In highly-publicized criminal offenses and violations of international law, American servicemen in charge of the Abu Ghraib facility abused Iraqi prisoners by terrorizing them with military service dogs and the threat of electrical shocks. They also purposely humiliated them by dragging them around naked, forcing them to simulate homosexuality, and by various other degrading acts specifically intended to disgrace their religious beliefs and cultural values. In some cases, abusive conduct and other violations were precipitated by orders such as in connection with interrogating prisoners to recover usable military intelligence. However, in many other cases (such as those depicted in the photographs that appeared throughout the global media), the abuse represented loss of personal responsibility and moral judgment by virtue of the phenomena of conformity and groupthink.

In a much more benign way, social conformity is apparent throughout American society in clothing styles, the perpetual wave of social trends, and (of course) the tremendous reliance on commercial advertisement for profit. In principle, commercial advertising and paid celebrity endorsements produce a form of social conformity that is financially beneficial to product manufacturers.

More specifically, advertising is most often deigned to stimulate conformity through informational influence ("If the product worked so well for others and for a famous authority on the subject, it will work for me"); or it is designed to exploit normative influences (the desire to have things that others respect and admire or to emulate a famous individual associated with the product).

Individual and Societal...

They experience no compulsion to violate social expectations as a statement or demonstration of their independence; they seek no attention (whether positive or negative) for displaying purposeful defiance of social norms.
To the passive nonconformist, conflict over their rejection of social norms is a price of independence, not a pretense for expressing anger or resentment toward society. Examples of passive nonconformity would include a respected college professor who enjoys smoking marijuana in the privacy of his home despite its illegal nature that violates established societal norms. Generally, the passive nonconformist makes no attempt to publicize or draw attention to his nonconformity (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008).

Individuals who purposely violate social norms and expectations as a means of generating attention (including negative attention) or as an expression of hostility, anger, or resentment more generally, are active nonconformists. They may have no genuine basis to justify their defiance of specific social norms or values, but do so mainly to inspire a reaction in others for various purposes of which they may or may not be consciously aware. Examples of active nonconformity would include outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) that wear their gang colors and insignia while purposely calling attention to their nonconformity, such as by unnecessary formation riding in traffic and exhaust systems designed to make as much noise as possible. On the larger scale, political dictatorships and extremist cults exhibit the extent to which many individuals are susceptible to group influence and capable of suspending the most basic moral values in groupthink situations.