E. G Reductionism

Their wills, which are believed to be freely gained, are actually the result of a causal chain originating from birth. The fact that humans are governed by their genes and environment means that the ability to make moral decisions as free agents is illusory. For these reasons, the hard determinist position, which is a sound, science-based theory, seems to be incompatible with the concept of free will.

Determinism: According to Sappington (1990) there are two types of determinism, hard and soft. He states that those who hold hard determinism say that human behavior is completely determined by outside factors and that ideas such a free will or moral responsibility are meaningless. Many famous psychologists take this approach such as Freud who believed that people’s behavior is controlled by unconscious factors and any conscious reasons given are simply the brain rationalizing actions to the superego. Skinner argued against Freud and said that behavior is determined by their reinforcement histories. Although they argue on the finer points they both believe that conscious choice is irrelevant.

Conformity is a concept that has been heavily researched in the field of social psychology. Conformity is defined as a change in behavior, beliefs, and attitudes due to group pressure perceived as real (encompassing the presence of others) or imagined (encompassing the pressure of social standards) (Myers, 2010, p. 192). The concept of conformity is a powerful influence on the tendency for people to arrange their thoughts, perspectives, and ideas with others, especially when in a group. This takes away from a person’s individuality because they want to feel accepted by others and therefore, a person will accomplish this basic need of approval through conforming.

The psychologists believe that individual’s behaviour is linked with the inner thoughts and self-image. The idea is that due to free will people change often. It is humans’ responsibility on how their well-being and lives carry on. This is because we are capable of striving to achieve the best, self-actualisation desire.

human behavior is the result of outside barriers that hinder the ideal of free will. Skinner

The contents of this assignment will include multiple psychological theories to explain what ways an individual’s behaviour changes when he/she is part of a group. These theories will define social influence, conformity procedures within groups and social cognition, including the self-categorisation theory.

Repression – Pulling into the unconscious E.g. Forgetting a traumatic event Displacement – Taking out impulses on a less threatening target E.g. Taking out anger from work upon your family Sublimation – Acting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way E.g. A sadist becomes a surgeon to fulfil needs to hurt people This view is very broad when covering the human personality, and had huge followings at times. Many psychologists agree that we are influenced by instinct and

“Groupthink being a coinage - and, admittedly, a loaded one - a working definition is in order. We are not talking about mere instinctive conformity - it is, after all, a perennial failing of mankind. What we are talking about is a rationalized conformity - an open, articulate philosophy which holds that group values are not only expedient but right and good as well (p. 114).”

Jennifer Gephart Mrs. Hammock English 101 19 September 2015 Free Will Very few people in today’s society actually have free will. Free Will is described by Webster’s dictionary as “the ability to act at one’s own discretion.” America is a society based on rules and conditions for freedom. For this reason, one could

Social influence Social psychologists try to understand human behavior in terms of the influence others have in producing it (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 1994). The following passage explains specifically how social groups can influence behavior. In particular, the discussion will Center on the role groups play in the formation of social norms and social roles. With reference to experiments, the passage will show the terms and degree to which people are likely to conform under group pressure to those norms and roles.

no sponsor and no labeling (ex: alcoholic). Some of the Principles of Smart Recovery are: - Allowing others to make their own decision and be responsible for your own behavior and decisions

“What we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which

Free will gives us power to make choices, and engage in actions that originate with ourselves. It also relates to intentionality,Valuntariness, and responsibility. Free will is a natural and social science that continues to catalogue the various biological, psychological, and sociological in influences on our choices and actions, we are left to critically examine the degree to which our thoughts, feelings, and actions are in fact, free or voluntary. Free will is compatible with determinism as in the sovereignty of god.Free will affected by human nature, however retains the ability to choose contrary his nature and desires. In free will always believe only on what is true, and not in false propositions, don't believe on determinism unless it

Imagine having a trait in your personality or something inside of you that you cannot control. Your freedom is taken away and is now controlled by a compulsion that takes over all of your actions or choices, despite what consequences this may bring as a result. Also, despite in what those claim to

Group size is important because as Asch (1955) found, the larger the group, the bigger the phenomenon of conformity due to social norms. Group cohesiveness makes the group to have greater bonds due to similarity and ability to easily show empathy to each other (Christensen et al., 2004) and social support is noticed to groups with higher levels of cohesiveness and bonding. On the other hand, there are personal factors affecting the type of conformity such as self-awareness (ability to understand own self), self-presentation (try to present ideal self in order to conform), personal control (desire to feel that one has control, as a human right, over particular situations) and gender (gender differences- women are more likely to conform) (Franzoi, 2009).