"Anticonformity" is a Christian rock song written and sung by Christian rock/pop singer Krystal Meyers. It was composed by Krystal Meyers, Hannah Dwinell and Ian Eskelin, and appears on her self-titled debut album. It rose to number one song in Japan in 2005, knocking the Red Hot Chili Peppers from that coveted position.

About "Anticonformity"

"Anticonformity" was written at Christian summer camp when Krystal was 14, and the first version was recorded when she was in ninth grade on a camp compilation. Krystal later signed with Essential Records at 16 years of age.

When summing up "Anticonformity" (coined by Krystal, as it's not an actual word), Krystal says anticonformity is "becoming the person God wants you to be and refusing to become the person that the world wants you to be. It's about blocking out what the world is feeding you... about your image; who you should be like and just pursuing the plan that God has for you."

Track listing

Anticonformity (counterconformity) refers to when an individual consciously and deliberately challenges the position or actions of the group. Anticonformity is not merely the absence of conformity. Individuals who display anticonformity behaviours are internally motivated to disrupt the balance of the group. Further, anticonformist individuals are motivated by rebelliousness and are not influenced by social forces or norms. Anticonformity has been labelled a dependent behaviour as its manifestation is dependent on the group’s position in regards to an event or situation.

History

The concept of anticonformity was first studied empirically by psychologist Michael Argyle in 1957. In his 1957 study, Argyle recruited male students and placed them in a two-person group (with one member being a confederate). The pair was asked to judge and rate a painting on a 6-point Likert scale. In one of the conditions, Argyle instructed the confederate to reject the rating made by the participant. Following this rejection, the participant was required to make a second rating of the painting. Argyle used the difference between the two ratings to measure social influence. Argyle’s results showed that nearly 8% of the participants expressed a higher disagreement with their partner on their second rating. Argyle classified these direct and deliberate disagreements as anticonformity behaviours.