<p>I think you may be thinking of &quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformity" rel="nofollow noreferrer">conformity</a>&quot;.</p>
<p>In the well-known <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Asch conformity experiments</a>, participants were shown stimuli in a group setting. Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the group were confederates (actors). The participants were asked to compare the stimuli, and they were always set up to respond last - after all the actors said their responses out loud.</p>
<p>Most of the participants &quot;conformed&quot; to the group's consensus, even when they believed the answer was wrong. Presumably, they did not want to be the only ones giving a different response from everyone else, or were just going along with the group. People expressing a position on Obama may similarly be conforming to the norms of their social or political identity group, even if they believe that the group is wrong.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-24T02:35:41.460Z
Interesting - This is a good take on it. It's not exactly what I'm going for, but may be the closest thing that's out there. Thanks very much for the insight!
Anna Sylvester
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-24T18:35:04.307Z
@AnnaSylvester I think Arnon's answer is different from what you asked for in that it gives a *reason* for the underlying behavior rather than a term for the behavior itself. Another reason might be one strategy to resolve a [cognitive dissonance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance). Yet another may be intentional [deception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception). I don't think you'll find a more general term that isn't related to an underlying reason because it changes the interpretation of the behavior quite a bit to know why someone is acting a certain way.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-23T02:19:36.493Z
2024-06-23T02:19:36.493Z
Arnon Weinberg
<p>Is there a technical term in psychology for people acting like they believe something they do not? As an example, consider people who acted like they didn't believe Obama was born in the US. I know <em>some</em> people genuinely believed that he was born in Kenya, but there were a lot of people who knew he was born in the US but who <em>acted</em> like they thought he was foreign-born. I'm looking for a term to describe the latter kind of behavior.</p>

<terminology><behavior><performance><belief><deception>
Is there a technical term for acting as though you have a belief that you do not genuinely hold?
Anna Sylvester
# Is there a technical term for acting as though you have a belief that you do not genuinely hold?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-06-22)

Is there a technical term in psychology for people acting like they believe something they do not? As an example, consider people who acted like they didn't believe Obama was born in the US. I know *some* people genuinely believed that he was born in Kenya, but there were a lot of people who knew he was born in the US but who *acted* like they thought he was foreign-born. I'm looking for a term to describe the latter kind of behavior.

**Tags:** terminology, behavior, performance, belief, deception


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-06-23. Score: 2

I think you may be thinking of "[conformity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformity)".

In the well-known [Asch conformity experiments](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments), participants were shown stimuli in a group setting. Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the group were confederates (actors). The participants were asked to compare the stimuli, and they were always set up to respond last - after all the actors said their responses out loud.

Most of the participants "conformed" to the group's consensus, even when they believed the answer was wrong. Presumably, they did not want to be the only ones giving a different response from everyone else, or were just going along with the group. People expressing a position on Obama may similarly be conforming to the norms of their social or political identity group, even if they believe that the group is wrong.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Interesting - This is a good take on it. It's not exactly what I'm going for, but may be the closest thing that's out there. Thanks very much for the insight!  
> **username_2**: @AnnaSylvester I think Arnon's answer is different from what you asked for in that it gives a *reason* for the underlying behavior rather than a term for the behavior itself. Another reason might be one strategy to resolve a [cognitive dissonance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance). Yet another may be intentional [deception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception). I don't think you'll find a more general term that isn't related to an underlying reason because it changes the interpretation of the behavior quite a bit to know why someone is acting a certain way.  

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