{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T10:49:08Z","timestamp":1792147748793,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792108800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":24,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"NSERC","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["# RN001537"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["# RN001537"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Although individuals tested in isolation often show substantial behavioral variation, they tend to behave more uniformly in groups, a pattern commonly attributed to social conformity (ie, a form of social learning in which individuals preferentially adopt the most common trait). However, evidence for social conformity in nonhuman animals remains debated, as group-level convergence can also arise from independent learning, where individuals adopt the trait maximizing their fitness. Such learning can generate either adaptive phenotypic convergence or pseudo-conformity when aligning with the group's average strategy provides a selective advantage (eg, by reducing predation risk). The likelihood of these outcomes is shaped by ecological and social factors, yet their relative contributions remain poorly understood, as most studies rely on simplified laboratory conditions. This study explores the conditions under which conformist-like patterns can emerge solely from individual learning, and how costs of deviating from the group strategy and tradeoffs between different selective pressures influence their evolution. I developed an evolutionary model in which individuals sequentially adjust their exploratory behavior through a trial-and-error learning process. At each learning step, an individual explores 2 small behavioral deviations around its current exploration level and retains the variant that yields the highest payoff under the prevailing ecological conditions. The results show that the likelihood of pseudo-conformity depends on the interplay among ecological conditions, group composition and behavioral flexibility, and is particularly favored when predation risk and the energetic costs of escaping predator attacks are high. Moreover, under some conditions, pseudo-conformity may maintain behavioral diversity at the population level by allowing different subgroups to converge on and stabilize around distinct behavioral phenotypes. Overall, these findings underscore that measuring traits in isolation may misrepresent both behavioral variation and evolutionary dynamics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/arag122","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T11:40:03Z","timestamp":1791286803000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The illusion of conformity: when independent learning mimics social influence"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"37","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8965-4980","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique","family":"Dubois","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement des Sciences Biologiques, Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al , 1375 Avenue Th\u00e9r\u00e8se-Lavoie-Roux, Montr\u00e9al, Qu\u00e9bec H2V 0B3 ,","place":["Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1080\/03949370.2019.1680445","article-title":"Picky predators and odd prey: color ad size matter in predator choice and zebrafish's vulnerability\u2014a refinement of the oddity effect","volume":"32","author":"Aivaz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ethol Ecol Evol"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2230","DOI":"10.2307\/1941696","article-title":"Interaction between food availability and predation mortality mediated by adaptive-behavior","volume":"76","author":"Anholt","year":"1995","journal-title":"Ecology"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1365","DOI":"10.1111\/ele.12181","article-title":"Individual personalities predict social behaviour in wild networks of great tits (Parus major)","volume":"16","author":"Aplin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Ecol Lett"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1037\/h0093718","article-title":"Studies of independence and conformity. 1. A minority of one against a unanimous majority","volume":"70","author":"Asch","year":"1956","journal-title":"Psychol Monogr"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"915","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.71.5.915","article-title":"The forgotten variable in conformity research: impact of task importance on social influence","volume":"71","author":"Baron","year":"1996","journal-title":"J Pers Soc Psychol"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.119.1.111","article-title":"Culture and conformity: a meta-analysis of studies using Asch's (1952b, 1956) Line judgment task","volume":"119","author":"Bond","year":"1996","journal-title":"Psychol Bull"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1016","DOI":"10.1139\/cjz-2017-0301","article-title":"Individual vigilance profiles in flocks of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)","volume":"96","author":"Boujja-Miljour","year":"2018","journal-title":"Can J Zool"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B8","volume-title":"Culture and the evolutionary process","author":"Boyd","year":"1985"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B9","first-page":"29","volume-title":"Social learning. Psychological and biological perspectives","author":"Boyd","year":"1988"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.1007\/s00442-022-05269-7","article-title":"Social context mediates the expression of a personality trait in a gregarious lizard","volume":"200","author":"Brand","year":"2022","journal-title":"Oecologia"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1343","DOI":"10.1163\/1568539X-00003470","article-title":"Behavioural