Fundamental Concepts of Human Interaction from the Perspective of Social Psychology - Coursework Example

Fundamental concepts of human interaction from the perspective of social psychology Grade (March 30th, Fundamental concepts of human interaction from the perspective of social psychology Specific behaviors and the context in which they occurred Ever since we joined college, my friend has not been able to talk to girls, and he seems to have a phobia for women in general. However, during the last weekend of February, we went to a club and he had several drinks. Suddenly, he turned into this talkative and social young man that I had not seen before. During this drinking session at the club, he was able to sustain a romantic talk with several girls, and was lucky to have been given contacts by one of them so they could connect later. However, on Saturday morning when he had sobered up, it became impossible for him to even call the girl on phone. Analysis of possible precursors and consequences of the behaviors This behavior can be attributed to self-esteem and self-confidence problems, where the club setting and the influence of alcohol are the precursor for my friend talking to women. Thus, it simply means that my friend has self-esteem problems, and that is why his behavior changes towards social and friendly behavior to women when in the club and under the influence of alcohol, but his behavior changes to a more withdrawn, reserved and uninterested attitude towards women, when he is not under the influence of alcohol, and when the social situation changes from a club to normal life setting like the college environment. Associated phenomenon with behaviors Social psychology primarily analyzes the manner in which the behaviors, feelings and thoughts of people are influenced by the presence of others (Mcdougall, 1908). My friend is not able to talk to women under normal circumstances, but he is able to do that comfortably when intoxicated, meaning that he has some form of phobia for women. Therefore, the social facilitation phenomenon plays a great role in defining my friend’s behavior, since he is facilitated to talk to women by the club setting and the influence of alcohol. In this respect, the fundamental concepts of human interaction explores both how the social setting and the behaviors of others influences an individual to change their behavior, considering that the behavior of an individual is constructed of three major elements, namely who the individuals think they are, what the others think an individual is, and who the individual really is (Allport, 1924). Therefore, the fundamental concepts of human interaction from the perspective of social psychology are, attitude, the self and, social cognition, which plays a major role in determining the behavioral change of an individual depending on the presence of the others. Self cognition The impressions, the stereotypes, prejudices and the schemas form major aspects of the social cognition concept of the human interaction as perceived from the social psychology perspective (McLeod, 2007). It is upon these aspects that people think, perceive, categorize and then interpret the behaviors of others, thus defining how the individual will interact and behave in the presence of the others (Mcdougall, 1908). Through stereotypes and prejudices, it is possible for an individual to judge others for who they are not, and thus interact with them in a manner that is different from the way the individual would have interacted with them, if the true identity of those individuals was defined (Allport, 1924). Thus, the specific beliefs about oneself forms the self-schema against which individuals define themselves, which also influences the way the individual interprets and defines the world around them, forming the constructs that the individuals will apply when interacting with others (Mcdougall, 1908). Through the self-schemas, individuals can then define themselves as beautiful, smart, overweight or athletic, and such definitions affects the ways in which the individuals process social information. This occurs through the schemas influencing the way the individuals will perceive, remember and evaluate themselves as well as others (McLeod, 2007). It is these factors that define the perceived successes or failures of an individual by themselves in different aspects of life, thus defining how confident the individuals are with themselves and their achievements, status and looks. This forms the basis through which the individuals make comparisons with others, as well as how the others judge the individual (McLeod, 2007). The self concept The concept of self is a fundamental aspect that defines the behavior of an individual in the presence of others, since it defines the nature of self-esteem that extends to how good or bad individuals feel about themselves and self-presentation relating to the way the individuals present themselves before others, in terms of either being confident and self assured or uncomfortable and withdrawn (McLeod, 2007). These elements of the concept of self determines the nature of self-consistency displayed by the individual while in the presence of others, where if the individual is confident and has a high self-esteem, self-consistency will be displayed in all levels of interactions, but if the individual has low self-esteem, their self-consistency might vary, with a good presentation before the family and friends or others who appreciate the individual, and timid and uncomfortable presentation before strangers and those perceived to be either unfriendly (McLeod, 2007). The self-concept is the function of a set of organized collection of feelings and beliefs about oneself, which constitutes what is referred to as the self-identity (Allport, 1924). The concept of self-identity develops gradually and in different phases throughout the life of an individual, always shaped primarily by the nature of interactions that an individual have with the immediate family from birth, and the subsequent interaction with others in the society (McLeod, 2007). The self-identity already forged by the family interaction can then be built upon, or altered by the later human interactions with other outside the family. The concept of self is a framework that defines the manner in which people process information about themselves, such as their motives, abilities and emotional states (Mcdougall, 1908). Thus, the concept of self can be summarized to mean the individuals’ beliefs about their personal abilities and qualities, based on the external influences that the individuals have had from interacting with the family and the other people, such as motivations, acceptability and the reactions of others towards the presence of an individual (McLeod, 2007). However, depending on the similarity or the difference in the interaction between the individual and the family and that of the individual with the rest of the society, the self-identity can then change from the primary one constructed by the immediate family interaction to a different one, or remain the same. Attitude This forms the third fundamental concepts of human interaction from the perspective of social psychology, which can be simply defined as the relatively enduring mode of general evaluation of people, objects, issues or relationships in a scale that ranges from positive attitude to negative attitudes (McLeod, 2007). Attitude is majorly a function of socially desirable expectations, as opposed to an individual’s innate belief system that influences individuals to behave in a manner that is socially acceptable, as opposed to the way they would manifest their true behavior where social standards are not existing (Allport, 1924). This is a major determinant of the manner in which individuals interact with others, considering that the attitude of an individual towards others define whether the individual will react to the individuals in a positive or a negative manner (McLeod, 2007). The major elements of attitude as a concept of human interaction as perceived from the social psychology are cognitive dissonance and persuasion, which have a great bearing on the attitudes of others, and thus can highly influence behavioral change (Mcdougall, 1908). The cognitive dissonance is a situation involving conflicting beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that makes an individual feel uncomfortable in that situation (McLeod, 2007). This feeling of discomfort then forces an individual to restructure and change their attitudes towards an object, a situation or a person, to reduce the discomfort and restore balance (McLeod, 2007). Therefore, it is through the process of trying to hold the individual beliefs and attitude so that they can remain in harmony that an individual is engaged in behavior change when they interact with others (Mcdougall, 1908). This occurs especially when the belief and the attitude of the individual towards others was aligned negatively, but through interaction, a positive image of the others emerge, forcing an individual to change behavior, so it can reflect the positive image formed (McLeod, 2007). References Allport, F. H. (1924). Response to social stimulation in the group. Social psychology, 260-291. Mcdougall, W. (1908). An introduction to social psychology. Londres: Methuen. McLeod, S. A. (2007). Social Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-psychology.html Read More