Definition Example
The crowd
sways to the sound of the music. The ballad being performed by the
band has people in a peaceful, mellow mood. The song ends, and the
band breaks into a raw. rowdy, hard rocker that is one of the
crowd's favorites. The atmosphere intensifies, and the people start
dancing, jumping, and screaming with excitement. As the song reaches
its climax, the sea of people has now become a fevered, frenzied
swarm. With no inhibitions left, the mass of people starts pushing
towards the source of the excitement, the band. The fans have now
become an uncontrollable mob, and are crushing people against the
stage. Two people are left dead, and many others are injured. Social
behavior is an action directed by group attitudes, influence, and
pressure.
Our
attitudes are our beliefs and feelings that predispose our responses
to particular people and events. But, the attitudes of people can
greatly influence how we perceive someone or something. If a person
is hostile towards us, we may immediately adopt an unfriendly manner
towards that person. Likewise, if we meet a friendly, outgoing
person, it is likely that we will adopt a friendly attitude and make
a new friend. If we're at a party and the guests are having a good
time, it's very easy for us to adjust our attitude, and start
enjoying ourselves.
Group
attitudes not only affect our behavior, but social influences also
affect our willingness to conform with a group. Behavior is
contagious. If one person giggles or yawns, we may soon find
ourselves doing the same. We all know laughter can be infectious. If
a group of people is paused gazing at the sky, a passersby will
pause and do likewise. Unfortunately, group influence can have
negative effects. It is known that suicides increase after a highly
publicized suicide. People long to conform with the group.
Just as
group influence affects our behavior, social pressure not only
influences, but can make us behave contrary to our morals and
values. Many children succumb to peer pressure in school. Even
though they know it is wrong, they smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol,
and partake of other dangerous drugs under pressure from their
friends. People have a need to fit in. Although against their
morals, many teenagers engage in premarital sex caused by pressure
from their partners. Even people who consider themselves forthright,
upstanding citizens, can be trained to degrade, injure and even kill
people under group pressure. So, even though we like to think that
we control ourselves, social behavior has a major influence on our
attitudes and actions.