Social Influences on Behavior

It has happened to everyone at one point or another. It could happen in any social situation. They are two things that are on opposite ends of the spectrum as far as feelings go, but they have an equal affect on people. Prejudice brings about a feeling of depression or hate, while attraction and love bring about a belief that can lift one up. Whether good or bad, these situations can ignite a rollercoaster ride in the brain and send someone from happy to angry in a split second or vice-versa. Prejudice and love are two circumstances that may very well evoke the strongest feelings in humans. In addition, it is these two circumstances that may very well be the strongest influences on human behavior in society.

First, one has to look at schemas, which are the pattern of thoughts that organize experience and guide the processing of information about people and situation. This has to do with forming a first impression, which the initial feeling or representation one may get about a person (Kowalski, & Westen, 2005). It has come to my attention through experience, reading, and observation that people tend to have a better first impression of physically attractive people and those who are outgoing. Moreover, people who are seen as shy and introverted are usually associated with a worse first impression. Thus, it is from these first impressions, whether bad or good those great deals of behaviors in a social aspect come from. It may also be these representations that people have who make humans more socially adept than others. In addition, how individuals are seen greatly impacts how he/she feels about themselves.

Next, there is prejudice, which just might be one of the most influential thing to make people behave badly, because people are afraid to be stereotyped as an outcast. As stated before, first impressions are usually a precursor to prejudice and love. In most cases, it is usually one person being discriminated against by a group of people. The group, which usually has a leader, picks up on something small, like race or color, and turns it into something bad. It seems that it is a group being discriminatory most times, because the leader is able to conform others to believe what they think. The members may have a sense of intense obedience even if he/she knows the behavior is wrong, because once again he/she would not want to be seen as an outcast. The behavior of the group becomes aggressive and demeaning;

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