Social Influence On Behavior Paper
Social Influence on Behavior
PSY/300
August14,2013
Social Influence on Behavior
Human behavior is often not standalone in nature. A major consideration is, therefore, the social surroundings in which one dwells. Humans are social animals whose behavior is often influenced by and changes in the presence of others. The paper discusses two such instances whereby human behavior is different in the presence of others than what it would be otherwise. The first identifies groupthink as the source of such behavior particularly during crisis situation whereby the limited time available may prohibit humans for relying on cognitive information processing and standalone decisions. The other recognizes the phenomenon of impression management when politicians try to impress their followers …show more content…
This is because individuals make their decisions based on both the central route (involving cognitive information processing) as well as peripheral route (involving environmental cues) (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983). Therefore, both the rational and non-rational modes of decision-making co-exist even in the most complex situations. Rational decision-making may be defined as the identification and evaluation of alternative courses of action (Wilcox, 2010). Irrational decision-making, on the other hand, is defined as paying little heed to alternatives available and relying on instincts to make a decision (Wilcox, 2010). In the case of the crashing plane (discussed previously) the panic generated by an alarming situation (such as warnings from the control tower or air traffic authorities) can cause the pilot to resort to irrational decisions based on his/her past experiences or intuition. This can most likely be attributed to the lack of time available in such a crisis situation whereby the pilot may not have the time to evaluate alternatives
PSY/300
August14,2013
Social Influence on Behavior
Human behavior is often not standalone in nature. A major consideration is, therefore, the social surroundings in which one dwells. Humans are social animals whose behavior is often influenced by and changes in the presence of others. The paper discusses two such instances whereby human behavior is different in the presence of others than what it would be otherwise. The first identifies groupthink as the source of such behavior particularly during crisis situation whereby the limited time available may prohibit humans for relying on cognitive information processing and standalone decisions. The other recognizes the phenomenon of impression management when politicians try to impress their followers …show more content…
This is because individuals make their decisions based on both the central route (involving cognitive information processing) as well as peripheral route (involving environmental cues) (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983). Therefore, both the rational and non-rational modes of decision-making co-exist even in the most complex situations. Rational decision-making may be defined as the identification and evaluation of alternative courses of action (Wilcox, 2010). Irrational decision-making, on the other hand, is defined as paying little heed to alternatives available and relying on instincts to make a decision (Wilcox, 2010). In the case of the crashing plane (discussed previously) the panic generated by an alarming situation (such as warnings from the control tower or air traffic authorities) can cause the pilot to resort to irrational decisions based on his/her past experiences or intuition. This can most likely be attributed to the lack of time available in such a crisis situation whereby the pilot may not have the time to evaluate alternatives