Personal Value Reconciliation

Personal Value Reconciliation
Michael Piers
March 1, 2010

CMGT 350
I.T. Organization Behavior
Mark Paxton

The process of changing our thoughts, behavior, values and ethics in a global setting is how we reconcile and as a result, conform to a socially accepted standard. This is often called normative behavior; we act according to the appropriateness of conduct deemed satisfactory to a particular group. The rules of acceptable conduct are dependent on the setting; what is right and wrong or socially acceptable depends greatly on the values of the people (and their respective culture) involved. As a result, the reconciliation of personal values is merely becoming consistent with the actions, thoughts, behavior, values and ethics of our peers, parents, teachers, etc. The intent of this paper is to discuss the aforementioned compliance of personal values as they are adapted to a particular setting.
According to the Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, behavioral modeling plays a large role in our learning; the difference between what is or is not accepted is learned through modeling.
Much human learning occurs from sitting and watching, or from just happening to notice what someone else is doing. Indeed, more social learning occurs from observing others than from physically or verbally interacting and experiencing positive or negative outcomes. Observation provides information about what may be learned (alternative behaviors, potential consequences, etc.). When observation occurs under the right circumstances, it can result in immediate changes to learning or performance.
Modeling consists of an illustrator and an observer, in which the observer has been influenced by the illustrator. The encyclopedia states that this type of learning has been widely applied, across numerous areas, resulting in learning or performance modification. Therefore, as thinking and reasoning beings, we learn vicariously whether our behaviors are acceptable or not; through written or unspoken consensus, we conform. In 1971, Philip Zimbardo a Stanford University psychology professor conducted a very telling experiment in the basement of the psychology department. According to Zimbardo, “The purpose was to understand the development of norms and the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations in a simulated prison environment.” What Zimbardo discovered, among other results, was that the students who acted as guards demonstrated (through their assumed roles) a mildly sadistic shift in behavior. Further that the guards exacerbated and encouraged such behavior.
In the aforementioned example, the behavior of the guards is likened to mob behavior – a type of herd mentality in which a group acts in unison sometimes losing sight of their understood correctness of behavior. Oxford Psychologist Henri Tajfel coined “groupness” for “tendency of various animals, including humans, to form in-groups…and to protect their group from outsides and from outside influences.” Often group mentality, in which majority opinion rules, can force compliance through the desire to avoid conflict. As a result, there are numerous examples of failures in judgment because of this mind-set: religious wars, Salem witch trials, the space shuttle disasters, police brutality, etc.
According to Tony Robbins, pain and pleasure are the two major motivators that incite people to action. Therefore, to stimulate a desired change, one merely needs to assign more of one motivator than the other. In the preceding circumstance, if the avoidance of conflict outweighs the need to be accepted in a group, then the obvious inclination results in an action avoiding conflict.
In a physiological sense, many organisms involuntarily adapt to changes in their environment: the chameleon changes color, plants track the sun across the sky to gain photosynthesis efficiencies and many creatures living within the various ecosystems on earth modify their behaviors as a survival technique. As humans, the means to a compatible coexistence is our ability to adapt. This ability or trait provides for the success of humans in a group setting. We reconcile our values and ethics as a survival technique. We model others, learning vicariously, act as a herd following or succumbing to consensus, and are guided by fear. In religion we are taught to obey the rules or suffer the damnation. Therefore, we learn to adapt or become an outcast to society.

Works Cited

Behavioral Modeling. (2004). In The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/wileypsych/behavioral_modeling

Gonzales, L. (2008, October). Mob Mentality. National Geographic Adventure, p. 28. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.

STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT. (2007). In Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/willandpp/stanford_prison_experiment

Cited: Behavioral Modeling. (2004). In The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/wileypsych/behavioral_modeling Gonzales, L. (2008, October). Mob Mentality. National Geographic Adventure, p. 28. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database. STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT. (2007). In Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/willandpp/stanford_prison_experiment