How groups can influence people Essay

In this essay, I am going to describe how meetings can influence populate in a positive and in a negative miens. I will be employ evidence drawn from Chapter 5 of the study text Starting with psychology Spoors et al (2011). It is in a human nature to be a part of a social grouping. Belonging to a group, such(prenominal) as family, clubs, sport teams or group of friends, give us support, it make us liveliness intimately about ourselves, give us a sense of social identity. It brings meaning to our life, it make us feel like we belong. However, being a part of a group can also have a negative effect. Group pressure can cause us to behave in a way that we will not normally do. To support my argument I will use as an voice evidence from Kondos story and as well Zimbardo and Asch trys (Spoors et al 2011). In our life-time, we belong to many opposite social groups. Our social identity is based on the group we belong to, we enhance the status of our group in order to increase our self-image.We divide the world into batch like us, who belong to our group, called the in-group, and those iodin who ar different them, the out-group (Spoors et al 2011). Two psychologists Henri Tajfel and John Turner developed that theory. The theory argues that there are lead mental processes involved in evaluating some others as them and us the first one is a social categorisation. We categorize other people and ourselves in order to understand and identify them. The second process is a social identification. When we know which group we belong to, we start behaving by the norms of our group. The last process is social comparison. aft(prenominal) we categorize ourselves with a group, we start to canvas our group with other groups. To maintain our self-esteem we will compare our group favourably with other groups. An experiment carried out by Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues (1971) Spoors et al (2011) provides evidence how people demeanour can change when they become a pa rt of a group.They choose randomly a group of male participants and divide them into guards and prisoners and then located them in a simulated prison. After six days, the experiment had to be stopped, as the guards became brutal and abusive towards prisoners, and the prisoners begun suffering from emotional disturbance. This experiment shows how the previous perceptions that the participants have of the theatrical role of a prisonguards and prisoners, that probably came from watching films and television programs, influenced them to behave in a negative way. other example of how groups can influence our behaviour is experiment carried out by Solomon Asch (Spoors et al 2011). He asked cubic decimeter participants to look at the picture of a straight line, and then showed them another picture with a three more lines of different spaces. Then he asked the participants to identify out loud the line that is the same length as the original one.Surprisingly 75 per cent of the group giv e a wrong cause, which was a result of a group pressure. People have the need for conformity that is why they go on with the norms of the groups. They want to be accepted as an in-group person. Conforming to group norms is sending a message to the other members of the group that I am not a thread, I am same like you, and I am following our rules. Asches experiment showed that the need for conformity pressured participants to give a wrong answer to a question they just simply followed the rest of the group. An example of how group can influence us on a positive way is Kondos story in Spoors et al (2011). Dorinne Kondo is a Nipponese American, raised in the USA. She went to Japan to do an anthropological research. She stays there for 26 months, a few months she stays with a Japanese family to learn how proper Japanese women supposed to behave and present herself. At the same time, she was subprograming as a scientific observer.That is a method of research called participant-observ ation, where the researcher is both(prenominal) an observer and a participant (Spoors et al 2011). The first few months in Japan were very stressful for Knodo she did not understand the etiquette and traditions that are part of their everyday life. Every time she made a mistake, people trait her like she was retarded or insane. They were confused, as she looked like a Japanese women but she did not act in a Japanese manner. During her visit in Japan, her guarantor introduced her to Mrs Sakamoto who invited her to stay with her family for summer. It was a big(p) opportunity for Kondo to learn about the traditions. During her visit she was trying to conform to their way of life, she wanted to feel their acceptance, so she start learning about her Japanese roots and proper etiquette, she took a part in a tea ceremony class.At the end of her visit in Japan, she was pleased with herself and all she have larn during her visit. She did not struggle any more to fit in both cultures, the approval of Sakamotos family had a good influence on her, it makes her feellike she belong to their world. Kondos story demonstrates that in our lifetime we have multiple social identities, which continue to evolve as we grow older or when we scat into new situations Spoors et al (2011).In those few examples, I was exploring how groups can influence people in a positive and negative ways. Positively, by providing us a sense of belonging to the social world and bringing meaning to our life, as shown on an example of Kondos story, and negatively by pressuring us to conform and act out of character, what confirm an Zimbardos and Asches experiments.