General Perspectives on Human Behavior - Research Paper Example

The biological influences on human behavior entail the genetic component of human beings that governs human behaviors; human beings have genes that are responsible for ordering certain types of behaviors in human individuals. Genetically, human beings have an inherent capacity to form, develop, and maintain social bonds in their lives (Carter, n.d); this capacity is triggered by hormonal functions that result in the need for love and affection by the heart, thereby succeeding in establishing long-lasting romantic relationships.

Learning influences occur in the environment because sights of people in romantic relationships and narrations of the wonderful romantic experiences felt by lovers will always thrill individuals to want to engage in these same relationships. In this respect, observational learning is critical to the process of forming and developing long-lasting relationships; both models of successful relationships inspire other couples to remain committed in romantic relationships whereas models of dysfunctional broken relationships provide learning experiences of behaviors to avoid. Couples will often go through learning processes that influence how they interact in romantic relationships in meaningful ways that lead to long-lasting relationships throughout their lifetime.

Socio-cultural influences emerge in the form of societal expectations of both men and women concerning the establishment, development, and maintenance of social relationships; cultural perspectives on social relationships vary across different cultures due to variations in cultural values and contribute immensely towards an understanding of romantic love (Dion and Kenneth, 1996). For instance, whereas some cultures value commitment, others value passion and intimacy in romantic relationships for continuity of the human generations; in this case, different societies will have different perspectives on how individuals should form and maintain romantic relationships. Where society expects that men and women should form marriage bonds and raise children as a commitment rather than for intimacy and passion, this will be the drive for the formation, development, and maintenance of romantic relationships.

The cognitive perspective assumes that behavior is the result of active information processing thereby implying that human beings often try to make sense out of their environment by imposing order and meaning to the things they encounter. In this case, individuals often process information in their environment through thinking thereby ascribing meaning and order to their daily experiences; this influences human behavior in meaningful ways because pleasing experiences will be reinforced whereas unpleasant ones will be repressed. The emotional need for affection and love will naturally drive individuals to seek satisfaction through heterosexual relationships and the satisfaction from these relationships in return will compel individuals to maintain the relationships. The Psychodynamic influences on human behavior are conceptualized based on the notion that human beings are unconscious of some internal forces in the form of images, thoughts, or feelings, which are the essential bases of human behavior. In this case, this perspective views the motivation of human behavior in terms of urges that must be fulfilled within individuals; for instance, individuals have the urge to love and be loved and to give or receive affection, which is expressed in the formation of romantic relationships.

Overall, the biological, learning, socio-cultural, cognitive, and psychodynamic perspectives of human behavior influence the origin, development, and maintenance of romantic relationships. Biologically, human beings have an innate ability to form and maintain long-lasting romantic relationships due to their genetic makeup while the environment too provides the learning experiences for individuals. Human beings learn how to form and maintain positive relationships through their interactions in the environment, by watching models of positive behavior, adjusting theirs accordingly, and discarding unacceptable ones.

Socio-cultural influences on behavior are the societal prescriptions of how individuals should relate to one another, and they determine how individuals form, develop, and maintain romantic relationships. Psychodynamic influences on human behavior are the hidden internal forces that constantly seek expression but have been repressed, often resulting into conflicts within the individual; however, these urges often find expression through the establishment and maintenance of positive human behaviors that are acceptable such as romantic relationships between couples.
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