Social influence

Social influence Social influence has a number of meanings in psychology, it is generally used to summarise the field of social psychology. Studying how thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others (Allport, 1968). Our social life is characterised by social influences; influences we are aware of and some we are not. As individuals we occasionally give way to social influence to fit in and at times we do it because we are not sure of the right way to feel or act and so use others as a resource of information. Our social life is also characterised by social norms, which are usually accepted ways of thinking, feeling and behaving that are shared among others in a social group. When a social group has well recognised norms, pressures arise for individuals to maintain such norm (to conform). This essay will explore a variety of examples of social influences (majority and minority effects and obedience) and explanations of why people yield to such influence. An individual is said to conform if they choose a course of action that is preferred or considered socially acceptable by the majority. Because the individual is influenced by how the majority thinks or behaves is referred to as majority influence. The fact that an individual conforms along with the majority in public, does not necessarily mean they have changed their private outlook or beliefs. Therefore, most majority influence is characterised by public compliance rather than private acceptance. Asch (1956) conducted a well recognised experiment on majority influence. The aim of the study was to find out how individuals would behave when given an unambiguous task (asking participants which of the three lines of different lengths were the same length as the standard line). All but one of the participants were confederates, who were instructed to give the same incorrect answer. Asch found, 36.8% of the responses were incorrect, indicating participants conformed to the incorrect res ponse given by the confederates. 25% of the participants never gave a wrong answer; therefore 75% conformed at least once. The study shows a strong tendency to conform to group pressures in a situation where the answer is clear. Asch later interviewed some of his participants and found that they gave one of the three reasons why they conformed. Distortion of perception (they really thought their wrong answers were right), distortion of judgement (felt some doubt with their judgement and therefore conformed) and distortion of action (they did not want to be ridiculed). This study itself does suggest individuals are sometimes aware of social influences but yield to such influences for different reasons. Asking people to judge the length of lines is a rather irrelevant task to real life; the findings only tell us about conformity in special circumstances. For example, Williams and Sogon (1984) tested people who belonged to the same sports club and found that conformity may be even high er with the people you know. Asch was not the first psychologist to investigate majority influence. Jenness, 1932 (cited in Cardwell Flanagan, 2004) asked students to guess the number of beans in a jar. After being given the opportunity to discuss their estimates, they were asked to give their individual estimates again. Jenness found that individuals estimates tended to converge to a group norm. It seems, reasonable to suggest that in an ambiguous situation, people look to others to get some ideas about a sensible answer. Similar study by Sherif, 1935 (cited in Cardwell Flanagan, 2004) found answers to an ambiguous stimulus become quite similar after discussions demonstrating a tendency to establish and conform to group norms. People conform for various reasons, ranging from complete acceptance of the majority viewpoint (informational influence), to simply going along with the crowd (normative influence). Normative influence is the result of wanting to be liked and informational influence is the result of wan ting to be right (Morton and Harold, 1955). Factors that affect majority influence include size of the majority: Asch (1956) found that the size of the opposing majority did affect conformity and, cultural factors: compared to individualist cultures, conformity appears to be higher in societies where group harmony is a priority (Smith and Bond, 1993). Minority influence is an alternative form of social influence where people reject the established norm of the majority of group members and move to the position of the minority. Minorities generally have less power or status and may even be dismissed as troublemakers, but this raises the question, how do they have any influence over the majority? Moscovici, 