Social cognition is the study of the manner by which people process social information, more importantly, its encoding, storage, retrieval and application to social situations as manifested by people’s behavior (Cacioppo, Berntson, Sheridan & McClintock, 2000). These beliefs that people have on how to act, which they store and apply to situations, may be heavily influenced by behavior of the peer group wherein people belong to, no matter how erroneous they may be (Ewoldsen & Monahan, 2007). However, in this process, people are not merely passive in taking in influences of their peer groups, but do so actively, in that there is a selection process that takes place on such beliefs that will be held by people to later on be translated in human behavior (Forgas, 2001).
Such is true in my case. I am not immune from the influence of the people around me. My family and peer groups have affected how I view and act in certain situations.
In my life, I identify with a lot of different groups. The demarcations between these groups in my life have different bases such as age, gender, ethnicity, religious influence, sexual orientation, among many others. I have friends who come from the same age range or bracket. I have friends who are of the same gender. I also have relationships with people who have the same religious background as I do. In each of these groups, there are certain norms that I see myself adhering to. In my group of friends who are basically in the same age bracket as I am, we are expected to study, at the same time, also engage in activities that are expected of people our age. For groups that I have wherein we all are of the same gender (and sexual preference at that), we follow certain rules as regard to dating habits and to carry ourselves in a manner that is expected of us because of our gender. As regards my group whose members share one religion, we are expected to participate in Church activities and subscribe to the ideals taught by our religion.
Taking all of these different influences from various types of groups has influenced my perception of how to act and, ultimately, how I behave in certain circumstances. Time and again, I have noticed how I have applied these notions of ‘expected and proper behavior’ that I have learned through my various interactions in these groups to everyday situations wherever I deemed them applicable. In school, for example, wherein I am being asked as to my views regarding controversial issues such as abortion, I almost instantaneously see myself taking an anti-abortion stand because of my religious beliefs. Whenever someone asks me out on a date, I behave in such as manner that my peer group would find as ‘applicable dating behavior’. Even the way I dress and interact with others is influenced by my peer group, so as I take pains to dress ‘my age’ and act as my peers do, those who are the same age as I am. All these show how groups that people belong to definitely affect a person’s cognition and moreover, behavior.
REFERENCE LIST
Cacioppo, J.T., Berntson, G.G., Sheridan, J.F., & McClintock, M.K. (2000). “Multilevel integrative analyses of human behavior: social neuroscience and the complementing nature of social and biological approaches.” Psychological Bulletin, 126, 829-843.
Ewoldsen, D. & Jennifer Monahan (2007). Communication and Social Cognition: Theories and Methods. US: Routledge.
Forgas, Joseph (2001). Handbook of Affect and Social Cognition. US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grabill, Stephen & Gregory Gronbacher (2002). Beyond Self-Interest. US: Lexington Books.
