Individual Behavior in Social Interactions - Research Proposal Example

Individual behaviour in the social interactions and Section # of Individual behaviour in the social interactions INTRODUCTION In contemporary times, the study of human behavior has become widely important in various fields of life, such as decision making at micro and macro levels, and is combined with the cultural anthropology of people in order to predict the attitudes of humans in different situations, since it is increasingly argued that the major problems that man faces today arouse from the interactions between people (Argyle, 2007, 13). This essay will discuss the human social psychology with regards to individual behavior in the context of social interactions. Initially the paper focuses on the description of the key terms related to the subject and moves on to explaining the subject’s importance in practical life. Furthermore, it would shed light on the problem associated with the topic in accordance research done from a theoretical perspective. One of the key factors is Emotional Intelligence (EI) when the concept of individual behavior is discussed, therefore a section of the paper will focus on the respective issue of EI; the paper would extend further to analyze the progress made in this area of psychology, and the shortfalls in the research done. Eventually the essay culminates with a summary of the key factors in the study of individual behavior in social interactions and its strengths and limitations. DESCRIPTION OF THE TOPIC Back in the 1920’s, a branch of psychology emerged which pertained to the behavior of individuals and their personality, motivation factors, and attitude with regards to social interactions- this study is specifically known as social psychology. It refers to the ways in which different factors and dynamics present in the social groups with which the individual interacts can shape his behavior (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008). Social interactions in particular talks about the numerous verbal and non-verbal signal adapted by individuals while interacting with others, these signals could include gazes, gestures and tones of voices etc., these signals are in accordance with the factors which determine the individual’s behavior when interacting with others in the social environment (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010). IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC Social interactions are various types of external factors which can influence the way an individual behaves and can thus leave an impact on the individual’s preferences, and in areas of decision making where strategic complications exist, then the study of individual behavior with regards to social interactions can reconcile the differences in the results obtained in proportionate variances in the fundamentals of research (Scheinkman, 2010). Individual behaviors in different social interactions can be assessed to answer certain problems of the society, such as crime factor, when Glaeser, Sacerdote and Scheinkman failed to explain the large variation in the crime rates in different sectors of USA through the socio-economic variables, then they resorted to the construction of a theoretical model which connected different factors influencing individual behavior in social interactions with the varying crime rate phenomenon, and were able to answer the problem (Scheinkman, 2010, 4-5). Similarly, the consumer preferences are determined by the individual behaviors, and the business sector can develop policies by study of social psychology, since the behavior of individual’s update in accordance with the surrounding incidences and events, hence it could be discovered how the consumers would respond to a particular strategy and thus enabling a firm to make a profitable decision (Bowles, 2001, 90). Durlauf also talks about the effects of individual behaviors in social interactions influences the way in which consumers behave when faced with certain economic scenarios (Durlauf, 2001, 1-48). A major problem with this study however remains that every calculation is based on assumptions which can vary in different situations, these suppositions do not necessarily hold to be true since one individual can choose to differ from another and there is always the element of doubt in the results, however close the outcome may be to the reality, the foundation is based on mere assumptions which are based on the principles of rationality and behavioral variable in the empirical studies, which are assumed to be linearly related to factors affecting the variable, while in practical life this supposition does not hold true (Durlauf, 2001, 6-13). EMOTIONAL INTELLLIGENCE AND ITS IMPACT ON BEHAVIOR Emotional intelligence is considered to be a mental capability that could be measured (Brackett and Mayer, 2003; Ciarrochi, Chan, Caputi, and Roberts, 2001; Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey, 1999; Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, and Sitarenios, 2003). According to these research studies, EI has its basics in social intelligence, basically EI is a link between the feelings that an individual has and the thinking process for making decisions, according to neuroscientists, the ‘limbic system’ of the human brain is the centre of emotions and instincts, and it was revealed that the emotional brain and the thinking part of the brain are so deeply interconnected that a decision could not be taken without the use of the limbic system, therefore the mental processes, perceptions, understanding and managing decisions are all affected by EI (Chopra and Kanji, 2010, 972-973). Since EI is so closely related to the human’s daily decisions, therefore it is impact is visible in all spheres of life such as leadership, teamwork, communication, personal