Social Influences on Behavior - Essay Example

Ben often takes energy drinks before going out. One day, he takes his girlfriend, Tiara, along with him. Tiara sits on the bench in the garden while Ben runs around the periphery. This day, Ben can run for 30 minutes at the speed of 10 kilometers per hour and he does not even feel exhausted. Instead, he feels like continuing even after the first 30 minutes have passed but stops to give company to Tiara. To add to it, Ben even did not take the energy drink this day before leaving for the workout.

The usual context is Ben running alone. Although there are other people in the garden, he does not care who is watching because they are all strangers. It does not matter to him if somebody forms an opinion about him to watch him look tired or exhausted or give up much before 20 minutes have passed. So Ben’s attention is solely focused on the workout and he does not put in enough effort. However, on this day, when Ben brings Tiara along with him, his tendency to do workouts is enhanced because he has in mind that Tiara is watching him. Being watched by someone he cares about makes the whole experience of a physical workout different for Ben. He thinks that if he stops earlier than 20 minutes, he might disappoint Tiara as she has been told by him that he has the stamina to run for 20 minutes without stopping at the speed of 9.5 kilometers per hour. Ben’s behavior this day originates not only in his attempt to escape the embarrassment of disappointing Tiara but also in his attempt to impress her.

The possible precursors of this behavior, from the lens of social psychology, include consciousness, high self-esteem, self-image, and gender identity. Men have an impression of being strong and active and Ben wants to live up to this impression. The consequence of this behavior is social facilitation which is defined as a phenomenon wherein the behavior, output, or productivity of an individual increase because of the consciousness of being watched. Under the effect of social facilitation, Ben is not only able to run for an additional ten minutes, but he also manages to run at an average of 10 kilometers per hour. So his productivity is increased both in terms of speed and time. As expected, Ben is appreciated by Tiara and she is impressed to find out how much stamina Ben has built. For social facilitation, one needs to be watched by people one cares about, which is true in this case.
Example 2
Gig and Wayne are spouses. The gig is the husband and Wayne is the wife. Both are at a bus stop surrounded by people. The two can be watched arguing. Slowly, the argument heats up. The gig has a mug of coffee in his hand. Suddenly, Gig can be seen splashing the coffee all over Wayne’s face and clothes. Wayne shouts and cries in reaction. Gig abuses Wayne and advances to slap her. People start gathering all around them. From a distance, the two can be seen making the center of a large circle, with people all around them. The two indulge in a physical fight. Nobody does anything to stop them and just keep watching. People keep adding to the circle and in no time, it becomes a big and dense crowd so much so that one cannot make from a distance what is happening in there unless one goes to have a peep and becomes a member of the crowd.
In this scenario, the specific behavior is a lack of courage on the part of the people. A husband abusing, physically assaulting, and misbehaving with his wife in the public is an obvious bad behavior that must be condemned. People are not indifferent to this misbehavior and out of their curiosity and empathy with Wayne, gather around the couple as the two fight. However, nobody does anything to stop Gig from abusing Wayne not because everybody is indifferent to what is happening in front of their eyes, but because everybody leaves the responsibility of advancing and making the intervention to others. Everybody is looking for that somebody who would go ahead and forcefully stop Gig until the police arrive.
The possible precursor of this behavior on the part of the people is their thinking that others are more courageous than them. People in such a scenario feel underequipped and incapable of intervening whereas they are both equipped and capable of intervening. Instead of leaving it to others, if somebody had intervened, Gig could have stopped abusing Wayne any further after he had splashed the coffee onto her face. The consequence of this behavior is that nobody intervenes and thus Gig carries on abusing and insulting Wayne and it might go on for a long time till the police arrive. Read More