Why Be Fake?

Suwaira Iqbal
Ms. Shelly Sanders
EN 1113- 05
26 September 2012
Why be Fake? People often call others fake without giving it a second thought. Human beings are capable of changing and adjusting themselves according to their environment. There are people all around the world who try really hard to blend into their surroundings, and mostly end up in situations where normal people develop a feeling of hatred towards those individuals for their fabricated behavior, like Scarlet Koop says “Time passes and you begin to see, people for who they really are and not who they pretend to be.” What makes me wonder is, what is it that makes people behave in such an impetuous way? Fake people are often categorized as: hypocrites, liars, and traitors, disloyal, immoral and twofaced. Any normal person will not trust a hypocrite because hypocrites care only about themselves and they would do anything to look good in front of others, but who on earth does not want to look good in front of others? In Why We Act As We Do Eisenberg says “Being ourselves is one of the most difficult human achievement” (250). We all change according to our environment and according to the situation we are kept in. According to Ayme, Dumas, Huguet and Neave, human behavior depends on several factors. For example, human brain works in a different way if the person knows that he/she is being compared to somebody else, if an individual is kept in a fight or flight situation, if one is told something that would boost his/her confidence, or vice versa, and the list goes on.
So what exactly is normal or, according to Eisenberg, “healthy” and what can be considered unhealthy? Eisenberg defines a healthy person as “one who can satisfy his physical, affectional, social and creative needs, who is personally capable of meeting difficulties, and whose social outlook is progressive” and an unhealthy person is the one who is “neurotic or very disturbed emotionally [….] Such people should seek professional treatment”(248-250). According to Proshansky and Seindenberg in Basic Studies in Social Psychology, the attitude of a person to deal with a situation is developed at a very early age. Kids believe what they are told and they represent themselves and respond to certain situations like they have been taught. Eisenberg claims that “An over protected child faces difficulties fitting into the environment and dealing with situations because he was never encouraged to deal with his problems on his own” (251), and when kids like these encounter problems in their lives they do not know how to react or tackle these problems. Muris in his research paper agrees with Eisengberg’s clams and adds that such kids are more prone to suffer from anxiety disorders and other mental disorders (e.g, depression).”
Gender differences also play a huge role in an individual’s social behavior. Cox, Mezulis, and Hyde concluded their research paper by stating that females think more intensely about certain things or situations, which might lead to depression, and depression directly leads to behavioral change. Another factor that manipulates human behavior is the society one grows up in. According to Silbereisen and Tomasik “First, countries differ in their welfare systems, and some buffer better against overtaxing effects of social change and others do not. Second, between [….] communities and neighborhoods, or the workplace, with the family to which an individual belongs [….] however, social change an individual has experienced does not tell the full story; the context and its history must be taken into consideration.”
No one likes or wants to be called a traitor or disloyal and in order to be called good, a person has to submit some of his/her individual freedom. Like Dolly Parton says “We Cannot Direct The Wind, But We Can Adjust The Sails,” every individual is trying their best to fit into the society that they live in, either because they want to be successful and they are ready to give up anything or anyone during that process, or simply because they do not want to be black sheep in society, and sometimes while trying too hard they forget who they really are, and that is when others start to think of those individuals as fake.
Works Cited
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Knowledge of One’s Relative Standing Makes a Difference,” Current Psychology Letters 2.16 (2005): n. pag. Revus. Web. 20 Sep. 2012
Calhoun, C. (1992). Social change. In E. F. Borgatta & M. L. Borgatta (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sociology (vol. 4, pp. 1807-1812).
Cox, Stephanie J., Amy H. Mezulis, and Janet S. Hyde. “The Influence Of Child Gender Role
And Maternal Feedback To Child Stress On The Emergence Of The Gender Difference In Depressive Rumination In Adolescence.” Developmental Psychology 46.4 (2010): 842-852. PsycARTICLES. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.
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Eisenberg, Philip. Why We Act as We Do. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. Print.
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Neave, Nick. Hormones and Behaviour: A Psychological Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge
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Proshansky, Harold, and Bernard Seidenberg. Basic Studies in Social Psychology. London: Holt,
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“Scarlet Koop Quotes.” Search Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/I_told_you_before,_I 'd_only_fight_for_so_long._When_I 'm_done,_I 'm_done._All_loyalty_is_gone./346920/>.
Silbereisen, Rainer K., and Martin J. Tomasik. “Human Behavior In Response To Social
Change: A Guide To The Special Section.” European Psychologist 15.4 (2010): 243-245. PsycARTICLES. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.
“Urban Dictionary: Fake People.” Urban Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012.

Cited: Ayme, Dumas, and Pascal Huguet. “Social Context Effects in the Stroop Task: When Knowledge of One’s Relative Standing Makes a Difference,” Current Psychology Letters 2.16 (2005): n Calhoun, C. (1992). Social change. In E. F. Borgatta &amp; M. L. Borgatta (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sociology (vol “Dolly Parton.” BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2012. 26 September 2012. Eisenberg, Philip. Why We Act as We Do. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. Print. Muris, Peter, Anna Van Brakel, Arnoud Arntz, and Erik Schouther. “Behavioral Inhibition as a Risk Factor for the Development of Childhood Anxiety Disorders: A Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Child and Family Studies 20.2 (2011): 157-70 Neave, Nick. Hormones and Behaviour: A Psychological Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008 Proshansky, Harold, and Bernard Seidenberg. Basic Studies in Social Psychology. London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969 “Scarlet Koop Quotes.” Search Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. Silbereisen, Rainer K., and Martin J. Tomasik. “Human Behavior In Response To Social Change: A Guide To The Special Section.” European Psychologist 15.4 (2010): 243-245 “Urban Dictionary: Fake People.” Urban Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012.