Social Influences on Behavior

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses several types of behavioral patterns that psychologists have identified as showing how our interactions with people at every level deeply affect our psychology and development. The writer explains psychological profiles such as social facilitation and group think and theories such as the stage theory of identity and the "life story" theory. The importance of factors such as cultural norms is also discussed. However, due to the fact that human interaction is incredibly variable, no theory has ever completely described the experiences and behaviors of every individual.

From the Paper:

"Because of these different social contexts, psychologists can look at specific human behavior and describe it in terms of psychological profiles in which the behavior in question can be considered as either normal or abnormal. This can apply to any type of human behavior, including something as common as laughing hysterically. For example, there are certain situations in which laughing hysterically is a perfectly normal form of behavior. If you are sitting in a movie theatre with your friends watching a comedic motion picture, the act of laughing hysterically would probably be considered a perfectly normal thing to be doing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Janis, I. L. & Mann, L. (1977). Decision making: A psychological analysis of conflict, choice, and commitment. New York: Free Press.
• McAdams, Dan. (2005) The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• McClelland, G. (2004). "Social Facilitation." http://samiam.colorado.edu/~mcclella/expersim/introsocial.html
• Thorne, Avril. (2005) "Social and Personal Identity: Putting the Person into Social Identity." http://psych.ucsc.edu/faculty/avril/PDFs/Pdf.14.pdf

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