4. Social interactions and patterns of individual behavior in a group and society

The distinction between primary and secondary relationships .

Primary - intimate face-to-face contact.

In the study of social distance is important the degree of psychological intimacy, which contributes to the ease, spontaneity of interaction.

Social interaction is rather an interaction of personifications than real personalities.

The creation of personifications is based on what is known relative to a given individual.

The interaction is based on the assumptions that one participant makes regarding the other.

But no man ever fully understands the other. He can only observe various sensory signals (gestures and actions) and draw conclusions from them.

If the social distance is significant, the person sees in another a special case of a certain social category.

In secondary relationships, the peculiarities of the partner’s personality are either irrelevant or of secondary importance.

Social distance reaches its maximum in situations where each person keeps “on his mind”.

Politeness is a way to hide one’s self.

Communication in such circumstances is mostly symbolic and formal.

Some sociologists condemn secondary contacts as undesirable. But most secondary relationships are not unfriendly.

Such is the nature of most social contacts in modern mass societies.

In relationships, where social distance is minimal, the idea of ​​another person is highly individualized, and his idiosyncratic features are taken into account when dealing with him.

In such cases, unique personifications are created. If in a secondary relationship a person becomes aware of only what is essential for the performance of a certain action, then in a primary relationship everyone is familiar with the views and reactions of the other in many different situations.

Under similar circumstances, differences in behavior are usually due to differences in the definition of situations.

As people get to know each other more closely, they are able to speak more sincerely and because of this they better understand the “picture of the world” of each.

Each person reacts somewhat differently than the other, but his features become more understandable when his definition of the situation becomes clear.

The more fully one person understands the identity of another individual, the easier it is for him to identify with him.

In secondary contacts, human relationships are often based on mutual utility.

If people constantly communicate and conscientiously perform conventional roles, this does not necessarily lead to a reduction in social distance.

Many sociologists, following Ch. Cooley, stressed the importance of face-to-face contact.

Such contacts contribute to the reduction of social distance, as they facilitate the “reading” of expressive movements. Symbolic communications are intentionally created and controlled by the mind; they are intended to make a definite impression.

But expressive movements can not be controlled.

Prosocial behavior - actions that benefit other people, but have no obvious benefit for the people who commit them.

This phenomenon attracted the special attention of social psychologists in the 1960s.

The event that triggered the research took place in 1964 in New York, when an attack was made on a girl returning from work.

Later it turned out that people were watching this, but no one came to the rescue and did not call the police.

There was a discussion about why no one helped. Latane and P. Darley outlined the five steps of choice that observers must go through (often unconsciously) in order to decide to provide assistance.

At each stage, the simplest choice is the path of least resistance - do nothing and not help.

Step 1. The observer must realize the urgency of the situation.

To take the first step in assisting, we need to shift our attention from our own business to an incident.

Step 2. The correct interpretation of the situation as an emergency.

Step 3. Responsibility for action. The observer may or may not take responsibility for the proposed actions.

No one but him can take responsibility. The distribution (diffusion) of responsibility is one of the explanations for why outsiders sometimes do not react at all.

Step 4. Know what to do. The observer must understand if he knows how to render assistance.

Step 5. Making the final decision on assistance.

Even after going through all four previous stages of selection, answering "yes" in each of them, the observer may still not be willing to help: he can be prevented by the fear of negative consequences.

If a person does not have a special motivation, assistance may not occur, because its potential price seems too high.

Causes of prosocial behavior: usually egoistic and disinterested (altruistic) motives of behavior.

Selfless motivation (empathy) leads to help.

Mr. Bateson and his colleagues proposed a hypothesis of empathy - altruism , according to which some part of pro-social behavior is motivated by a completely disinterested desire to help a person in need of help.

Selfish motivation:

1) help to feel better.

People sometimes act prosocially just to feel better (a model for alleviating a negative state).

Prosocial behavior is motivated by the desire to improve their own emotional state;

2) to help, because effective action is nice.

According to the research of M. Smith (the hypothesis of empathic pleasure ) empathy leads to rendering help, because a helping person foresees pleasant feelings after reaching a specific result;

3) assisting people like us to preserve common genes.

The model of genetic determinism is based on the theory of human behavior.

J. Phillip Rushton and other evolutionary psychologists emphasized that we unconsciously respond to genetic influence.

Aggression - the intentional infliction of any harm to other people.

Theories of aggression.

The first explanation of aggression: people commit violence, because it is inherent in their nature.

