Groups influence people in positive and negative ways. Looking at research and surveies we will see how the functions we play in groups can act upon our behavior. We will see how groups we gravitate to assist raise our self-esteem and give us a sense of belonging but at the same clip how struggle is created with other groups. Groups we belong to assist to give us a sense of individuality but we will see how we can lose this as we conform to group behavior and the impact this can hold. Finally. we will look at Kondo’s research and how changing civilizations easy changed her individuality and how this affected her on her journey underscoring her positive and negative influences.
As we grow we will hold many societal individualities which influence the groups we belong to. These groups can run from friends to household and farther out to groups like nationality and ethnicity. Within these groups we have different functions to play which act upon our behavior.
A controversial experiment by Zimbardo ( 1971 ) ( Spoors et al. ) shows how a groups of males were separated into two groups of guards and captives in a brand displacement prison. After six yearss of a two hebdomad experiment it was stopped. The guards became opprobrious while the captives showed marks of emotional perturbation.
Tonss of factors could hold influenced the participant’s behavior but this experiment shows us the consequence that functions have on us in a group and how speedy we are to accommodate to them. We see how an person can turn opprobrious and besides how persons can be walked over an abused.
Sing Zimbardo’s experiment we can place two groups. Psychologists call these our ‘in’ and ‘out’ groups. Evidence suggests our ‘in group’ raises our self-esteem. we gain a sense of belonging. designation and a sense of position. Our ‘in group’ besides gives us an chance to compare with our ‘out group’ this can make struggle as an us and them divide is formed.
Positively we show favour to our ‘in group’ and negatively we discriminate against our ‘out group’ . Tajfel et Al. ( 1971 ) ( Spoors et al. ) showed this when he assigned teenage male childs to a ‘virtual group’ that did non be. The male childs still showed favoritism to their ‘in group’ .
We see this behavior in an experiment conducted by Sherif et Al. ( 1961 ) ( Spoors et al. ) . He set two sets of male childs in a summer cantonment into groups. Individually the groups interacted. group norms were followed. they joked and had secret codifications. The groups were set against each other in competition and within their ain groups co-operation and trueness were heightened but ill will. aggression and prejudiced was seen between the groups.
Detecting Sherif’s survey we see positively how group members found a sense of belonging in their ain group and how trueness and co-operation were heightened by competition. Negatively we see their behaviors altering when colliding against their ‘out group’ going hostile. aggressive and prejudiced. Prejudism against our ‘out group’ bolsters self-esteem as it allows us to see other groups as inferior.
We feel safe and portion of our ‘in group’ but through group force per unit area we may conform to the remainder of the group and the sense of individuality we gained we could get down to lose as we become more influenced by the remainder of the group. Asch ( 1951 ) ( Spoors et al. ) looked at this and conducted an experiment on conformance. Participants had to fit two lines out of a group of four that were similar in length with a group of other people. Participants conformed with the group who intentionally gave incorrect replies. This was repeated and 70 five per cent of participants gave a incorrect reply at least one time.
Asch’s experiment shows the influence of group force per unit area. Negatively this influence can hold black deductions. Spoors et Al. ( 2011 ) use the illustration of the ‘Heavens Gate’ cult. Thirty nine of their members committed suicide believing their psyches would be transported to a starship behind Hale Bop comet. Psychological factors need to be recognised but would they hold acted this manner left to their ain devices? Positively Asch’s experiment shows us how we like to experience portion of a group and non left out. Society would be chaos if people did non conform to some grade. Merely traveling to the film and being quiet we are conforming to the silence so others are non offended.
Cultures will hold an influence on conformance as Collectivist civilizations emphasise groups more than Individualist civilizations so wholly depending where we live in the universe cultures act upon our behavior in groups. As our behavior alterations so will our ain societal individualities and this can eventually take us onto research by Dorinne Kondo ( 1990 ) ( Spoors et al. )
Dorinne Kondo was a Nipponese American raised in the U. S. A. She moved to Japan to take portion in research affecting participant-observational survey traveling in with a Nipponese household. Over clip she found her American individuality diminishing and her new individuality booming meeting both positive and negative influences on her journey.
Negatively she describes being confronted with obfuscation. embarrassment even anger on her linguistical errors and when conforming wrongly to Nipponese imposts besides when ‘proper’ behavior meant she had to act obsequiously. She describes her struggles environing outlooks of gender particularly her function as a immature adult female. Positively she describes being left with a warm positive feeling to her unrecorded in household when being affirmed for acting with proper Nipponese etiquette. After clip she found herself losing her American individuality. In her tea ceremonial category she explains her awkward. overdone western motions had been replaced with Nipponese grace. Kondo’s research demonstrates the positive and negative influences we encounter in different civilizations and how they can alter us as a individual as our individualities evolve.
We have seen how groups can act upon people in both positive and negative ways. Zimbardo’s prison experiment shows us how speedy we take up functions in a group and the extent to which we act out these functions. Sherif’s summer cantonment survey shows how we look for a sense of belonging and to raise our self-esteem in a group but how we discriminate when struggle is created. These same groups who we look to for avowal can act upon us so greatly we will do the incorrect determinations. We have besides seen from research how different civilizations can act upon our positive and negative behavior in groups and the impact this has on us as our individualities evolve.