development, social abilities, and economic and political aspects, all of which are related to social interactions; therefore EI has major effects on an individual’s behavior in social interactions. CURRENT STATE OF PROGRESS The current research on the phenomenon of the individual behavior with regards to social interaction pertains to the increased analysis of the emotional intelligence factors, EI is used as a decisive factor in determining the ability of individuals, and to measure their success in life, and if self-emotional management occurs then it can greatly enhance the development process of human potential, with regards to interacting in a social atmosphere, whether it be home or workplace. If a human adapts a scientific approach and tries to train his emotional variations in order to live a more progressive life (, then this self-emotional management would positively affect an individual’s creativity in complex situations, effectiveness in leadership tasks and impressing others, teamwork capability in coordinating social actors, hence affecting an individual’s job performance and organizational development. This depicts that there is positive evidence in favor of the current state of progress with regards to the research being conducted in this area of human social psychology (Chopra and Kanji, 2010, 973). SHORTFALLS OF THE RESEARCH There is still room to make further contributions in the research area, with regards to statistical methodology and empirical work, as according to the studies considered in this analysis, the strongest point in favor of social interactions is in the areas which are most aloof from the literary studies, therefore more careful data collection should be undertaken in order to increase the reliability and credibility of the research undertaken, such as the context of grouped data, since the research is based on data from which the identification of particular groups is impossible, detailed survey should be carried out to include groups which matter the most and have the greatest affect on individuals so that the connection with social interactions could be established. SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH WITH STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS This entire study revealed that human social psychology is an important consideration with regards to crucial decision-making and strategy formulation at different levels- micro and macro. These behaviors are affected by various factors and can influence an individual’s ability to perform in situations consisting of other social actors, it can influence the operational life, human potential, leadership and management qualities etc., emotional intelligence is also intertwined with the individual’s behaviors and thus have major impacts on the social interactions of humans, if self-emotional management is practiced then it can positively affect an individual’s life. Furthermore, there is ample room for contribution in this area, with regards to statistical reliability, as the research is based on major assumptions, and the data collected in studies is doubtful, in addition the connections made are based on the principle of linearity which is redundant in practical life, hence in order to accurately measure the effect, the data collection methods need to be revised, meanwhile progress is being made with regards to additional studies and the fact holds that individual behavior in social interactions is an important phenomenon in different spheres of life. References Argyle. M (2007) Social Interaction- 1st Edition. United States of America. Transaction Printing Bowles. S (2001) ‘Comment: Individual Behavior and Social Interactions’. Sociological Methodology, 31, 1, 89-96 Brackett. M. A and Mayer. J. D. (2003). ‘Convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of competing measures of emotional intelligence’. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1147–1158 Chopra. P. K and Kanji. G. K (2010) ‘Emotional intelligence: A catalyst for inspirational leadership and management excellence’. Total Quality Management, 21, 10, 971 –1004 Ciarrochi. J., Chan. A. Y. C., Caputi. P., and Roberts, R. (2001). ‘Measuring emotional intelligence’. In C. Ciarrochi J. P. Forgas, and J. D. Mayer’s ‘Emotional intelligence in everyday life: a scientific inquiry’ (pp. 25–45) in Durlauf. S. N (2001) ‘A Framework for the study of individual behavior and social interactions’. Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin at Madison. Retrieved October 21st 2010 from http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/econ/archive/wp2016r.pdf Durlauf. S. N (2001) ‘A Framework for the study of individual behavior and social interactions’. Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin at Madison. Retrieved October 21st 2010 from http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/econ/archive/wp2016r.pdf Encyclopedia Britannica (2008) Social Psychology. Retrieved October 21st 2010 from http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Social+Psychology Encyclopedia Britannica (2010) Science and Technology: Social Psychology. Retrieved October 21st 2010 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551358/social-psychology Matthews. G, Zeidner. M and Roberts. R D (2004) Emotional Intelligence: Science and Myth- 1st Edition. United States of America. MIT Press Paperback Edition Mayer. J. D., Caruso. D. R., and Salovey. P (1999) ‘Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence.’ Intelligence, 27, 267–298. Mayer. J. D., Salovey. P., Caruso. D. R. and Sitarenios. G (2003) ‘Measuring emotional intelligence with the MSCEIT 2.0’. Emotion, 3 Scheinkman. J (2010) ‘Social Interactions’. Retrieved October 21st 2010 from http://www.princeton.edu/~joses/wp/socialinteractions.pdf Read More