1976 (cited in Cardwell Flanagan, 2004) claims the answer lies in their behavioural style. Moscovici, Lage and Naffrenchoux (1969) aimed to investigate the process of innovation. They found that the participants agreed with the minority on 8.42% of the trials (saying the blue slides were green). Notably, 32% gave the same answer as the minority at least once. The findings demonstrate that minorities can influence majority opinion. Group identification and social cryptoamnesia are the key explanations why people yield to minority influence. Maass, Clark and Haberknorn (1982) arranged for a group of heterosexual participants to hea r arguments about gay rights. If the minority group was gay, it had less influence on the participants than if it was straight, seemingly because the participants were able to identify with the straight minority and this led to greater influence. Social cryptoamnesia refers to major attitude changes which only take place when the zeitgeist changes. By the time change occurs people have forgotten the original source of opinion change, but innovation is due to minority influence. (Perez, Papastamou and Mugny, 1995). Within a social group, after some members have started to agree with the minority, the minority turns into a majority. Van Avermaet (1996) referred to this as the snowball effect. So far, the essay has looked at types of indirect social influence where people can choose whether or not they will yield to the perceived pressure of the majority or minority, suggesting we are completely aware of such social influences on our behaviour. Obedience to authority (a direct form of social influence) refers to an alternative type of social influence whereby someone acts in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority. Milgram (1963) set to investigate whether ordinary people will obey a legitimate authority figure, even when required to injure another person (electric shocks). The findings of the study suggest that ordinary people are surprisingly obedient to authority when asked to behave in an inhumane manner. Gradual commitment, agentic shift and the role of buffers are explanations to why people obey (in terms of Milgrams study). As participants have already given lower-level shocks, it becomes harder to resist the experimenters requirement to in crease the shocks. Having committed themselves to a particular course of action (giving shocks), it becomes difficult for participants to change their mind. Essential to Milgrams explanation of obedience is what he termed the agentic state, by which he meant, the condition the person is in, when he sees himself as an agent to carrying out another persons wishes. Milgram, 1974 (cited in Card, 2005) argued that people move between an agentic state and an autonomous state (state a person is when they see them self acting on their own. Entering an authority system, Milgram claimed the individual no longer views themselves as acting out of his own purpose but sees themselves as agents for another. In Milgrams classic study into obedience, the teacher and learner were in different rooms, with the teacher protected (buffered) from seeing his victim. When the learner was in the same room, this buffering effect was reduced. The role of buffers/buffering effect is similarly used to explain the apparent willingness to dispatch weapons of mass destruction (Solomon, Mikulincer, and Hobfoll, 1986). Milgrams research has been quite controversial; however, it can be argued that the great value of this research, in helping us understand obedience to authority, justifies the deception and the distress caused to the teachers. Society itself can influence the behaviour of people in many ways. It can pass laws through governmental establishments, develop a strong desire for ethics and morals, hold its professionals to strong ethical codes of conduct, educate and inform through school systems and the media. But the primary reason why a society can control the behaviour of most people is our innate psychological need for intuitive growth and maturity. There seems to be a natural preference within the human psyche to behave in a moral or ethical manner. (Schueler, 1997). To conclude, there is evidence to suggest people are in fact aware of social influences whether it is majority and minority effects or obedience to authority; people yield to such influences for a variety of reasons: normative and informational influence, group identification, social cryptoamnesia, gradual commitment, agentic shift and the role of buffers; nevertheless, social psychologists continue to argue that people are often unaware of th e influences on their behaviour, thoughts and emotions. (Nisbett Wilson, 1977)