consistency and group conformity in humbug damselfish","volume":"154","author":"Burns","year":"2017","journal-title":"Behaviour"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1165","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2010.04.055","article-title":"How the opinion of others affects our valuation of objects","volume":"20","author":"Campbell-Meiklejohn","year":"2010","journal-title":"Curr Biol"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1086\/666970","article-title":"Performance, personality, and energetics: correlation, causation, and mechanism","volume":"85","author":"Careau","year":"2012","journal-title":"Physiol Biochem Zool"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1899","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2008.1928","article-title":"Predation risk as a driving force for phenotypic assortment: a cross-population comparison","volume":"276","author":"Croft","year":"2009","journal-title":"Proc R Soc Lond Ser B"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"917","DOI":"10.1006\/anbe.2001.1820","article-title":"Interactions between shoal size and conformity in guppy social foraging","volume":"62","author":"Day","year":"2001","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B16","unstructured":"Dubois F . 2026. Data from: The illusion of conformity: when independent learning mimics social influence. Behavioral Ecology. 10.5281\/zenodo.23024687."},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3609","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2010.0857","article-title":"Learning in a game context: strategy choice by some keeps learning from evolving in others","volume":"277","author":"Dubois","year":"2010","journal-title":"Proc R Soc Lond Ser B"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1558-5646.1980.tb04790.x","article-title":"Natural selection on color patterns in Poecilia reticulata","volume":"34","author":"Endler","year":"1980","journal-title":"Evolution"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2017.11.010","article-title":"Social conformity in solitary crabs, Carcinus maenas, is driven by individual differences in behavioural plasticity","volume":"135","author":"F\u00fcrtbauer","year":"2018","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.1016\/j.beproc.2016.10.004","article-title":"Behavioural plasticity across social contexts is regulated by the directionality of inter-individual differences","volume":"141","author":"Guayasamin","year":"2017","journal-title":"Behav Process"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"708","DOI":"10.1111\/brv.12819","article-title":"Differences in resource acquisition, not allocation, mediate the relationship between behaviour and fitness: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"97","author":"Haave-Audet","year":"2022","journal-title":"Biol Rev"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"499","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0633.2011.00506.x","article-title":"The effect of group size on risk taking and social conformity in Eurasian perch","volume":"20","author":"Hellstr\u00f6m","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ecol Freshw Fish"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1016\/S1090-5138(98)00018-X","article-title":"The evolution of conformist transmission and the emergence of between-group differences","volume":"19","author":"Henrich","year":"1998","journal-title":"Evol Hum Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"835","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2009.12.026","article-title":"Personality in captivity reflects personality in the wild","volume":"79","author":"Herborn","year":"2010","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12620","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1703695114","article-title":"How social information can improve estimation accuracy in human groups","volume":"114","author":"Jayles","year":"2017","journal-title":"PNAS"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"625","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2009.1607","article-title":"Are fast explorers slow reactors? Linking personality type and anti-predator behaviour","volume":"277","author":"Jones","year":"2010","journal-title":"Proc R Soc Lond Ser B"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780198869252.013.14","volume-title":"Oxford Handbook of cultural evolution","author":"Kendal","year":"2023"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2014.10.016","article-title":"The effects of social conformity on Gouldian finch personality","volume":"99","author":"King","year":"2015","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B29","volume-title":"Animal social networks","author":"Krause","year":"2015"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1080\/15534510.2012.727767","article-title":"Morality and conformity: the Asch paradigm applied to moral decisions","volume":"8","author":"Kundu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Soc Influ."