Opinions and Social Pressure - Assignment Example

1. Although Sigmund Freud might have had difficulty explaining Joan of Arc’s behavior, he would most likely have recognized the pattern of the struggle between the individual and society (See lecture 1). Comment on the problem of social conformity and punishment of deviant behavior. How does this affect self-expression and personal authenticity? Sigmund Freud asserts that an individual’s need for freedom stems from the natural desire to find happiness. Joan of Arc’s life is a total disagreement to this as she sacrificed her happiness for the freedom of her people. Although it can be said that her happiness comes from being God’s servant, it is evident that she suffered greatly in doing so. She was labeled as a heretic—a religious deviant—and was burned at the stake, very much like what was done to witches during the ancient times. The life of Joan of Arc is a prime example of the struggle between the individual and society. It is an example of how society and the majority, although more often than not these two are one and the same, punish those that do not conform. Sadly, until today (although the punishment is less harsh), social conformity has pervaded every aspect of modern life. In all fields of endeavor, whether it is fashion or the sciences, there is still a certain sense of uniformity that people have to conform with. Being different is frowned upon. However, in some circles it is even the norm to become different (in fashion, for example). Thus, being different and creative has also become a norm that people conform to in certain circles. And if one is not creatively different enough, that person is shunned and snubbed. It can then be said that social conformity is something that stems from people’s fears of being criticized, of being condemned and punished, and of being ostracized by the majority. Because of the repercussions of unconformity and deviant behavior, people find themselves coerced into following the majority. Consequently, self-expression and personal authenticity are sacrificed. Even at this day and age wherein “being yourself” is the motto, almost no one is ever actually true to oneself. There simply comes a time wherein everyone conforms to certain beliefs or just stays quiet for self-preservation and because of the need to belong. It is a tough world to live in and most times, people just conform to avoid further issues and to make life easier. 2. Observe your own behavior in a social group. This could be a work group, family group, sports team, or other group with whom you spent significant time. Do you find yourself adapting to group norms? How does your behavior in one group compare with your behavior in another group? Because my wife is Taiwanese, I have an experience of being the odd-man-out in a group. I have spent most of the past eight years of my life visiting and living with my wife’s family. I visited their house in Hawaii and we have bought a house adjacent to her parents’ house in Taiwan. Although my wife’s family, which includes her parents, two brothers and some cousins, always made an effort to make me feel included and welcome, there is still a difference in our cultures that makes me feel a little left out—since I was the only American in the circle. However, I find myself being able to adapting and accepting their culture while, of course, still maintaining my personal identity. Looking back at the times I have spent living in Taiwan and amongst my wife’s family, I was able to learn a little of their language. I also learned that studies, especially grades, are very important to them that they measure a person’s character through them. Although I believe that grades are important in that it is a measurement of a person’s intelligence and skill, I was not totally in agreement with this as there is a lot more to a person’s character than grades. The Taiwanese also have this strange superstition that it is forbidden to whistle at night. They believe this is because whistling is akin to calling and attracting evil spirits. Although I have this instinctive habit of whistling whenever I have a good day or whenever I am just bored, I consciously avoided doing it at night. Although some of their traditions seem strange to me, I kept my opinions to myself and followed their customs as a way of respecting their beliefs. In this way, I found myself adapting to the Taiwanese norms. It was out of respect and courtesy that I adapted to their norms. 3. According to your text (pg. 255) accountability is an important variable with respect to conformity. Why might this be the case? Conformity is a natural product of evolution. Humans, as well as animals, have an innate need to feel a sense of belongingness towards a certain group or society. Because of this need to belong, humans are then compelled to conform to the beliefs of the majority (Asch, 1966). However, things change when the variable of accountability is introduced. Accountability is defined as “the principle that individuals, organisations and the community are responsible for their actions and may be required to explain them to others” (Warwick, 2004). With this definition in mind, it is apparent how being accountable for one’s actions or decisions can have a significant effect on whether a person will conform to the group or not. When accountability is involved, an individual has someone to answer to. He or she would have to explain and justify his or her decisions and choices. And so, the decision is more carefully thought of. One must weigh the consequences of the option they were about to choose. Should he or she play it safe and go with what the majority has chosen or should he or she stand up for what they really believe in? Thus, the influence of the factor of accountability is a significant one and it can go either way. It can increase the pressure to conform or not to conform, whether the decision is based on accuracy or cooperation. Although the experiment shown in the text was not sufficient to make exact generalizations about the effect that accountability has on conformity, it showed the significant influence it has on an individual’s resolution to conform. It really depends on the person’s motivation and outlook towards life. If an individual tends to always be on the safe side of things and does not like confrontations, then accountability—because you have someone or a group to contend with—is inclined to increase conformity. However, when a person is strong-willed and decisive, then accountability will more likely increase the likelihood of unconformity. Whatever the case, accountability changes things drastically as there is a guaranteed social interaction through justification and explanation involved. 