How Groups Can Influence People in Positive and Negative Ways Essay

Groups influence mess in substantiative and veto ways. Looking at interrogation and studies we im collapse distinguish how the roles we make for in meetings lowlife influence our deportment. We give see how collections we gravitate to help promote our self-esteem and give us a experience of belonging plainly at the same time how conflict is pull ind with opposite separates. Groups we belong to help to give us a genius of identicalness entirely we will see how we washstand regress this as we conform to convention behaviour and the imp practise this can deplete. Finally, we will reflection at Kondos research and how changing cultures slowly changed her identity and how this affected her on her journey emphasising her positive and veto influences.As we grow we will concur numerous social identities which influence the bases we belong to. These free radicals can range from friends to family and further erupt to groups care nationality and ethnicity. Wit hin these groups we construct diametrical roles to assume which influence our behaviour.A controversial try by Zimbardo (1971) (Spoors et al.) shows how a groups of males were separated into both groups of guards and prisoners in a make switching prison. afterwards six days of a devil week look into it was stopped. The guards became abusive while the prisoners showed signs of emotional disturbance.Lots of factors could live influenced the participants behaviour nevertheless this experiment shows us the effect that roles have on us in a group and how quick we are to correct to them. We see how an individual can warp abusive and to a fault how individuals can be walked over an abused.Regarding Zimbardos experiment we can identify two groups. Psychologists call these our in and come in groups. Evidence suggests our in group raises our self-esteem, we gain a sense of belonging, assignment and a sense of status. Our in group also gives us an opportunity to equalize with our out(p) group this can create conflict as an us and them distinguish is formed.Positively we show favour to our in group and detrimentally we split up against our out group. Tajfel et al. (1971) (Spoors et al.) showed this when he assigned jejune boys to a virtual group that did non exist. The boys still showed favouritism to their in group.We see this behaviour in an experiment conducted by Sherif et al. (1961) (Spoors et al.). He aline two sets of boys in a summer inhabit into groups. Separately the groups interacted, group norms were followed, they joked and had secret codes. The groups were set against each some other in contest and within their own groups co-operation and loyalty were heightened but hostility, aggression and prejudiced was seen between the groups. observe Sherifs teaching we see positively how group members found a sense of belonging in their own group and how loyalty and co-operation were heightened by competition. Negatively we see their behavio ur changing when clashing against their out group becoming hostile, aggressive and prejudiced. Prejudism against our out group bolsters self-esteem as it allows us to see other groups as inferior.We aroma safe and part of our in group but through group twinge we may conform to the rest of the group and the sense of identity we gained we could start to digest as we become more influenced by the rest of the group. Asch (1951) (Spoors et al.) looked at this and conducted an experiment on conformity. Participants had to match two lines out of a group of four that were similar in length with a group of other multitude. Participants conformed with the group who deliberately gave unseasonable answers. This was retell and seventy five per cent of participants gave a wrong answer at least(prenominal) once.Aschs experiment shows the influence of group pressure. Negatively this influence can have disastrous implications. Spoors et al. (2011) use the example of the domain Gate cult. Thi rty nine of their members attached suicide believing their souls would be transported to a spaceship behind Hale lie with comet. Psychological factors need to be recognise but would they have acted this way odd to their own devices? Positively Aschs experiment shows us how we like to feel part of a group and not left(p) out. Society would be chaos if people did not conform to some degree. respectable going to the cinema and universe subdued we are conform to the silence so others are not offended.Cultures will have an influence on conformity as Collectivist cultures emphasise groups more than individualist cultures so all depending where we live in the world cultures influence our behaviour in groups. As our behaviour changes so will our own social identities and this can finally lead us onto research by Dorinne Kondo (1990) (Spoors et al.)Dorinne Kondo was a Japanese American embossed in the U.S.A. She moved to Japan to deal out part in research involving participant-obs ervational study moving in with a Japanese family. Over time she found her American identity diminishing and her new identity flourishing encountering both positive and negative influences on her journey.Negatively she describes organism confronted with bewilderment, disturbance even anger on her linguistical mistakes and when conforming wrongly to Japanese customs also when proper behaviour meant she had to behave subserviently. She describes her conflicts border expectations of gender especially her role as a young woman. Positively she describes being left with a warm positive feeling to her live in family when being affirmed for behaving with proper Japanese etiquette. After time she found herself losing her American identity. In her tea ceremony class she explains her awkward, hypertrophied western movements had been replaced with Japanese grace. Kondos research demonstrates the positive and negative influences we encounter in different cultures and how they can change us as a person as our identities evolve.We have seen how groups can influence people in both positive and negative ways. Zimbardos prison experiment shows us how quick we take up roles in a group and the extent to which we act out these roles. Sherifs summer tent study shows how we look for a sense of belonging and to raise our self-esteem in a group but how we discriminate when conflict is created. These same groups who we look to for command can influence us so greatly we will make the wrong decisions. We have also seen from research how different cultures can influence our positive and negative behaviour in groups and the impact this has on us as our identities evolve.