Drawing_on_Appropriate_Evidence_from_Chapter_5,_Describe_How_Groups_Can_Influence_People_in_Positive_and_Negative_Ways

PART 2 In this essay my aim is to describe how groups can influence people in a positive and negative ways. I will also aim to show how people usually conform to a similar way of behaviour as other members of the same group. My first example comes from an experiment held by Muzafer Sherif et al (1961), called ‘Robbers Cave’. This experiment involves two groups of boys in which a tournament is set up between the two. What became apparent in the experiment was the competitive nature of the groups. In a positive way the groups showed loyalty, solidarity and cooperation, which are known as ‘Social identification’ – this is how the ‘membership of social groups forms a significant part of the self-concept so that someone responds as a group member rather than an individual ( Spoors et al 2011 pg 124)’. However positive those aspects were the experiment also showed negative influences of being hostile towards the other group by name calling, signs of aggression and prejudice, which are known as ‘ Social Comparison – comparing the group you are part of to the other. My second example is from the Zimbardo Experiment, Haney et al, 1973. In this experiment two groups of men were given roles to play. One group took on the role of guards while the other took on the role of prisoners. The experiment was due to last two weeks, however was stopped after six days due to the participants taking their roles too seriously. The group of men who were playing the role of the guards became ‘increasingly brutal and abusive’ (Spoors et al 2011, pg 117), while the group who were playing the role of the prisoners became ‘passive and showed signs of emotions disturbance (Spoors et al 2011, pg 117). The finding of this experiment show how fast people who are not prone to violence or emotional disturbance can change due to the roles they play. To play the roles the way that they did could have come from their ‘schema’ which might have come from watching television programs or films. There is also evidence that people can conform to group pressure – the demand by group member that individuals in the group conform to certain group standards/behaviours (Spoors et al 2011, pg 126). In Solomon Asch (1955) experiment on how people perceived things and a group were shown a picture different lengths of lines. They were then asked to pick the one that matched the original line they were shown. It was found that all the group except one was in league with the person holding the experiment, and as the experiment continued they would give the wrong answer to see if the one who was of different opinion would conform to the group’s answer. We have all at some point in our lives buckled in to group pressure and went along with a decision or an idea that we did not agree with. In some cases the need to be or feel accepted by the group may influence some people. My final example comes from the account of a Japanese American. Dorianne Kondo. She was doing an academic research as a participant-observer, so decided to go and spend 26 months immersing herself in her grand-parents culture in Japan. She was to live and act as a proper Japanese Woman. So found that trying to integrate herself within her ancestors culture had a negative effect to start. One unpleasant reaction was her inability to speak the language flawlessly. At a few point in her story I found there to be a clash between her American upbringing and the Japanese way of life. In her own words ‘who simply failed to perform according to expectations (Spoors et al 2011, pg 132)’ backs my point. Under the watchful gaze of Mrs Sakamoto she tries to fit into the way of living, so when Mr Sakamoto arrives home, she greets him in the proper manner and with proper etiquette, and in the tea ceremony when she acted in a proper Japanese way the praise from both tasks left her with positive feelings and a sense of belonging. Etiquette and knowing your place in the Japanese culture also had a negative effect on Dorianne as in her account she gives about serving food, the head of the household is usually served first and always gets the best and if he wants more he just has to hold his bowl out. This had conflict with her American culture, as this was something she was not used to and could not get used to the way. Feeling obligated to conform as a student, guest or ‘daughter’ influenced the way she thought and behaved. So in conclusion through the examples I have given we have seen how groups can fulfil their need for people to be accepted and belong. It can also increase our self esteem and to be able to that, they need to conform to the majority. We also saw that being in the in-group can cause people to act in a hostile way to an out-group which maybe out of character as we have seen in the Zimbardo experiment. On the other hand we saw how the experiment called Robbers Cave had both positive and negative effects on people. The positive being that the group had an identity and a sense of belonging but it also had a negative, that being that it bought out the competive side and they engaged in an aggressive manner. This can in turn can have negative effects on people as they will most likely feel like they could not express their opinions. This can also be seen in Kondo’s story when a person crosses over into a different culture. The positive feeling she experience when praise and the negative feeling when the Japanese culture went against her American upbringing. The Japanese live in a ‘collective culture’ which means the group’s needs come before the individual’s an in turn they take responsibility of the wellbeing of the individual where as the Americans live in a ‘individualist culture’ where the achievements and needs of the individuals are emphasised. Throughout our life most people look for acceptance and a sense of belonging and these can be found within a group, whether that be a negative feeling or a positive feeling. Word Count 1054 Reference Starting with Psychology (2011)- Spoors, Dyer, Finlay, Marsh Task 2 1. Briefly write down two or three pieces of feedback from your tutor on TMA 01. My referencing needed some work, as did my spelling and grammar. 2. How have you used that feedback in preparing for TMA 02' Before I started researching for this essay I had a look online at some referencing guides. And used spell-check on my essay once completed.