4. Try the text experiment described in the Aronson text on page 257. What kind of conversational rules did you change, and what effect did it have on the behavior of your conversational partner? I tried this experiment on one friend that I was not really that close to. I figured if I try this on my best friend then the rules might not apply because we are like brothers/sisters. I have known this guy a long time since he/she is a friend of my sister’s/wife’s. However, we have not really bonded as friends and remain like long-term acquaintances. I modified the experiment stated in the text in that I altered my verbal and non-verbal behavior towards him/her. I usually just say hi to him and talk about common things like TV shows and/or computer games. Instead of this usual small talk, I decided to talk about my personal life. But before that, I said hi to him and we talked about this television show that we both love and I stood closer to him/her than usual. I noticed that the text was right, he/she moved farther away from me, just a step back. I also noticed that he/she did this almost unconsciously, like it was automatic that he preserves his/her personal space. After this, I invented a fight that I had with my wife and started to confide in him/her. I can now see him/her becoming more and more perceptibly uncomfortable. He started to shift his/her weight from one foot to the other while looking at me with bewildered eyes as if to say “Why are you telling me this?” there are times when he/she tried to look away as if finding ways to get out of the conversation. All the while he/she only said noncommittal answers like “yeah” and “uhuh.” Finally, I decided to end the experiment. I hugged him/her and said thank you for listening. He/she kind of squirmed and I can feel that he/she was really uncomfortable. Based from this experiment, I was able to see the “rules” of social interaction actually in action. Sometimes, like what happened to my friend, we unconsciously act on these rules—sometimes without even meaning to. It’s like an instinct. Even becoming confused and feeling weird about a certain person’s actions are products of these “rules” that make up how society acts. Although we do not consciously think about it, the way we react to other people’s actions are more often than not automatic in that our society and culture have raised us to conform to certain beliefs and behaviors. 5. Being in the presence of other people evokes a state of arousal or alertness. Why would this be beneficial to us as human beings? The state of alertness constitutes an active and responsive mind. This means that our minds are working continuously and actively responding to stimuli—what is being said or done by other people. This state of arousal or alertness that stems from being in the presence of other people is important to us as social beings because it gives rise to meaningful and stimulating conversations. This allows us to interact with other individuals in order to produce and cultivate different ideas and to effectively relay our message across. This is the process of communication that is essential to our everyday life. Imagine a world wherein everyone is dense and everyone has a difficulty understanding each other and getting their messages across. Life would indeed become very difficult. Now, one can see that the state of alertness that is being evoked just by the mere presence of other people is essential to our way of life. This is because this state of alertness opens our minds to actively participate and react to what other people are saying and doing. Thus, effective communication occurs. Without being able to effectively communicate with other people, the world will be in a state of chaos and confusion. Misunderstanding spawns a lot of negative events. Wars have been known to result due to a simple miscommunication. Now if people are not induced to a state of alertness whenever other people are around, then misunderstandings are bound to ensue. And this will result to a chaotic world. It can therefore be said that this state of arousal or alertness contributes a lot to the peace and order in the world. 6. Think of all the various social groups of which you have been or currently are a member. Which ones are more essential to your sense of personal identity? Which groups seem more temporary? I believe that my sense of personal identity was molded by my family. I/My siblings and I was/were raised by my/our parents to become responsible and honest human beings. The values that I have now are largely due to what my parents taught me. I spent my formative years with my family and they have taught me a lot of things. I have learned that being an honest and good person is a conscious decision that you reinforce everyday. Much of what I am is also due to the fact that I grew up in this certain wholesome environment that was cultivated by my parents. Although our family is not perfect in that disagreements and fights were natural occurrences, I was taught to stand up for what I think is right and to admit my faults. These are the reasons why I think that a large part of who I am now and what I have become can be attributed to them. Because majority of my exposure was related to my parents and siblings, I believe my family group is the most essential to my sense of personality. And now that I have my own family, my wife and daughter are also a part of my personal identity. My classmates, colleagues, and new found friends are the groups that I think are more temporary. I believe my best friend is in the same category as my family since our friendship has endured time and a lot of changes. These temporary groups that I mentioned can come and go. For instance, once I graduate, I think I will not see most of them for a long time. And if I leave my job, then chances are I will not see my colleagues anymore. These groups are the ones who are kind of dispensable in a sense that my life will not be changed if they are gone. It is not like my family wherein I have a deep personal connection with them. Life naturally places one into different groups. However, most of these groups are temporary and it is up to the individual to nurture the group relationships that he or she deems important. These groups are what become permanent. 