Social Influence on Behaviour - Essay Example

? Social Influence on Behavior This paper intends to focus on examining the fundamental concepts of human behavior or interaction in relation to the field of social psychology. In this regard, two examples of how the behavior of humans change, based on diverse social situations would also be discussed in the paper. It can be apparently observed that the examples which have been taken into concern can be related with certain phenomenal aspects such as social loafing or social facilitation. Examples of how human behavior changes based on social situations The issues concerning change in human behaviors can mostly be observed in extraordinary and complex situations. It is worth mentioning that the aspects which force the humans to change their respective behaviors include societal expectations, financial limitations and prevalence of habitual actions or the commitments made towards serving others. It can be affirmed that understanding of these aspects and taking appropriate measures in mitigating these aspects will eventually result in changing human behaviors (Collier et al., 2010). In order to understand the factors that mobilize a change in human behavior based on social situations, two examples have been taken into concern. One of the examples of changed human behavior based on social situation can be the teenagers, drinking and bullying others extensively, while remaining in crowd, rather than being alone. The other example is an individual helping others in case of an emergency. For instance, a boy being aware that he had to reach office soon, he helps an old lady to cross the road (Darnton, 2008). Thus, based on the above discussion, it can be affirmed that the behavior of humans generally changes based on diverse social conditions. Describe the specific behaviors and the context in which they occurred In accordance with the above stated examples, it can be affirmed that the specific behaviors and the context in which they occurred can be determined. According to the former example, the teenagers usually involve in performing off-putting activities within a group. This can be owing to the reason that the teenagers often feel themselves safe while conducting such activities while remaining in a crowd or in a group. The movement of the individuals in certain case tends to follow in a group rather than moving freely as an individual. In relation to the change of human behavior in such context, the density of crowd often plays a decisive role. It can be affirmed from a broader outlook that it is the factor of environmental constraint, which motivates the individuals to perform certain behaviors within a particular group. The movement of the individuals can be highly restricted due to the factor of environmental constraint. The teenagers usually determine the complexity of the situations according to their individual perceptions that they hold. The teenagers are not concerned of the nature of the behaviors and the impacts created by it. Hence, the teenagers carry their own perception irrespective of the inaccuracy or the complexity of their behaviors. In precise, it can be affirmed that the teenagers will perform various sorts of activities actively within a group, if the group has the characteristics of high density and environmental constraints as well (Pan et al., n.d). However, in the other example, a different behavior of a boy can be viewed, where he is helping an old lady. It can be affirmed in this context that both the examples are based on diverse humanity grounds. The activities performed by the teenagers in the first example reveal a negative interpretation of human behavior, but the approach of the boy in the other example show a different side of human behavior. Hence, these different examples have been presented, so as to reflect varied specific human behaviors based on diverse social situations. Using social psychology concepts, provide an analysis of possible precursors and consequences of the behaviors According to various aspects that are related to social psychology, the change in behaviors can affect humans towards developing their career at large. In this regard, social influence is regarded as one of the areas relating to social psychology, which refers to the situations wherein the actions of a group affect behaviors of others. In accordance with the concepts related to social psychology, the second example of the boy helping the old lady falls under the social psychology concept of altruism. In relation to the example, altruism is denoted as a helping behavior of a human being, which proved to be profitable for the old lady, involving a higher risk for the boy (Thye & Lawler, 2009). The boy who helped the lady possesses certain personality traits, making him indifferent from others in terms of behavior. Altruism behavior comprises power to understand other’s needs, feeling of empathy and emotion. It can be affirmed that these qualities within the boy are the personality traits that eventually made him different from the teenagers relating to the other example. However, most of the psychologists still strongly believe that there does not lay any precursor which can identify the altruism behavior within an individual (Thye & Lawler, 2009). In case of the second example regarding the boy, the helping nature of the boy can be regarded as a precursor and a consequence of altruism behavior. In the other example concerning the involvement of the teenagers in performing drinking and bullying activities within a group, it can be affirmed that there exists an aggression behavior. It is a behavior wherein people gets involved in conducting various sorts of unconstructive activities and at certain times, harm others. This sort of behavior is usually driven by certain factors that include physical environment and density of the people with whom the individuals are living (Family and Community Services, n.d). In case of the teenagers, the group of the friends is acting as a major factor driving towards aggression behavior. The teenagers involved in performing activities such as bullying along with drinking are eventually imposing unfavorable impact upon the other societal members. Hence, the negative activities performed by the teenagers can be duly considered as a precursor and a consequence of aggression behavior. Identify any associated phenomenon with your selected behaviors, such as social facilitation, social loafing, or groupthink The conception of social facilitation will be appropriate to explain the aggression behavior of the teenagers. Social facilitation can be well explained by taking into concern an example of a cyclist. A cyclist rides faster in a group rather than riding alone (Guerin & Innes, 1984). Likewise, the teenagers as per the example tend to perform unconstructive activities such as bullying only when they are in group rather than being alone This can be denoted as a phenomenon of social facilitation along with aggression behavior. In this regard, the aggression behavior eventually motivates the teenagers to perform such activities towards other societal members. The phenomenon of social facilitation will be appropriate in this example as this refers to the changes in human behaviors through the conduct of any distresses activity performed by other individuals. It has also been observed in this similar context that the people coordinating in groups can perform various sorts of physical activities faster in a group rather than being alone. Thus, the aggression behavior of the teenagers can be better associated with the notion of social facilitation. On the other hand, it can be affirmed that the idea of social loafing is quite appropriate in relation to the altruism behavior of the boy, helping the old lady in the second example. Social loafing refers to the efforts that can be exerted less while working alone, rather than in groups (Welter et al., 2002). According to the example, the boy helped the lady to cross the road instead of waiting for someone to help her. It was his consciousness to help the old lady. Thus, the notion of social loafing can be associated with this nature by a certain degree as this phenomenon emphasizes making deliberate efforts individually instead of relying much upon others or groups. From the above discussion, it can be affirmed that certain phenomenon can be related with specific behaviors of the individuals based on dissimilar social conditions. References Collier, A., Cotterill, A., Everett, T., Muckle, R., Pike, T., & Vanstone, A. (2010). Understanding and influencing behaviors: a review of social research, economics and policy making in Defra. Executive Summary, 1-40. Darnton, A. (2008). Reference Report: An overview of behavior change models and their uses. Retrieved from http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Behaviour_change_reference_report_tcm6-9697.pdf Family and Community Services. (n.d). The development of aggressive behavior in children and young people: implications for social policy, service provision, and further research. Retrieved from http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/aggression_discussionpaper.pdf Guerin, B., & Innes, J. N. (1984). Explanations of social facilitation: A review. Current Psychology, 3 (2), 32-52. Pan, X., Han, C. S., Dauber, K., & Law, K. H. (n.d). A Multi-agent Based Framework for the Simulation of Human and Social Behaviors during Emergency Evacuations. Introduction, 1-17. Thye, S. R., & Lawler, E. J. (2009). Altruism and prosocial behavior in groups. Bradford: Emerald Group Publishing. Welter, W., Canale, S., Fiola, C., Sweeney, K., & Larmand, K. (2002). Effects of social loafing on individual satisfaction and individual productivity. Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research, 7 (3), 142-144. Read More