In psychology, the term compliance means accepting to behave in a way that an individual is asked to behave. In other words, it refers to changing one’s behavior accordingly when someone is asked to do so.

In routine life, people make certain requests to others such as asking for help in some work, asking for money or requesting to spend some time with them. Some people may generally accept such requests, particularly when their circumstances allow them to do so. Such accepting behaviour is called compliance. The simple reason for compliance can be that it is a learnt behaviour to help others or not to reject the requests of others. However, at the same time, some people may not show compliance to the request of others even if their circumstances allow them to express compliance in some situations.

Therefore, it is important for psychologists to understand why people generally display complaint behaviour when they are asked to behave in specific ways. Most psychologists believe that like any other behavior, compliance is also brought about and shaped by social influence. An individual behaves according to the social context where he behaves. For instance, an individual may behave relatively calmly and soberly in front of his parents but behaves very enthusiastically when he is with his friends. This means the social context influences and shapes our behaviour accordingly. Such influence of the social context is called social influence. According to many psychologists, like any other behavior, compliance is also brought about and shaped by the social influence of the context where compliance is observed.

To further elaborate on social influence in relation to compliance, the six bases of social power are generally discussed in psychology, as follows.

Social influence acts as a social power or pressure to mould the attitude, behavior, or belief of a person. Social psychologists, John R. P. French and Bertram Raven conducted studies on social power and identified five types of social power: rewards, coercive, legitimate authority, referent power and expertise. Bertram Raven further conducted some studies where another type of social power was identified known as informational power. This makes a total of six bases of social power which can bring a change in behavior and result in compliance. These six bases of social power are explained as follows.

This form of power means to provide a person with positive outcomes for bringing the desired change in behavior. The reward can be a smile, appreciation, or tangible rewards like money or gifts. For instance, a boss may give bonuses to the workers for completing company tasks on time. Similarly, a mother may provide her child with candy or some biscuits when the child studies his books.

To conclude, it can be said that people may comply in some cases because there is the likelihood of positive outcomes for compliance.

Coercion means forcing an individual to behave in certain ways. It may involve threatening or terrifying a person with some punishment as the consequence of non-compliant behavior. For instance, a boss may make some deduction from the salary of his employees if they do not attend to their duties regularly.

Coercion can also be in the form of showing gestures of disapproval such as frowning one’s face to express anger or sadness. For instance, parents may show a facial gesture of disapproval when they see their child is engaging in some unhealthy behaviour.

To conclude, people may comply in some cases because there is fear of negative consequences for their non-compliance.

Special expertise and skills also serve as a tool to bring a desired change in the behaviour and attitudes of others. It can be a good convincing power possessed by a person or formal expertise of an individual that can easily make others compliant to what they are asked to do. For instance, if a doctor advises a person to take some medicine or refrain from unhealthy habits, the patient is more likely to follow the advice. This is because the doctor has the expertise and skill to convince a patient regarding different aspects of their treatment. Similarly, the public speakers at workshops have great expertise in convincing people towards the desired outcomes such as in a seminar on maintaining cleanliness in homes and surroundings.

Informational power originates from having good and logical information about something. Using this power means sharing logical arguments and valid information with others to convince them. This power influences people very effectively. For instance, if a person in a seminar delivers a speech to refrain people from excessive consumption of sugar to help them avoid facing health complications. It depends on how much information the person has about the association between sugar consumption and health complications. For instance, high sugar consumption is a direct cause of diabetes and weight gain, but it may also lead to other health complications indirectly such as some studies show that excessive sugar consumption is also not good for brain health. Therefore, the more information a person has, the more he will be able to make others comply with what they are asked to do. In other words, the people comply because they are convinced by the provided logical information regarding what they are asked to do.

Some people may like a specific social group to which they belong or wish to belong. Such a social group acts as an ideal group for these people. Therefore, the people follow that group and like to copy the behaviour and attitudes of the members of that group. For instance, they talk, think, dress and act like the members of that group. As the people are psychologically attached to that group, that group acts as a source of inspiration for them. Any message that comes from that group is readily accepted by the people. It is called referent power. It is called referent power because it is from the group to which the people want to refer themselves or with which they identify themselves.

Referent power is also important in a discussion of compliance because some people may comply with certain requests simply because it emerges from their ideal group. For instance, a person likes the showbiz industry and is impressed by the actors’ community, he is likely to comply with any information (fashion trends and general information) coming from the actors’ community. Similarly, people, who view the researcher community as their ideal group, would show compliance to information coming from them.

Legitimate authority is a formal authority backed by state laws and institutions such as police and courts. It is designed to bring peace and order in society. In routine life, a huge part of compliance is attributable to legitimate authority. For instance, people comply with traffic rules and regulations while driving on road. They keep in their lane while driving and obey traffic signals while driving. People generally refrain from stealing from others or harming others because they know its legal consequences.

This also applies to other specific setups where a person has some legitimate authority over others. For instance, a teacher has formal authority over his students, or the boss at an organization has formal authority over his employees. Therefore, the students comply with the rules and regulations of their college as well as the general advice of their teachers at the college. Similarly, the employees comply with the advice of their boss.

Apart from formal authority, the social role of a person also gives him some sort of legitimate authority. For instance, parents have the authority to control the behaviour of their children positively. Children obey their parents by complying with their advice.