By that time, several guards had become sadistic and the behavior of the prisoners provided clear indications of psychological breakdown. Interviews with study participants suggested that merely the perception of their respective roles influenced their behavior. More importantly, the groupthink that prevailed within the group of prison guards overcame any individual personal reluctance they may have had to treat their prisoners so harshly (Macionis 2003). The Significance of the Phenomenon of Groupthink on Individual Behavior:
Like deference to authority, groupthink is a natural human tendency that likely evolved as a necessary component of human social relationships that were essential to the early success of our species (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2005). In modern context, however, groupthink represents tremendous destructive potential because in the extreme, it involves the complete suspension of individual judgment and perception. In benign situations groupthink is evident in popular culture, such as in the cycle of fashion trends, professional sports fanaticism, partisan politics, and numerous other examples of social fads. In the extreme, groupthink also accounts for the erosion of public celebrations into riots, criminal gang activity, and racial and ethnic biases (Henslin 2002).
The Influence of Sensory Arousal on Personal Perspective:
External influences on individual behavior also include situational arousal, such as by fear or apprehension. Various experiments have illustrated the connection between arousal in the form of mild fear and sexual attraction, for one example (Branden 1999).
Specifically, subjects were asked to rate their degree of physical attraction and potential romantic interest in other subjects after brief meetings. Certain subjects were randomly selected to meet in completely benign circumstances while others met in conjunction with mildly stressful circumstances such as immediately...
In this, the individual does soak up the behaviors of those he or she is associated with. Yet, this is out of mimicking others behavior, with no regard for self gain. On the other hand, Bandura placed more emphasis as development being based on a balance between the environment and one's internally set goals. From this perspective, the individual mimics behaviors that lead to the achievement of certain goals,
Psychology -- Aspects of the Self As a women, I have been intimately familiar with interdependency for the majority of my life. It is only in the last few years that I have embraced a level of independence that rivals that of the men I know. Triandis (1994) suggests that we draw on the interdependent and independent aspects of ourselves as we need to, but I suspect that these construals are
The ideas of multiculturalism and diversity are often used interchangeably to include the aspects of identity coming from gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or age. Multiculturalism identifies the wide scope of dimensions of race, religious orientation, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, disability, gender, age, class status, education and other cultural dimensions. These are all serious features of an individual's ethnic and personal identity, and psychologists are optimistic to be aware
Psychology -- Erikson and Rogers Chaim is a Hasidic Jew who hung out in the underground scene and became a very creative underground rock star. However, Chaim was internally conflicted: the underground lifestyle was the polar opposite of his Hasidic lifestyle and he tried to live Hasidic-by-day and underground rock-star-by-night. Chaim left it to God to determine whether he would get a Hasidic wife or a record contract first. Eventually, he
Shame and Doubt, according to Erickson, children develop a sense of self-control as they control their bodily functions. This makes them feel confident and able to handle problems independently. But Tom's mother would not relinquish her control over his bodily functions at this time. Her forcing him to void on her schedule and not his, gave him a sense of shame and the feeling that he was not in
Psychology Testing The Impact and Importance of Psychological Testing Defining Psychological Testing A test is defined as a method or procedure for critical evaluation or as a means of establishing the quality, truth, or presence of something. (Webster's Dictionary, 2011). According to the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) and the American Psychological Association (APA) (1999), psychological test or psychological testing is a discipline most frequently
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