Social Influences on Behavior
Social Influences on Behavior
PSY300
November 12, 2012
Dr. Dan Erickson
Social Influences on Behavior
Behaviorism explores ways in which observable behavior is learned and shaped by the environment (McAdams, D. P., 2006). However, social influence refers to the influence of the presence of other people on thought, feeling, and behavior! “The effects of social influence from environments can have both positive and negative consequences. Each individual approaches situations with their own set of personal characteristics” (McAdams, D. P., 2006); still, different aspects of influence determine how an individual may modify their behaviors to react in a given situation.
Social Psychology
In the world of psychology social behavior is in everything that we do, oddly enough, even when the time comes that you find yourself alone at home and no one is around. Social psychology is the actions that we take, words we speak, whether with others or not, and knowledge we have. “Kurt Lewin pioneered the work in this area. His field theory proposed that a person is like a piece of iron floating in a world where it is influenced to move in various directions by electromagnetic forces from different sources” (Greathouse, 1997). Lewin says that a persons’ psychological activities occur within a kind of psychological field called, life space. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones, your life space is determined by that of your own individual decisions and actions you take. Life space consists of all our past, present, and future happenings. For example, things we have done, what we do now, and what we will do, all of our emotions, feelings, and knowledge that we have and will learn, and the world experienced through reading books, watching movies, and what other people say; all aid in shaping who we are socially.
Social Impact on Behavior
Social impact theory on behavior was founded by Bibb Latane, he proposed that certain facts determine how impacting a certain
PSY300
November 12, 2012
Dr. Dan Erickson
Social Influences on Behavior
Behaviorism explores ways in which observable behavior is learned and shaped by the environment (McAdams, D. P., 2006). However, social influence refers to the influence of the presence of other people on thought, feeling, and behavior! “The effects of social influence from environments can have both positive and negative consequences. Each individual approaches situations with their own set of personal characteristics” (McAdams, D. P., 2006); still, different aspects of influence determine how an individual may modify their behaviors to react in a given situation.
Social Psychology
In the world of psychology social behavior is in everything that we do, oddly enough, even when the time comes that you find yourself alone at home and no one is around. Social psychology is the actions that we take, words we speak, whether with others or not, and knowledge we have. “Kurt Lewin pioneered the work in this area. His field theory proposed that a person is like a piece of iron floating in a world where it is influenced to move in various directions by electromagnetic forces from different sources” (Greathouse, 1997). Lewin says that a persons’ psychological activities occur within a kind of psychological field called, life space. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones, your life space is determined by that of your own individual decisions and actions you take. Life space consists of all our past, present, and future happenings. For example, things we have done, what we do now, and what we will do, all of our emotions, feelings, and knowledge that we have and will learn, and the world experienced through reading books, watching movies, and what other people say; all aid in shaping who we are socially.
Social Impact on Behavior
Social impact theory on behavior was founded by Bibb Latane, he proposed that certain facts determine how impacting a certain
References: Greathouse, J. (1997). Kurt Lewin. Retrieved from http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/lewin.htm Handwerk, B. (2005). Sports Riots: The Psychology of Fan Mayhem. Retrieved from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0620_050620_sportsriots.html Janis, Irving L. (1982). Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. Second Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Kassin, S. (2005). Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.sampsoncc.edu/staff/pwolf/msnencartapsychology.htm McAdams, D. P. (2006). The person: A new introduction to personality psychology. The psychology of Social Impact. (1981, April). Amercian Psychologist, 36(4), 1.