Z. Freud argued that aggression is generated mainly by a strong desire for death or death instinct (Thanatos), typical of all people.

C. Lorenz suggested that aggression originates in the inherited struggle instinct, which is possessed by both human beings and animals.

Social psychologists denied the view that aggression is based on innate instincts.

Studies have shown that some forms of aggression vary in different countries.

Even if aggression is partly based on innate aspirations, they are suppressed by social and cultural factors.

The importance of biological factors in many forms of social behavior is more often recognized.

Research indicates that aggressive people and people who have attempted suicide have a higher level of serotonin .

Presumably, this prevents highly aggressive people from controlling their aggressive impulses.

The opposite view of aggression contains the theory of social learning: aggression is an acquired social behavior .

At the core lies the idea that aggression is mainly acquired through learning .

A set of a variety of aggressive reactions in man is not original. It is acquired in the same way as other complex forms of social behavior are acquired: through direct experience or observation of the actions of others.

Through direct or indirect experience, already at the age of six a person acquires knowledge of which people are suitable targets for aggression, which actions of others justify, require aggressive retribution and in what situations aggression is permissible or unacceptable.

The theory of social learning asserts that the aggression of a particular person in a certain situation depends on a wide range of factors, including this person’s past experience, the existing system of rewards associated with aggression, and other variables that shape the person’s thoughts and perceptions regarding admissibility and potential results of such behavior.

Cognitive theory of aggression, the role of scenarios, assessments and emotions. Cognitive factors play a key role in shaping the response.

These include: scenarios - cognitive “programs” of events that should occur under certain circumstances; interpretation of the situation; score.

Unpleasant events are accompanied by negative emotions .

According to the cognitive theories of aggression, aggressive behavior is based on a complex interaction of mood, experience, thoughts and memories.

Social causes of aggression.

Usually, aggression is associated with various social factors that either initiate its appearance or increase its intensity:

1) frustration - aggression can occur if the desired (or expected) is not achieved;

2) direct provocation - aggression begets aggression;

3) media brutality - the impact of monitoring aggression;

4) increased arousal - emotions, cognition and aggression.

Psychological impact involves understanding the predisposition of people; knowledge of their characteristics and involuntary expressions, abilities and acquired skills; features of behavior.

Since the individual is a member of a particular social group, his approach is based on the study of group specifics.

The generally accepted classification of means of psychological influence:

1) stimulation of imitation tendencies, causing the rallying of like-minded people and the development of enthusiasm, noting fluctuations.

The head (suggestive) should not reveal signs of doubt, indecision or willingness to follow the will of the audience, as he may lose the power of influence.

The enthusiasm of the masses rises up to the point of self-sacrifice. Even in extreme cases, an individual will cannot drag a person as close to the limits of danger as a blind desire to imitate.

Distracting or soothing motifs are suppressed;

2) suggestibility is predetermined by the fact that the fate of the individual seems to be related to the fate of the group.

Improving the suggestibility contributes to the living conditions, for example, team cohabitation on the ship.

Members of a group are driven by a sense of community to the detriment of the individual’s self-determination ;

3) the extreme degree of increased suggestibility - a mental state that is generally useful on a ship, although it can also become harmful.

Increased suggestibility is a consequence of living conditions, and not the attitude of group members towards a common goal, the latter may even be indifferent;

4) enthusiasm , willingness to self-sacrifice can sometimes lead to senseless panic, recklessness and rebellion. Increased suggestibility limits cognitive in a person.

In practical life, there is also a naive psychological effect, when a blind, senseless relationship arises between the inspiring and the crowd.

Psychologists see in the suggestion of a setting for a motor reaction, a challenge to a specific action.

The problem is to combine the functions of subordination with the education of the initiative necessary for the performance of tasks.

Raising initiative requires independence and resistance to the will of others.

They try to overcome it by instilling trust in the leader, personal loyalty , and eliminating irritating circumstances.

A. Bandura considers imitation a kind of social learning . The human body reproduces the actions of the model, not always understanding their meaning.

The American psychologist F. Skinner , offering his own way of managing society, proceeds from the assumption that freedom and autonomy of the individual are illusory.

We all depend on the environment, and the development of a particular type of behavior is impossible without the use of external "supporting factors" that create an impression of a free society.

Our ideas of personal autonomy, of free will and the decision of our destiny stem from the ignorance of the true causes of this or that behavior. We need specialists in planning human behavior who would help harmonize the development of the individual and achieve its prosperity.