Communication, actions, and interaction of people are formed on the basis of behavioral norms. Each individual independently determines for himself the rules of acceptable behavior in society. Behavior depends on many factors (character, psychotype, consciousness, upbringing, intelligence, perception, moral principles), but is primarily based on the ways of manifestation and application of one’s own abilities and capabilities.
Many sciences believe that behavior is a person’s reaction to various external and internal manifestations of the environment, which are clearly visible in emotional reactions (conscious and instinctive), as well as communication manifestations. Therefore, social behavior is associated with the interaction and actions of people towards each other.
Sex role behavior
Gender-role behavior is behavior that is characteristic of people of a particular gender and is associated with the main social roles performed by these people in the life of any society.
Mass, group and sex-role behavior are characteristic of groups and individuals and depend on what social functions they perform and what goals they pursue. The following types of social behavior describe a person in the process of his interaction with other individuals.
Social behavior: basic concept and principles
Social behavior is a property that characterizes the quality of relationships between individuals and the behavior of one specific subject in society.
It should be noted that this behavior may vary. For example, the company employs several hundred employees. Some of them work tirelessly, some of them are simply engaged in “sitting their pants” and receiving a salary. The rest just come there to chat with others. Such actions of individuals fall under the principles that underlie social behavior.
Thus, all people are involved in this, but they behave differently. Based on the above, it follows that social behavior is the method that members of society choose to express their desires, abilities, capabilities and attitudes.
In order to understand the reason why a person behaves this way, it is necessary to analyze the factors influencing this. The structure of social behavior can be influenced by:
- Psychological and emotional state of the subject of social interaction. As an example, we can use the description of the characteristic qualities of many politicians and other public figures. It’s worth asking who is the most shocking and emotionally unbalanced politician, and everyone will immediately remember Zhirinovsky. And among notorious journalists, Otar Kushanashvili occupies first place.
- Social behavior is also influenced by personal interest in what is happening or will happen. For example, any of us actively takes part in the discussion only of those issues that cause increased subjective interest. Otherwise, activity declines sharply.
- Behavior that boils down to the need to adapt to certain living or communication conditions. For example, it is impossible to imagine that in a crowd of people who glorify some leader (Hitler, Mao Zedong), there will be someone who will express out loud a diametrically opposite position.
- Also, the social behavior of an individual is also determined by the situational aspect. That is, there are a number of factors that the subject must take into account when any situation arises.
- There are also moral and ethical principles that guide every person in life. History provides many examples of when people could not go against their own moral values, for which they paid with their lives (Giordano Bruno, Copernicus).
- Remember that an individual’s social behavior largely depends on how much he is aware of the situation, masters it, knows the “rules of the game” and can use them.
- Behavior may be based on the goal of manipulating society. Lies and deception can be used for this. Modern politicians serve as an excellent example of this: when conducting an election campaign, they promise total changes. And when they come to power, no one strives to carry out what is said.
Social behavior is often determined, to a greater extent, by the motivation and degree of participation of the individual in a particular process or action. For example, for many, participation in the political life of the country is a casual situation, but there are also those for whom this is their main job. As for mass social behavior, it can be dictated by the psychological and social characteristics of the crowd, when individual motivation is destroyed under the influence of the so-called mass instinct.
Social behavior has 4 levels:
- A person's reaction to certain events.
- Behaviors that are habitual and considered part of standard behavior.
- A chain of actions aimed at achieving social goals.
- Implementation of strategically important goals.
Competitive Behavior
Competitive behavior is when people around him are perceived by a person as potential or real competitors, and he enters into struggle or competition with them. This behavior is designed to achieve advantage and victory. type A behavior is associated with competitive behavior , according to which a person is impatient, irritable, hostile and distrustful, and B behavior , according to which a person does not seek to compete with anyone and expresses a friendly attitude to everyone.
Individual and group
A group is a relatively isolated collection of individuals who are in fairly stable interaction and also carry out joint actions over a long period of time. A group is also a collection of individuals who share socially defined characteristics. Collaborative interaction in a group is based on a specific common interest or is associated with the achievement of a specific common goal. It is characterized by group potential, which allows it to interact with the environment and adapt to the transformations that occur in the environment.
The characteristic features of the group are the identification of each member of himself, as well as his actions with the group as a whole. Consequently, in external circumstances, everyone speaks on behalf of the group. Another feature is interaction within the group, which has the nature of direct contacts, observation of each other’s actions, etc. In any group, along with the formal division of roles, an informal division of roles will necessarily develop, which is usually recognized by the group.
There are two types of groups: informal and formal. Regardless of the type of group, it will have a significant impact on all members.
