Social Influence on Behavior - Essay Example

? Social Influence on Behavior inserts his/her s Human behavior is often not standalone in nature. A major consideration is, therefore, the social surroundings in which one dwells. Humans are social animals whose behavior is often influenced by and changes in the presence of others. The paper discusses two such instances whereby human behavior is different in the presence of others than what it would be otherwise. The first identifies groupthink as the source of such behavior particularly during crisis situation whereby the limited time available may prohibit humans for relying on cognitive information processing and standalone decisions. The other recognizes the phenomenon of impression management when politicians try to impress their followers through favorable self-presentation. One example is that of a pilot of a crashing airplane who engages in groupthink. This is because the pilot relies on managers at the Aviation centre and air traffic control authorities who in turn rely on the engineers who are responsible for designing the aircraft. Usually airplanes have a certain rule whereby the take off is cancelled or delayed in the event of any anticipated defect or problem in the aircraft. However, the aircraft personnel may refuse to listen to the warnings issued by the control tower regarding safety hazards, thereby certifying that the aircraft is ready to take off. Engineers may also refrain from issuing warnings to secure their position. One of the major causes of this behavior by the pilot is the groupthink phenomenon as highlighted in social psychology. This is because individuals make their decisions based on both the central route (involving cognitive information processing) as well as peripheral route (involving environmental cues) (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983). Therefore, both the rational and non-rational modes of decision-making co-exist even in the most complex situations. Rational decision-making may be defined as the identification and evaluation of alternative courses of action (Wilcox, 2010). Irrational decision-making, on the other hand, is defined as paying little heed to alternatives available and relying on instincts to make a decision (Wilcox, 2010). In the case of the crashing plane (discussed previously) the panic generated by an alarming situation (such as warnings from the control tower or air traffic authorities) can cause the pilot to resort to irrational decisions based on his/her past experiences or intuition. This can most likely be attributed to the lack of time available in such a crisis situation whereby the pilot may not have the time to evaluate alternatives available. Furthermore, few of the eight symptoms of group may be identified to this case. An illusion of invulnerability may exist if the airline has never had a fatal disaster before with the same level of risks as present in the current case. This can cause crew members to become overly optimistic and proceed with a faulty decision. Collective rationalization occurs when the crew members do not question the viability of landing with a technical fault in the plane. Stereotyping of out-groups occurs when the crew members discount all warnings issued by the control tower. Pressure on dissenters is also imminent as engineers failed to issue warnings to secure future contracts with the aircraft. Another example of another social behavior is that political campaigning. Politicians have since long made use of the concept of Impression Management in portraying a favorable perception of themselves. This is because, in order to prosper and gain fame, political candidates must be able to have people develop a favorable impression of themselves. This has been combined with the use of self-presentation which is synonymous to impression management. Referring to the theory of planned behavior, politicians use political campaigning to form favorable attitudes of themselves which results in positive beliefs and consequently positive behavior (in the form of supporters voting for the politician in an election). One of the main aims of impression management is the creation of a desired image on the minds of consumers which is attained through the use of a range of tactics. This is supported by the social influence theory that suggests that the characteristics of the person who is influencing have an impact on the effectiveness of tactics used for impression management (Levy, Collins, & Nail, 1998). From the use of political skill and persuasive political literature such as slogans to the interaction that the candidate has with the audience, impression management is being used extensively during political campaigning. While self-promotion is often practiced by political candidates in exaggerating their credentials, ingratiation goes a step further as gaining fame through flattery or doing favors (Jones & Pittman, 1982). Sympathy vote is also often used whereby the candidate gains popular support by portraying the unfortunate consequences that one or one’s party has gone through. Most importantly, political skill refers to the style employed by the influencer to comprehend and control his/her relationship dynamics with the target audience (Harris, Zivnuska, Kacmar, & Shaw, 2007). Consequently, candidates who are high in political skill are able to use impression management tactics to gain support. Such candidates are likely to engage in public self-monitoring which is characterized by the chronic concern with one’s public representation and adjustment of one’s behavior in line with the situational requirements. To conclude, human behavior does change based on social situations they encounter. Often people’s decisions and behavior are influenced by the urgency of the situation as well as social phenomenon such as groupthink. As highlighted above, the pilot of a crashing plane gets trapped in groupthink and intuitive judgments when deciding whether to go ahead with a decision despite warnings from authorities. Groupthink may also occur at this stage as engineers of the aircraft, for instance, do not point out the technical flaws with the plane for fear of losing future contracts. The urgency of the situation further sets the ground for the pilot to make irrational decisions based on past experiences and gut feeling. Given more time the same pilot would perhaps make a different decision (the correct one) as he/she will have more time for processing information and evaluating alternatives. Similarly, a politician’s behavior changes when he/she tries to impress the audience. This is particularly evident in the use of impression management techniques such as ingratiation, self-promotion and gathering sympathy vote. Furthermore, these candidates use favorable persuasive messages (as seen during political campaigning) to enable public form favorable attitudes towards the candidate ultimately leading to favorable beliefs and favorable behavior (voting for the candidate during elections). References Harris, K. J., Zivnuska, S., Kacmar, K. M., & Shaw, J. D. (2007). The Impact of Political Skill on Impression Management Effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 278–285. Jones, E. E., & Pittman, T. S. (1982). Toward a general theory of strategic self-presentation. In E. E. Jones, & T. S. Pittman, Psychological perspective on the self (pp. 231–261). New Jersey: Erlbaum. Levy, D. A., Collins, B. E., & Nail, P. R. (1998). A new model of interpersonal influence characteristics. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 715–735. Petty, R. E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Schumann, D. (1983). Central and peripheral routes to advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement. Journal of consumer research , 135-147. Wilcox, C. (2010). Groupthink: An Impediment to Success. Indiana: Xlibris Corporation. Read More