Human Relations Essay

Human relation is a thread which connects one human being with another. Such relations help us identify our position in society with respect to people around us. These relations provide ways to expose the hidden anthropological factor in all humans. Our appearances whether physical or emotional are often deceptive as they do not necessarily reflect true intentions. Studying human relations involves understanding the subconscious human thinking that influences our motivations (Henderson 17). The following essay deals with the importance of inter human relations on human growth and success. Keywords: social, interaction, people, relation, existence, communication, failure, understanding, business, knowledge, motive The evolution of human being from an unthinkable ape to a thinkable animal is a noteworthy phenomenon. We have learned, demonstrated and understood that man is a social animal. Several qualities which are dormant in him come to surface when man is exposed to similar creatures and situations which stimulate his brain cells. Communication capabilities and successful interaction with one another has made him share ideas and commodities for fulfilling his requirements since ancient times. Human existence is itself a struggle against our environmental conditions. To gain all that can be gained, to achieve all that can be achieved and to conquer all that can be conquered is the motto of human living today. Demand for success in every deed has become an inseparable aspect of human efforts. Man has tremendous potential to carve path for himself and achieve phenomenal success. We have known great people such as Edison, Newton, Einstein and many more who have stood rooted against all odds and such is their success that their names are at the tip of our tongue. It should be noted that although individual survival is possible but growth and success are fairly dependent upon establishing and maintaining human relations. For instance let us consider the case of a businessman trying to market a product to boost his company sales. Substantial improvement in productivity can be viewed with apt co-operation from people in various departments such as those concerned with product delivery, packaging, costing, advertising and ultimately the customer. A splendid combination of co-operation from everyone involved needs remarkable communication and a good understanding amongst participants. A failure in this will always have quantifiable repercussions on the businessman’s attempts to run his company. One also has to understand that entire chain of activities needs a wise action plan and wishful involvement of people. â€Å"It is a known fact that businesses become more effective as their employees become better adjusted emotionally† (Henderson 16). Maintaining an excellent rapport by keeping healthy human relations is significant for the success of every individual involved. As rightly suggested by Huczynski, human relations have the power and ability to firmly hold entire industrial society which was once considered a shaky fabric. This was considered possible because of inherent human desire for intimacy and predictability in day to day activities (127). We also know that unity adds strength. Unity arrives from strong bonding amongst a group of people. These strong bonds can be maintained by keeping good human relations. Maintaining good human relations facilitates co-operation and increases our power even as an individual. A good ensures support during adversities. Personal growth carries different meaning to different people. Few may find substantial growth and happiness in group work whereas some others may find it easier to tread their paths alone. Success and personal growth do not come on their own accord. They demand involvement, hard work, determination and perseverance. Success in certain field also requires knowledge of subjects from some other areas which are to be acquired with help from other people. This involvement from other people can only happen if a good quality of interpersonal relationship exists among them. Improper human relations create huge communication gap and dampen a person’s motivation and urge. What exactly is personal growth? Expanding our dimensions of knowledge and understanding without any involvement with others is nearly impossible. A bad relation stems from selfish motives, insufficient understanding between people and it often leads to conflicts. Such conflicts cause mental instability and are a major reason for war. A person is said to grow when he/she grows not only physically but also psychologically and spiritually. Let us understand this with the analogy of plants. A plant cannot grow on its own. Through years it has developed relations with sun, soil, water, fertilizers, oxygen, other plants for pollination, etc which are all essential for its growth. Same is the case with humans. The crux of entire discussion lies in attempting to focus on best possible human relations. A good human relation is very essential for individual growth and success. A good relation nurtures happiness, promises satisfaction and opens new horizons for success. As Butler-Bowdown writes about Covey; until one can understand others’ way of seeing, one cannot be truly successful. Personal growth isn’t always about doing something new but about doing something in new light and learning to see world with other’s eyes (93). An exemplary shift in human relations triggers personal achievements at a high level!

Is Banning Books Constitutional - 1208 Words

Is banning books constitutional? The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Protecting one of our most fundamental rights- the freedom to read- means respecting each other’s differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves, what they and their families read.† So, how is it that boards of educa tion are the ones making decisions on books? Which ones should be censored? What right do they have to do so? The boards are not the ones who should be held accountable for what books children and adolescents absorb; this is primarily the responsibility of parents. Many conservative groups make the argument that the books that have been banned have material that is inappropriate, immoral or contradicting the beliefs they have ingrained in their children and/or their society. Book-banning cases usually concern the protection of children and their innocence, but all that is happening is sheltering parents trying to avoid an awkward confrontation with their child about uncomfortable matters. It is not only selfish, but also harmful to the overall education of their children. The touchy subjects of banned books contain issues that are part of everyday life, and for a group to attempt to censor this subject from younger society is almost absurd; these issues are not monstrous and the censorship of them not only shows prejudice but lack of respect. Others would say that it is the government’s duty to regulate these books. It is the exactShow MoreRelatedBanning Books : A Severe Prescription Mix Up1208 Words   |  5 PagesChris Wong Ms. Sommer Advanced English 9 08 September 2014 Banning Books: A Severe Prescription Mix-Up A thought that could make many Americans sick is the thought of losing the basic human rights outlined in the Bill of Rights. 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Life Is Like A Basketball Court - 803 Words

â€Å"Life is like a basketball, it bounces up and down.† I love basketball. I feel affection for the taste of victory, when you win a game. However, I also find losing a worthwhile experience. I worship the feeling where you score a point. It’s slow motion at first, as you gaze at the shot you’ve made, wondering if it is going to manage. Then the taste of your salty sweat and the sound of your pounding heart are back in action. *Swoosh* the ball rapidly swirls into the hoop and falls through the net. It is so stunning, and so breath-taking. â€Å"Beautiful shot! BEAUTIFUL!† the coach would yell. Everyone would give a little cheer, and I would smile and look down. I am proud to make the shot, but not cocky about it. It’s for the team, teamwork†¦ I†¦show more content†¦Sometimes, you may accidentally make those errors, like the mistakes in your life, but without mistakes, you would not have experience. We learn from our mistakes, and th at is important. 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