},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03196002","article-title":"Social learning strategies","volume":"32","author":"Laland","year":"2004","journal-title":"Learn Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1372","DOI":"10.1016\/S0003-3472(86)80208-1","article-title":"Oddity and the confusion effect in predation","volume":"34","author":"Landeau","year":"1986","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2021.01.022","article-title":"Behavioural phenotype modulates group size effects in a lizard","volume":"175","author":"Littlewood","year":"2021","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3369","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2009.0851","article-title":"Express your personality or go along with the group: what determines the behaviour of shoaling perch?","volume":"276","author":"Magnhagen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Proc R Soc Lond Ser B"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1007\/s00265-004-0834-1","article-title":"Is boldness affected by group composition in young-of-the-year perch (Perca fluviatilis)?","volume":"57","author":"Magnhagen","year":"2005","journal-title":"Behav Ecol Sociobiol"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.1600892","article-title":"Consensus and experience trump leadership, suppressing individual personality during social foraging","volume":"2","author":"McDonald","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci Adv"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0279066","article-title":"Is vigilance a personality trait? Plasticity is key alongside some contextual consistency","volume":"17","author":"Mettke-Hofmann","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1439-0310.1977.tb00078.x","article-title":"Experiments on selection by predators against spatial oddity of their prey","volume":"43","author":"Milinski","year":"1977","journal-title":"Z Tierpsychol."},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0068153","article-title":"Effects of conformism on the cultural evolution of social behaviour","volume":"8","author":"Molleman","year":"2013","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2021.02.011","article-title":"Stable social groups foster conformity and among-group differences","volume":"174","author":"Munson","year":"2021","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9090","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0601575103","article-title":"Experimental evidence that predation promotes divergence in adaptive radiation","volume":"103","author":"Nosil","year":"2006","journal-title":"PNAS"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"496","DOI":"10.1111\/eth.12754","article-title":"The oddity effect drives prey choice but not necessarily attack time","volume":"124","author":"Penry-Williams","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ethology"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1007\/s00442-024-05557-4","article-title":"Boldness predicts foraging behaviour, habitat use and chick growth in a central place marine predator","volume":"205","author":"Pereira","year":"2024","journal-title":"Oecologia"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ecy.4456","article-title":"Trade-offs between defense and competitive traits in a planktonic predator-prey system","volume":"105","author":"R\u00e9veillon","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ecology"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1041","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2008.12.024","article-title":"Sex differences, social context and personality in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata","volume":"77","author":"Schuett","year":"2009","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B46","first-page":"203","volume-title":"Predation: direct and indirect impacts on aquatic communities","author":"Sih","year":"1987"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10071-024-01859-5","article-title":"Bolder together: conformity drives behavioral plasticity in eastern gartersnakes","volume":"27","author":"Skinner","year":"2024","journal-title":"Anim Cogn"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"496","DOI":"10.1016\/S0003-3472(89)80042-9","article-title":"Size segregation and the effects of oddity on predation risk in minnow schools","volume":"38","author":"Theodorakis","year":"1989","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1589","DOI":"10.1163\/1568539X-00003398","article-title":"HPI reactivity does not reflect changes in personality among trout introduced to bold or shy social groups","volume":"153","author":"Thomson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Behaviour"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2015.07.030","article-title":"Conformity and its look-a-likes","volume":"110","author":"van Leeuwen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Anim Behav"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"759","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-185X.2010.00169.x","article-title":"Personality and social context","volume":"86","author":"Webster","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biol Rev"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15825","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0805473105","article-title":"Evolutionary emergence of responsive and unresponsive personalities","volume":"105","author":"Wolf","year":"2008","journal-title":"PNAS"},{"key":"2026101606190070500_arag122-B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"452","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tree.2012.05.001","article-title":"Animal personalities: consequences for ecology and evolution","volume":"27","author":"Wolf","year":"2012","journal-title":"Trends Ecol Evol"}],"container-title":["Behavioral Ecology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/beheco\/article-pdf\/37\/6\/arag122\/72036944\/arag122.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/beheco\/article-pdf\/37\/6\/arag122\/72036944\/arag122.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T10:19:11Z","timestamp":1792145951000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/beheco\/article\/doi\/10.1093\/beheco\/arag122\/8931450"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Eva","family":"Ringler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"references-count":53,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/beheco\/arag122","relation":{},"ISSN":["1045-2249","1465-7279"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1045-2249","type":"print"},{"value":"1465-7279","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2026,11]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"article-number":"arag122"}}