Social Influences on Behavior, Essay Example

Most of the behaviors that people have are as a result of social influence. Much of the influence usually comes from other people or the social groups that an individual relates with. Some of the behaviors formed out of this influence may be productive or unproductive. According to studies conducted by psychologist, people have a tendency to form their behaviors depending on the social groups that they relate with. This mostly occurs so that one can have a feeling of belonging.

There are many phenomena such as group think, social facilitation, social loafing and also diversity that play a great part in changing the behavior of an individual in a certain social environment. Depending on what is influenced it can cause positive or negative or negative response. People have the capacity top change to according to any situation at any point in time so as to be able to facilitate what is happening in their surroundings. This essay will look at gambling addiction and alcoholism which I formed as a result of social influence (Kassim, 2004).

Gambling is the behavior where one wages money or something that is of material value on an invent with the objective of winning more money that the one which one wages on or winning material more value that the one which one has waged on. This is a behavior which many people engage in due to the craving of getting more wealth. It is a very interesting game when it is taking place but it cause a lot of problems at the end. Alcoholism on the other hand, is a behavior that is mostly caused by social influence. This is where one forms a behavior of excessive taking of alcohol. It is a behavior that develops slowly until it becomes a psychological problem.

These are two behaviors, which I formed out of influence from my friends whom I used to spend most of my free time together. Formerly I did not take alcohol. I did not even go to bars or any other places where alcohol was taken. The reason behind this was that I did not like the way I saw alcoholics behave. Little did I not know that one day I will be like them. According to a research carried by the Department of Psychology and Cancer Prevention Research Center, University of Rhode Island alcoholism is a behavior which mostly affects those people who associate with heavy drinkers. Most of the times, my friends would invite to take them to take alcohol. I would take them because I would enjoy watching football in the pubs and also I did not like to feel isolated from my peers. I needed to have conformity with my group on all the plans that we had. According to many studies conducted by sociologists group or society conformity is one of greatest force in influencing individual behavior. Due to this urge of being together with my friends I started taking alcohol. Little by little until I got addicted, because, for now it cannot pass one day without taking it. Sometimes I feel incapable of performing my duties if I do not take alcohol.

The other behavior that I formed out of influence from my peers is gambling. After taking alcohol, I saw many of my friends gamble and win more money to buy more. Due to the urge to win too I stated gambling little did I know it would be difficult for me to stop this behavior. I have lost also of money as a result of this and my social and economic life is in despair.

Having a reflection on the way I formed these two behaviors, I see the relationship of the phenomena with the formation of my two behaviors. Group think is phenomena in which members of a group who try to minimize conflict so that they can remain together make conclusions or reach consensus without critical evaluation of the consequences of their behaviors. There is the lack of independent thinking as a result of group psychology. This makes an individual make decision influenced by group members. Most of the decisions reached in such a phenomenon do not promote viewpoints that are outside the group comfort zone. All this is as a result of an individual fear of being seen as an outcast in a group (Mitchell & Richard, 2006).

According to Irving Janis there are eight symptoms involved in group think. One of the symptoms found in group think is the aspect of risk taking. Members of a group encourage each other to take risks even in some situations have negative consequences (Mitchell & Richard 2006). This is the same situation that happened as I started gambling. My friends encouraged me to take the risk as there was a probability that I would win more. There is also unquestioned belief that want the group is doing is moral. This makes an individual have ignorance of the consequences of their actions. This made me engage in the two behaviors, as I was carried away by the faith I had with my friends. It never occurred to me that they would lead me to doing something that would make me suffer at the end. All these aspects concerning group think makes me see its involvement in the formation of the two behaviors.

The two behaviors have been causing a lot of problems in my life. I have been going through terrible times economically due to misuse of money in alcohol and much more in gambling. My social relationships have also been in disarray. Most of my friends do not associate with me the way they used. The two behaviors call for therapeutic intervention to prevent more destruction in my life.

For alcoholism there are various therapeutic interventions that are available. There are the motivational enhancement programs which make alcoholics realize the effect that their behavior has on their lives, coworkers and the society. In these programs there is encouragement of taking full responsibility for the past and make a commitment in changing behavior, in the future. Therapists helps the alcoholics understand and accept the benefits of abstinence and also make treatment options. There is also the cognitive behavioral coping skill therapy where alcohol dependant people are helped to acquire skills to recognize, cope and change the problem drinking behaviors. The skills help them to recognize what triggers urge to drink, how to manage moods and the emotional vulnerabilities and also how to change friendships to have other focus besides drinking (Biaggio & Hersen, 2000).

There are therapies that help in solving the problem of gambling. One of the major steps is to understand that one has the problem. There are also gamblers anonymous which are free programs facilitated by peers, use group support where they have guided principles that help gamblers to obtain and maintain sobriety. There is also cognitive behavioral therapy which assists in changing unhealthy gambling behaviors and thoughts like false beliefs involved. The goal of these therapies to change the way one thinks about gambling to another new way. The therapies also assist one to change lifestyle and be in a position to make healthier choices (Biaggio & Hersen 2000).

As seen in the essay, social influence has a lot of effects on formation of behavior. The most important thing before adapting to any behavior is to evaluate critically the effect it has on one’s life. It is also advisable to prevent group think to have control over individual thinking. This will assist in forming behaviors that will not have negative consequences.

References

Biaggio, M. & Hersen M. (2000). Effective brief therapies: a clinical guide. New York: Elsevier publication.

Kassin, S. (2004). Psychology. New York: Pearson/prenticehall publishers.

Mitchell, D. & Richard, P. (2006) Essentials of Sociology. New York. W.W. Norton & Company.