Psychology-a_Thought_Piece

Individual Assignment: A thought piece The news article is about the results of a survey conducted after the miserable case of Yueyue. The results show that there is the so-called “declining morality” in China. In this essay, I would like to apply Kohliberg’s approach on moral reasoning and the psychological concepts of conformity to explain the survey results, as well as the behavior of the 18 passers-by. As revealed in the article, 18% chose not to help in order to avoid getting into troubles. There were cases of warm-hearted people attempted to help, but were brought a false charge by the one he/she helped. All these taught people a lesson. Owing to the fear of being punished innocently, people preferred not to help. This is, indeed, the punishment and obedience orientation in Kohliberg’s approach. According to the punishment and obedience orientation, people make decisions based on the concept of whatever is punished is “bad”. So, when helping the others becomes a “bad” thing, people are not willing to help, just like the 18 passers-by. At the same time, 44% of the interviewees thought that the declining morality was ascribed to people’s distorted value of money. People seem to have become more materialistic and they do things on purpose. They even expect to have rewards after offering help. If not, they do better not help. This is the instrumental relativist orientation as suggested by Kohlberg. While 32% of them pointed their fingers at the government for not setting up laws to punish those who diffuse their responsibilities nor treat those who offer help. Interviewees having this thought have “law and order” orientation which is also suggested by Kohliberg. With “law and order” orientation, people are said to respect the law simply because it is law. But can laws entirely restrict people’s behaviors' I doubt. If yes, why are there still crimes every day in spite of the existing laws' I do not think this factor contributes to the declining morality to such a large extent as believed by the interviewees. The declining morality has much to do with inadequate education and the deep-rooted distorted belief people hold. To redeem the falling morality, educating the public, especially the younger generation is of paramount importance. It is essential to teach people to distinguish between right and wrong so as to cultivate citizens into a more honest and responsible person. Another possible reason for the 18 passers-by to behave in such a cruel way or interviewees who choose not to help is related to conformity. The survey reveals that 33% of the interviewees support the 18 cold-blooded witnesses for not helping Yueyue, implying that they would do the same as the 18 passers-by. 33% seems not to be a large number, but when one thinks thoroughly: what if it is a 33% of China’s whole population' Our community is a huge group and each individual’s behavior doe affect the others, both positively and negatively. In the case of Yueyue, the concept of conformity can be applied. The 18 pedestrians were afraid of looking ‘crazy’ if they took the initiative to save Yueyue while the others just turned a blind eye. People often want to be liked, so they followed what the other pedestrians did even though they knew that it was immoral to do so. Such an interpersonal influence was formed in the community unconsciously and unintentionally. The miserable case of Yueyue and the survey results more or less show that some people in China are in conformity with the matter of offering help. Although people’s behavior and the survey results can be explained by psychological concepts, the distorted belief and irrational act of people are obviously unacceptable in our society, a civilized one! It is hoped that the government can put much more emphasis on education and all people can reflect on this so that similar cases would not occur in the future. (word count: 645)