El Saber Curioso

Social Influences Shape Our Behavior
We are, as Aristotle long ago observed, social animals. We speak and think in words
we learned from others. We long to connect, to belong, and to be well thought
of. Matthias Mehl and James Pennebaker (2003) quantified their University of
Texas students’ social behavior by inviting them to wear microcassette recorders
and microphones. Once every 12 minutes during their waking hours, the
computer-operated recorder would imperceptibly record for 30 seconds. Although
the observation period covered only weekdays (including class time), almost
30 percent of the students’ time was spent in conversation. Relationships are a big
part of being human.
As social creatures, we respond to our immediate contexts. Sometimes the power
of a social situation leads us to act contrary to our expressed attitudes. Indeed, powerfully
evil situations sometimes overwhelm good intentions, inducing people to
agree with falsehoods or comply with cruelty. Under Nazi influence, many decent
people became instruments of the Holocaust. Other situations may elicit great generosity
and compassion. After a major earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Japan was
overwhelmed with offers of assistance