The interaction between the individual and the group will always be of a dual nature. On the one hand, the individual, through his actions, helps solve group problems. On the other hand, the group has a huge influence on the individual, helping him satisfy his specific needs, for example, the need for security, respect, etc.
Psychologists have noticed that in teams with a positive climate and active intra-group life, individuals have good health and moral values, they are better protected from external influences, they work more actively and efficiently than individuals who are in an isolated state or in groups with negative climate, which are plagued by intractable conflict situations and instability. The group serves for protection, support, training and problem solving skills, and the required norms of behavior in the group.
Problem behavior
Problem behavior refers to any behavior that causes psychological problems in a person. In most cases, problem behavior consists of behaviors that are incomprehensible and unacceptable to others and may be maladaptive, destructive, or antisocial.
In addition to other forms of social behavior, one can also find those that characterize close relationships between people. These types are attachment behavior and maternal behavior.
Individual behavior
Behavior is a special form of activity of the human body, which masters the environment. In this aspect, behavior was considered by I. Pavlov. It was he who introduced this term. With the help of this term, it has become possible to display the sphere of relationships between an individual interacting individual and the environment in which he exists and interacts.
Individual behavior is the individual’s reaction to any changes in external or internal conditions. It can be conscious or unconscious. Human behavior develops and is realized in society. It is associated with goal setting and speech regulation. The behavior of an individual always reflects the process of his integration into society (socialization).
Any behavior has its reasons. It is determined by the events that precede it and cause a certain form of manifestation. Behavior is always purposeful.
An individual's goals are based on his unmet needs. Those. any behavior is characterized by the goal that it seeks to achieve. Goals perform motivating, controlling and organizational functions and are the most important management mechanism. To achieve them, a number of specific actions are performed. Behavior is also always motivated. Whatever the behavior, challenging or detached, it necessarily contains a motive that determines the immediate form of its manifestation.
In the process of technological progress in modern science, another term has appeared - virtual behavior. This type of behavior combines theatricality and naturalness. Theatricality is due to the illusion of natural behavior.
The behavior of an individual has the following characteristics:
— level of activity (initiative and energy);
— emotional expressiveness (the nature and intensity of manifested affects);
- pace or dynamism;
- stability, which consists in the constancy of manifestations in different situations and at different times;
— awareness based on understanding one’s behavior;
- arbitrariness (self-control);
— flexibility, i.e. changes in behavioral reactions in response to environmental transformations.
Maternal behavior
In general, maternal behavior is the behavior inherent in mothers in relation to their children, as well as the behavior of any person in general, which is similar to the behavior of a mother in relation to a child.
There are also some other forms of social behavior that are interconnected with the relationships of people developing in society. Such behavior can be called behavior the purpose of which is to avoid failures and achieve success, gain power or subordination to someone; confident or helpless behavior, as well as some others.
Social individual
Unlike young animals, the individual is practically devoid of innate adaptive instincts. Therefore, for survival and further development, he needs communication with his own kind. After all, only in society will a child be able to realize his innate potential and become an individual. Regardless of what society an individual is born into, he will not be able to do without the care and teaching of adults. For full development, a child needs a long time so that he can absorb all the elements and details that he will need in independent life as an adult member of society. Therefore, from the very first days of life, a child needs to be able to communicate with adults.
The individual and society are inseparable. Without society, an individual will never become an individual; without individuals, society simply will not exist. In the initial period of life, interaction with society consists of primary facial reactions, body language, with the help of which the baby informs adults about his needs and shows his satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The responses of adult members of a social group also become clear to him from facial expressions, various gestures and intonations.
As the child grows up and learns to speak, the language of gestures and facial expressions gradually fades into the background, but never throughout the adult life of the individual it completely loses its significance, transforming into the most important tool of nonverbal communications, which expresses feelings sometimes no less, and sometimes and more than ordinary words. This is due to the fact that gestures, facial expressions and postures are less controlled by consciousness than speech, and therefore, in some cases, are even more informative, telling society what the individual wanted to hide.
So, we can confidently say that social qualities (for example, communication) should be formed only in the process of interaction with society in general and communication with other people in particular. Any communication, verbal or non-verbal, is a necessary component for a person to become socialized. The social qualities of an individual are his abilities for social activity and the process of socialization. The earlier the socialization process begins, the easier it will be.
There are various forms of learning through which an individual is socialized, but they should always be used in combination. One of the methods that adults consciously use to teach a child to socially correct and approved behavior is reinforcement learning. Consolidation is realized through the targeted use of the method of rewards and punishments in order to demonstrate to the child which of his behaviors will be desired and approved, and which will be disapproving. In this way, the child is taught to comply with the elementary requirements of hygiene, etiquette, etc. that apply in society.
