How conformist Senegalese adolescents consider themselves to be

Conformism seems to be of negative value in most European cultures as it is understood to rule out originality and creativity. In "transitional" societies such as the Senegalese one, at the crossroads of diverse influences, Western, Eastern and traditional African, the conception of conformism is slightly different, as we found when we investigated a group of schoolgoing adolescents. Results show that group pressure, though very strong, does not exclude individual initiative and a fair amount of free-will, and that this is in keeping with the traditional systems of values, understood in their appropriate context and meaning.