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The relevance of ethics in society
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SIMSOC
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation” by Douglas MacArthur. This phrase describes the experience in my point of view of what happened during the simulated society done in class for the past few weeks. As a participant in the red team for the simulated society may influence the view I have from the experience in the society with the rest of the participants in the other teams, but similar in certain way with participants in my team.
The moment everyone got a designated to a region or team, we already started having an in-group / out-group bias. Everyone designated to the red region begun thinking how we are going to do to make it progress, specially when we found out that we were the only region with nothing absolutely nothing no money, no subsistence and no travel, like I said nothing. We started thinking in a more of a socialistic point of view by making everything belong to everyone in the group and if it was not enough for the entire group to survive we will die together; this made our group to have group cohesiveness by having a perceived unity, we decided that we will start a riot against the other groups to make them realize that we needed their help in order to survive.
Meanwhile, in the other groups we saw different social effects like the above average effect because the other groups had subsistence agencies, travel agencies, and enterprises, so this made easier for them to survive; specially the green group which had almost everything, we considered them the rich ones, this made them think that they were better than the other groups. In this group we observed a big effect of role conformance in some of the participants involved in the green group; for example...
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...did not reflect who we really are in the real life, and a lot of cognitive dissonance was going thru my head because we were acting contrary to what we really will act during a real society. Another thought I have after the simulated society exercise is that people always has a bad idea of what a socialistic government like in Cuba will do to the economy of the country without realizing that when everyone has the same amount of possibilities financial or structural in as society, this society will maintain it-self. When everyone in the simulated society decided to make it that everyone in the group will have the same opportunities as the other participants had; the society will survive and so it did, so when we say that socialism is bad, why we do not think in the good it does to the survival of the individuals who do not have anything but make the society stronger.
Larger groups hold a selfish and egoistical nature and do not care about others. “Societies, he argues, effectively gather up only individuals’ selfish impulses, not their capacities for unselfish consideration toward others.” (Imsong,1999, “Reinhold”, para. 9)
The influence that the behaviors of groups have is one of the most important factors that help shape and contribute to a functional society. With their works, William Edward Burghardt
On the other hand, acting cooperatively does not only protect, but can also enrich our lives. To echo World War II veteran J. Glenn Gray, “many veterans who are honest with themselves will admit, I believe, that the experience of communal effort in battle, even under the altered conditions of modern war, has been a high point in their lives” feeling “earnest and gay at such moments […] liberated from [their] individual impotence and […] drunk with the power that union with [their] fellows brings” (44;45). Perhaps the attractiveness of community and cooperation stems from its central role in our survival. However, it also facilitates acting in a manner that reflects positive moral principles. Gray proceeds to describe that there exists a “willingness
Solomon Asch developed and ran an experiment regarding the power of conformity that affects most populations. Psychologists have been attempting to fully understand the mental workings behind why people are so easily pressured into following others for the longest time. The main focus of psychologists, is to figure and understand what the causes are behind social conformity. Numerous terms are brought up when studying conformity. The “unspoken rules or guidelines for behavior in a group” (Hock 293) are labeled as social norms. When individuals are placed in large groups, the tendency is to lean with whatever the majority of the group thinks. The regular behavior of the individual tends to readjust to appease the superior crowd.
Cialdini, Robert B, & Trost, Melanie R. (1998). Social Influence: Social Norms, Conformity, & Compliance. Interpersonal Phenomena. Retrieved from: angel.elmira.edu/section/default.asp?id=w114_PSY3010_01.
The Psychology of Social Status. Scientific America. 8 Dec. 2009: 1 p.m. Web. The Web. The Web.
The first basic issue confronting all societies is to define the nature of the relation between the individual and the group. This dimension is frequently labeled as individualism versus collectivism (Hofstede, 1980, 1991). In cultures at the Conservatism pole of the dimension, Schwartz (1994) noted that the person is viewed as embedded in a collectivity, finding meaning in life largely through social relationships, through identifying with the group and participating in its shared way of life. Schwartz (1999) noted that this value type emphasizes maintenance of the status quo, propriety, and restraint of actions or inclinations that might disrupt the solitary group or the traditional order. Exemplary specific values are social order, respect
“When people in the United States are introduced to the concept of socialism - whether in the popular media or in a high school class - they are presented with a simple equation: socialism = a crippled economy that fails to meet people's basic needs + a totalitarian government” (Robertson). Robertson proves a good point in saying this, because generally children in the United States grow up either being taught that socialism is bad or evil, which is completely wrong, or they end up being taught nothing of socialism at all. It is until these children are exposed to a socialist government, through education or experience (which few usually have the privilege of doing) t...
