the reaction of the public would be like. Amazingly, during the shoot we didn’t encounter any aggression, only positive feedback from random citizens. We summed that up in the video with the line: “Thank you Bulgaria for being a country without homophobia.”
Related video: https://youtu.be/LGI_WGzMtdk
Read more about the campaign : https://derechoshumanosydiversidad.org/project/smile-bulgaria-youre-on-candid-camera/[/ultimate_modal]
GLAS Foundation’s Simeon Vasilev:
“Everyone expected us to deliver a video where we would complain about how bad the situation in our country is, how intolerant people are, how homophobic Bulgarian society is – instead, we wanted to produce a positive video. Therefore, we staged an experiment with three different gay couples kissing and holding hands in public. It was shot in hidden camera mode. We used actors to act as provocateurs and turn the people against the gay couples. We wanted to see what the reaction of the public would be like. Amazingly, during the shoot we didn’t encounter any aggression, only positive feedback from random citizens. We summed that up in the video with the line: “Thank you Bulgaria for being a country without homophobia.”