Baumeister And Tice

Whether we are from different cultures or religions or if we look at the behaviour of animals we all like to be connected socially and feel accepted in society. (Yalom)

Chapter 3 of Essential of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach by James M. Henslin discusses the topic of socialization, which is the process by which people learn the characteristics of their group—the knowledge, attitudes, skills, norms, values, and actions thought appropriate for them. Sociologists try to determine how much of a person’s characteristics comes from “nature” (heredity) and how much from “nurture” (social environment). Studying feral, isolated, and institutionalized children, such as The Skeels/Dye Experiment, have helped them understand how “society makes us human.” The theories and research of Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Piaget to explain socialization into the self and mind. Cooley’s looking-glass self theory focuses on how we believe others perceive us.

Starting as children, people are inclined to strive to be socially accepted. With social standards being very difficult to fit into, many people feel as though they do not belong to a set group of people; therefore, they tend to have a lower self esteem which causes them to act out. Being isolated causes one to feel a lack of confidence within themselves because him or her can feel as though they are not wanted and do not belong. This low sense of self esteem affects a person’s motivation and mental health. Social norms can cause people to feel alone and as though they have no one there for them. On the other hand, belonging to a community or a specific group can allow people to feel as though they have a support system, making them feel more confident in themselves and becoming better in their overall life. Feeling accepted and supported by people can increase intellectual activity and boost a person’s self esteem tremendously. Belonging and acceptance increase and decrease self esteem thus dictating a person’s behavior.

Fiske, S. T. (2010). Social Beings: Core Motives in Social Psychology 2nd Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Blau states that “social attraction is the force that induces human beings to establish social associations on their own initiative and to expand the scope of their associations once they have been

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

According to leading psychologist Abraham Maslow and his Hierarchy Of Needs model, human beings have a variety of needs that must be met before they progress. The need to be included and belong to a group is second only to the need for safety and food and water. If this need is not satisfied, the chronic anxiousness developed from wanting to be included could cripple success in correctly choosing between the decisions and judgements of daily life. This anxiousness is prevalent in literature and is expressed as fear of not belonging and become a social outcast. This fear of not being accepted into a population causes conformity, behavior that adheres only to accepted standards, which ultimately inhibits social progress.

According to Crabb (1977), there are several factors that motivate human behavior. Although there several motivators, Crabb (1977) insists that the need to feel secure and the need to feel significant are the two primary provokers. Often, a human’s primary motivator to meet these needs becomes the driving force behind any action. When a situation or event is encountered, often, the individual will analyze whether or not one of these two needs is threatened, if it is, a person will most often behave in a way that protects (Crabb, 1977). I have seen this to be true in my life and in the lives of many of my friends. For example, someone will make hurtful or unloving comment, and the receiver will retaliate with a defensive or hurtful remark to protect their security or significance from the offense. Unfortunately, this type of unhealthy behavior can set a person on a downhill spiral that may result in a ripple effect of negative impacts. Frequently, friends, business partners, spouses, children, and even other opportunities are disengaged because

Many things are important to us, one of these is being accepted by our society. We all hate to be the outsider or the new kid, because we feel alone and secluded . In “Who Am I This Time?';, Helene Shaw’s job kept her moving to a different town every eight weeks. She became very cold to her

Everyday people use social cognition as a tool to help them thrive in social world. There are many important aspects of social cognition that are helpful to us in making decisions and help us to interpret the world around us. An important aspect that is linked to social cognition is that of thought suppression. Thought suppression is when a person tries to force particular thoughts, memories or feelings out of their minds that may be unpleasant or may cause a great deal of stress for the individual. Many people are unaware how often we use thought suppression in our daily lives, but the truth is we use it in almost every aspect of our day.

One flaw in the moral compass of humanity is the reactions one has to rejection. Twain states “Among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge” (“The Damned Human Race”), showing how humans will cause

Cronin et al. (2007) explained a literature review as being a summary of research that has been carried out on the proposed research topic. The aim of the literature review is to provide a rationale for a new research topic to be undertaken. A good literature review will have a selection of information from varied sources. In this article the literature review is under the heading of background this may be a cause of confusion for some readers and could perhaps be more suited to its own heading. However, the literature review in this article clearly summarises the research that has been conducted into the topic of interest. The fact that the need to belong and accepted is a fundamental need is highlighted. Furthermore the effects of being depraved of this need are also brought to the forefront. In addition to this further studies have been conducted into the depravation of social relationships and its link with higher levels of somatic and psychosomatic illness.

The desire for positive social relationships is one of the most fundamental and universal human needs. This need has a deep root in evolutionary history in relation to mating and natural selection and this can exert a powerful impact on contemporary human psychological processes (Baumeister & Leary 1995). Failure to satisfy these needs can bear devastating consequences on the psychological well being of an individual. These needs might not be satisfied as rejection, isolation, and ostracism occurs on a daily basis to people. Although being ignored and excluded is a pervasive circumstance present throughout history across species, and humans of all ages and cultures i.e the use of Ostracism (the feeling of isolation and exclusion) has been

Nathan DeWall, a Psychologist at the University of Kentucky says that “Humans have a fundamental need to belong. Just as we have needs for food and water, we also have needs for positive and lasting relationships.” The need to belong can be so strong that we are willing to change who we are just to belong to a group. Most times it is small changes. For people who are people pleasers, we will go out of our way to help others, even if that means we are neglecting ourselves, just to get their approval.

First of all, what is humanity? When I recall my lectures correctly human behavior is effected by nature and nurture. The makeup of a human genetics and its environment. From what I have learned from my Sociology classes and so far from the Psychology classed is that the ratio is about 50-50 percent. Although I suspect that the neutering and its environment might tip the scale towards an environmental factor what determines our human behavior and our situational behavior. This therefor could be the base of stressors that trigger how humans behave and interact within a society. It is possible the need in human to, fit in, in any situation that grooms a person’s socialization. This has been the base of my thoughts of reviewing “The Human Behavior Experiments” video for this assignment.