Social Behavior

Social Influences on Behavior

PSY 300

Dawn Salone

February 18, 2013

Social Influences on Behavior

Sociology and social psychology travel along similar paths. Entering a new situation for the first time may be made easier by conformity. Getting together with a specific group can alter the individual’s regular behavior. Tying the identity to a group is social identity theory. Humans are pack animals that crave social interaction, and to deny this (as some cultures have tried to do) is a wasted effort

Sociology (the study of human groups and social behaviors) is very broad (Schaefer, 2011). In essence sociology walks hand in hand with social psychology. Many of the principals are similar if not identical.
Stratification and socioeconomic class only have meaning in sociology because of social psychology with in the individual (Schaefer, 2011). Conformity is motivated by the group that surrounds an individual
(Kowalski & Westen, 2011).Some may engage in a social strategy of blaming-the-victim to justify an action or inaction (Schaefer, 2011). Conformity can backfire if out-group-vises are imposed upon a person seeking to fit in (Schaefer, 2011).This tends to happen on bigoted lines of race or religion. Assuming that it is a diverse environment then a new person will seek a model to follow or a group to join.

A young man starts a new occupation. He is in his mid twenties and knows nobody at this new location. It is his first day of work. The young man may get introduced to someone by his supervisor (in the hope that he will model himself after this mentor) but if not the established employees will inspect and watch from a distance until one recognizes a commonality. The approach will be casual. Assuming all goes well the new guy will assimilate into his mentors group. While assessing his new group the young man will lay low before making any attempt to unseat the hierarchy. Once his niche has been established he will then determine whether he wishes for more control, less control, or a new group altogether.

In this scenario conformity will be the key to the new employee becoming acclimated to his new job and surroundings. In addition he will have to figure out his role within the company and the group. (Kowalski &
Westen, 2011) The dynamics of those separate positions will become more natural with time or push him to leave for roles in which he is better suited.

It has been 15 years since their graduation. A group of friends that studied together while at the University meet every year to watch the big rivalry game. This year’s game is at the old alma mater. This group is comprised of two doctors, three scientists, a psychologist, an accountant, and a lawyer. This collective of eight people, maintains sparse contact through email the rest of the year. Yet once they arrive in town and see each other; it is as if they were still in school studying (or lack thereof). It is game day and per tradition (started 8 years ago when their boys won for the first time in a decade) they all dress in school colors each wearing a letter that in the right order spells, “GO BULLS!” The one with the exclamation mark has a question mark on the inside of the shirt in case the team is losing. Opening ceremonies is not until 2PM but for the crazy “8” the party has already started. By game time these articulate professionals can only scream the teams name discernibly. All other speech is lost on anyone other than themselves.
Sadly the Bulls lost but these partiers will not be denied. They find a frat house party to crash and keep go anywhere they have preplanned the extra night into this excursion. As each travels back to their corners of the country in the partings they extend it is quipped, “One of these years we will stay sober through the game.” Then a laugh is shared with a simultaneous,“NAAAH

This is a classic example of social facilitation. (Kowalski & Westen, 2011) Each person

individually behaves in a proper professional manner apart from the clique. Once together it becomes quite clear that all will be acting juvenile for the duration of the activity. It is the group that will illicit the response. This happens all the time in most cultures (he, “All bets are off; if I’m with my buddies!” she, “When I’m with my girls; it’s on!”). People acting in a way that they believe to be expected of them by the others gathered in the group.
A man and wife have made plans for the evening. She is a part time cashier at the local Wal-Mart and he has been unemployed for over two years. His benefits ran out a few weeks back and she does not receive many benefits because she works part time. It is an odd occurrence since her state defines full time as 30 hours of employment per week but her employer defines it as 34 hours per week. She works
32 hours per week. They are headed for the republican primaries. This is a presidential election year and a democrat is in that office. Republicans have regained the house but not the senate which has ground the federal government to a halt. “The government is too big!” the candidates say (each of them are very different but their message is eerily similar). Cut Medicaid, cut welfare, reduce regulations on businesses and reduce taxes on job creators are all republican ideology. It might be easy to imagine that the couple hopes to voice an opinion against these measures as the implementation of them would have drastic consequences for this pair of people. This is not the case. The struggling couple is arm in arm going to cheer for their favorite candidate. They have been conservatives all their lives and see no reason to change. The debate heavily favors their man and it looks like he will be the one running against the incumbent. After a night of revelry, the man and wife return home and stress over if they can afford to live in their house anymore.
This travels beyond conformity and social facilitation into social-identity theory. (Feldman, 2010) The couple has tied their identity to a political party and fully believes that their in-group is superior to the other party. It does not matter to them that the person they are rooting for will ultimately destroy their way of life should he win. All they want to see is their group win.

The study of social interaction is important to both sociology and social psychology. Getting settled into a new position can be very stress until the individual find their role. Peer pressure can increase with the expectation of the group that the individual acts in a particular way. Searching for or placing a person’s identity in a group is a dangerous proposition. Humans are pack animals that crave social interaction, and to deny this (as some cultures have tried to do) is a wasted effort.

References
Feldman, R. S. (2010). Psychology and Your Life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Schaefer, R. T. (2011). Racial and Ethnic Groups (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

References: Feldman, R. S. (2010). Psychology and Your Life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Schaefer, R. T. (2011). Racial and Ethnic Groups (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.