As people socialize, they create interactions whose products are influential to act back upon the people to determine or constrain actions. Moreover, social interactions may be likened to a theatre whereby people are the actors as the rest of the people are the audience. These other people actively observe the role-playing and respond by reacting to the performances. However, people’s behaviors tend to change when they are alone as they get rid of the roles they play in front of others.
“Conformity is a form of social influence that involves a change in behavior or belief so that one can fit in with a certain group” (McLeod). Such a change is a response to imagined (which involves the pressure of expectations or social norms) or real (which involves the presence of others) group pressure. Another definition of conformity can be “yielding to group pressures”. Group pressure can take many forms, for example persuasion, teasing, bullying, criticism etc. Conformity is also referred to as group pressure or majority influence. The term conformity is mostly used to show an agreement to the position of the majority, and this is brought about by either by the desire to be liked or to fit in, or just to match a social role. The aim of this paper is to argue that conformity is among people because they always live in groups-work groups, family, political, religious and social groups. At the same instance, they are adjusted to obey authority. A conformist mentality makes it easy for people to be influenced by others.
Conformity is defined as “a change in one’s behavior due to he real or imagined influence of other people.” Research has shown that impersonating a certain group or persons ideas, or conforming to their beliefs, happens so quickly and without thought that it’s mechanical and the reason that conformity is constantly present because it is habitual (Griskevicius, 2006). While assessing a situation we are uncertain about, we can find more precise information by adhering to others, eventually leading to correct decision-making. Everybody conforms (men, women, children, etc.), it’s just a part of living, but what tells us if we should conform or not? Specifically, does gender determine our level of conformity, or is it the social roles we take as individuals? This paper reviews studies on primed social roles on gender differences in conformity, performed by Cassie Ann Hull Eno, sex differences in human behavior, performed by Alice H. Eagly and company, fundamental motives that facilitate strategic conformity, performed by Vladas Griskevicus and company, along with others cited in the “resources”.
“Social conformity has been practiced in societies around the world since ancient times,” and the reason it is so effective is that humans have an inherent need to be accepted as part of a group (Sadat). Furthermore, Hossna Sadat reports that:
Human beings are defined as ''social animals'' because in every aspects of life they live together, they form a variety of groups and improve relationships with each other. Interaction with others is a natural result of living in society. In the process of interaction, society and its rules has a social impact on each individual. If people face with any kind of social impact such as group pressure, great part of them show conformity by changing their behaviors, ideas, decisions in expected way. A person conforms if he or she chooses a course of action that a majority favors or that is socially acceptable. Some kind of conformity is natural and socially healthy but obeying all the norms, ideas, and decisions without thinking or accepting is harmful for the society and its democratic norms....
Those in collectivist cultures value their group membership, respect group processes and decisions, and expect other in-group members to look after or protect them in case of needs or crisis. For them, keeping good and harmonious relationships inside their in-group is a priority; and avoiding loss of face is important. Their identity is based on the strong and cohesive in-groups to which they belong. In collectivist cultures, cooperation is high within in-groups, but is unlikely when the other person belongs to an out-group. As a comparison, people in individualist cultures are good at forming new in-groups and getting along with those from out-groups.
Psychology is a social science study that covers diverse subject topics and carries out different forms of research in order to understand the development and function of human beings. A scientific study focuses on people's mind and its functions especially those affecting behavior in a particular context. Psychology is divided into different branches, and each branch addresses its own form of content in relation to mental processes and behavior. Social psychology is one of the psychology branches. This subdiscipline focuses on individuals and their thoughts. Experts in this field of study focus on why an individual acts as well as reacts the way he/she does. It studies the interaction between people, but the focus is on one human being rather than many individuals. Scientists as well as psychologists study it in order to understand how individuals influence and communicate with each other. This research paper seeks to address this branch of psychology in detail by explaining its meaning, the relationship between it and other fields of psychology and the differences as well as the similarities it has with these other fields. Further, the paper will also discuss the diverse research methods that are applicable with social psychology to determine how a person affects groups of people and how these groups affect an individual.