Some elements of an individual’s everyday behavior can become quite a habit, which leads to the formation of strong associative connections – the so-called conditioned reflexes. One of the channels of socialization is the formation of conditioned reflexes. Such a reflex, for example, could be washing your hands before eating. The next method of socialization is observational learning.
An individual learns how to behave in society by observing the behavior of adults and trying to imitate them. Many children's games are based on imitating the behavior of adults. Role-based social interaction of individuals is also learning. An adherent of this concept, J. Mead, believes that mastering social norms and rules of behavior occurs through interactions with other people and through various games, especially role-playing games (for example, playing mother and daughter). Those. learning occurs through interaction. By participating in role-playing games, the child brings to life the results of his own observations and his initial experience of social interaction (visiting a doctor, etc.).
Socialization of an individual occurs through the influence of various agents of socialization. The most important and first such agent in the process of social formation of an individual is the family. After all, it is the first and closest “social environment” of the individual. The functions of the family regarding the child include caring for his health and protection. The family also satisfies all the basic needs of the individual. It is the family that initially introduces the individual to the rules of behavior in society and teaches communication with other people. In the family, he first becomes acquainted with gender role stereotypes and undergoes gender identification. It is the family that develops the primary values of the individual. However, at the same time, the family is the institution that can cause the greatest harm to the process of socialization of the individual. For example, the low social status of parents, their alcoholism, conflicts in the family, social alienation or single-parent families, various deviations in the behavior of adults - all this can lead to irreparable consequences and leave an indelible imprint on the child’s worldview, his character and social behavior.
School is the next agent of socialization after family. It is an emotionally neutral environment, which is fundamentally different from the family. At school, the child is treated as one of many and in accordance with his real characteristics. In schools, children learn practically what success and failure are. They learn to overcome difficulties or get used to giving in to them. It is the school that forms an individual’s self-esteem, which, most often, remains with him throughout his adult life.
Another important agent of socialization is the environment of peers. During adolescence, the influence of parents and teachers on children weakens, along with this, the influence of peers increases. All academic failures and lack of parental attention are compensated by the respect of peers. It is among his peers that the child learns to resolve conflict issues and communicate as equals. And in school and family, all communication is built on hierarchy. Relationships in a peer group allow an individual to better understand himself, his strengths and weaknesses.
The needs of the individual are also better understood through group interaction. The social environment of peers makes its own adjustments to the value ideas instilled in the family. Also, interaction with peers allows the child to identify with others and, at the same time, stand out among them.
Since groups of different affiliations interact in the social environment: family, school, peers, the individual faces some contradictions. For example, an individual’s family values mutual assistance, but at school the spirit of competition dominates. Therefore, an individual has to feel the influence of different people. He tries to fit into different surroundings. As an individual matures and develops intellectually, he learns to see such contradictions and analyze them. As a result, the child creates his own set of values. The formed values of an individual allow them to more accurately define their own personality, outline a life plan and become an proactive member of society. The process of forming such values can be a source of significant social change.
Also among the agents of socialization it is necessary to highlight the media. In the process of their development, the individual and society continuously interact, which determines the successful socialization of the individual.
Other forms of social behavior
The desire for success is a special form of social behavior that influences a person’s success and, to a certain extent, his fate. The desire for success was most developed in the last century, and today it characterizes a huge number of successful people.
Avoiding failure is an alternative form of striving for success. This type of behavior manifests itself in a concern about not being last among other people, not being worse than them, not becoming a loser.
We can also distinguish such types of social behavior as the desire to communicate with other people and its opposite – avoidance of people. A separate form can be called the desire for power and the desire to maintain power , if a person already has it. The opposite of the last two is the desire for submission.
Another form of social behavior that scientists have paid attention to is confident behavior, when a person is self-confident, strives for new achievements, sets new tasks for himself, solves them and achieves new results.
However, it is quite common to see how capable people who want to achieve success and have the ability to do so fail due to uncertainty and excessive anxiety in cases where they should not have been shown. This behavior is called helpless behavior , and is defined as behavior in which a person, having everything he needs to achieve success, remains inactive, thereby dooming himself to failure.
Other types of human behavior in society
Striving for success
This manner of action is responsible for influence and success in a person’s life. The best example is people who in the recent past were able to become successful in the modern world.
Avoiding Failure
It is an alternative form of achieving success. It is based on a special concern not to be the last or worse than others, not to be a failure in life.
It is also possible to include the desire to be sociable among the types of social actions, and the opposite is avoidance of people. Certain forms include the desire to achieve power and maintain it. The opposite desire is the desire to be submissive.
In most cases, sociologists study the most common types of social behavior that influence society and the individual. These include: good, evil, friendliness, hostility and many others.
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