7. Social facilitation and evaluation apprehension are both important effects of the presence of others. Recall a situation in your own life where you experienced social facilitation or evaluation apprehension, and describe your own behavior. Social facilitation occurs when an individual is compelled to perform a task better due to mere presence of a person or group of persons. On the other hand, evaluation apprehension proposes that the mere presence of other people does not guarantee a better performance, but rather, the presence of judges or persons who will grade or evaluate the said performance. This occurs during competitions, practical, and written exams, and during times wherein the person knows that he or she is being watched and assessed. The experience that I will relate involves a little of both. When my daughter was born, my wife’s mother came to visit us to help take care of the baby. By the time she arrived, my daughter was already a couple of months old and I was already somewhat adept at changing her diapers. I was still not that comfortable and accustomed to the task because my wife would always insist on doing it because she felt better if she did it herself. However, there were also times wherein I had to rise to the occasion as my wife was resting. Now, when my mother-in-law visited us, my wife was comfortable and at peace in leaving the house to run some of her personal errands. One time, I found myself having to change my daughter’s diapers while my mother-in-law was watching. Although I knew I was not being graded and that I know what I was doing, I felt a certain pressure to do it more efficiently. I felt that I had to show her that I was good at taking care of her first granddaughter. Looking back now, I can see that it was a factor of both social facilitation and evaluation apprehension. My mother-in-law’s presence compelled me to excel at the very simple task of changing diapers. Although technically I was not being graded, I knew that I was still under scrutiny and that she is still evaluating what I was doing. 8. In the article “Group decision Fiascoes Continue” the authors discuss the problem of groupthink and its contribution to the demise of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. Why were the concerns of the engineering staff, quoted on pages 341 and 342 (Lesko) never seriously considered by N.A.S.A. management, according to the authors? The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster that occurred on January 28, 1986, was something that could have been prevented if the factor of groupthink had not influenced the whole decision-making process of whether to continue the space mission or not. Despite the fact that the engineering experts tasked to make sure of the safety of the technical side of the mission strongly advised the committee not to launch, the management, because they were overconfident, still proceeded with the tragic launch. The top level executives of N.A.S.A. disregarded these warnings to abort the launch because the weather conditions were not optimum for the space mission because they felt that with the success and experiences of the group, they could not be wrong. First, the management group had worked together numerous times and for several years that they have developed a cohesive group that all the members would stick to the majority decision. They trusted each other and they believed in maintaining the cooperation within the group that they viewed the MTI engineers as enemies on the other side of their cause. The engineers themselves recounted how the burden of proof rested upon them to present an airtight argument stating their denunciation of the launch. Instead of having to prove that the launch was safe, they had to prove that it was unsafe. This was the result of the groupthink that developed due to the factor of the group being cohesive. The leader preference was also a big factor as the two top level management executives of N.A.S.A was very verbal about their decision to launch. This, together with the cohesive group factor, heavily influenced the turnout of the meeting and effectively silenced the voice of the opposition. Another significant factor is that the MTI engineers were not present during the decisive meeting. In effect, there was insulation from experts. Even though the engineers made it clear that they were not in favor of the launch due to highly technical and logical reasons, they were not invited to lay down their case and further explain their resistance to the launch. Thus, the management team made an uneducated decision as they completely disregarded what the experts were saying. The combination of the cohesive group and leadership preference factors made the overconfident management team to completely ignore the warnings of the experts. It is now apparent that the management team suffered from groupthink as they followed their leaders and supported the majority decision to launch. Because of this, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was not prevented. References Asch, S. E. (1966). Opinions and Social Pressure. In A. P. Hare, E. F. Borgatta and R. F. Bales (eds.), Small groups: Studies in social interaction, (pp. 318-324). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Warwick Archive and Records Management (2004). Glossary: Accountability. Retrieved July 2, 2007 from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/archive/rm/policies/rmpolicy/glossary/ Read More