Decline Of Civility Research Paper

Rudeness: The Decline of Civility or a Sign of the Times? “Please, thank you, no mam, and no sir”, are just some common terms that seemed to have vanished from conversations of daily living. Rudeness once was frowned upon but in today’s time, it has become usual. It seems as though no one cares about the cause and effect of their uncivility. Something as simple as showing appreciation for someone’s kind gesture should not be hard to do. For example if a person holds open the door for you, in return, the person should be thanked. According to a study lead by Glenn Fox, Ph.D., a psychology researcher at University of Southern California, only 19% of 194 strangers thanked the person holding the door. Those numbers shows how distraught society
has become. It takes 2 seconds to show acts of chivalry or politeness. It is catastrophic to know that American people have become numb to the current situation at hand.
Time has changed and with that change, has come different perceptions of having manners. John Kasson, a professor at the University of North Carolina, said in his book entitled: Rudeness & Civility, “tracing those changes through time is rather like looking for salt in the sea.” (72) People no longer take in to consideration on how their actions or words could harm someone else. We as people learn from example meaning our children are watching and we are recreating monsters. Even in our school system uncivility exists. Cyber bullying is at an all-time high. According to journalist Sarah Phillips, there is now a greater recognition of the connection between bullying and suicide. (28) The internet has become a safe haven for bullies to be rude, uncivilized, and bullies to their classmates and/or peers without any consequences. If we are going to eliminate the problem of uncivility, we as a whole have to change our unjust behaviors, possess a non-judgmental heart, and realize that we are doing more harm than
good. If we want change in our present and future times, we must start now. Relying on others to make a difference in our everyday encounter with uncivility is no longer acceptable. Rudeness is in our judges, lawyers, police officers, nurses, doctors and teachers. We have even witnessed unjust behaviors in the recent presidential elections between both candidates. That behavior demonstrated that in order to get ahead or become superior, you must act accordingly. This is not the kind of example that should be portrayed to the people. According to a survey of 1286 people polled by Allegheny College, the lack of political civility in elections makes voters more willing to accept rude behavior than they were in the past. The survey found that only 69% found it offensive to comment on someone’s race/ethnic back ground during the election while in 2010 89% found it offensive. Being non-judgmental is a characteristic that everyone should possess. It should not matter the race, gender, financial status, or religion of someone else in order for you to be civilized with them. Depending on old policies has become almost impossible. Many African Americans are afraid to be involved with law enforcement in which took an oath to protect and serve and do no harm. For instance Shaun Gabiddon in Criminological Theories on Race and Crime conducted a study that showed that black males are stereotyped as criminals, in which in return leads police officers to become fearful of being victimized or harmed by blacks, thus making it justifiable to shoot an unarmed man. (408-505). It is going to take us a whole people to change the new epidemic. The only way that society will see a change is if we all participate in the reconstruction of ourselves.
Simply trading places with the opponent could possible make the problem transparent. Seeing through someone’s eyes may seem scary at this point but it should. It not only opens you up for consideration of other’s feelings but it decreases your chances of being rude. The old saying is it takes a village to raise a child. Well think of people as the village and our country as the child. The old saying kill them with kindness should become law. Ms. Deborah Wadsworth, president of public agenda research organization, stated the solution to rudeness best, “how to get even with rude people –be civil.” Her researched summarized that 8 out of 10 American found that the lack of respect and courtesy has decreased since the past. Dealing with disrespect by returning the unwanted actions is only a problem. By showing that you could be civilized puts that person in an awkward position and make them retreat from continuing the
behavior. Other solutions to the issue of uncivility may also be feasible, but this solution is absolutely free. Changing your unjust behaviors, realizing that other people have feelings, and being nonjudgmental is something that everyone can do. It may not happen overnight but it is very much so possible. Good mannerism absolutely makes a difference in your personal and professional life. Just think, if everyone in the world was accountable for his/her own actions and understood that it is okay for someone to be different, how much rudeness would decrease and more successful people will exist. According to Modern Healthcare Magazine, most of the successful businessmen have flawless manners (29). Their actions make everyone that they encounter feel special and important. Who does not want to be successful? You cannot get to the top by stepping on people on the way up. Failure to commit to changing our poor behaviors will only lead to the destruction of our community, youth, and families. There is no wrong in treating people with respect. Respect is due to every living organism. No one wants to feel intimidated or worthless. According to the Journal of Occupational Psychology, uncivil behavior has been shown to cause negative individual and organizational outcomes (625-644). Those outcomes include but are not limited to: psychological distress, anxiety, job stress, poor task performance, and increased unemployment rate. With all of those factors in affect, this uncivility epidemic will only continue and increasingly become worse if we all do not change our unjust behaviors now.