External Systems (Systems Perspective) Flashcards
What are the two external factors that influence the human behaviour?
Two external factors that influence the human behaviour:
- Environment
- Societal
These factors are constantly at play during a person’s developmental stages from childhood to adulthood.
Explain the Environmental Influence
According to Erik Erickson, a psychosocial psychologist, there are eight distinct stages of a person’s development which are largely influenced by one’s culture, society and the conflicts that take place within the ego itself.
The environment influences individuals by how the information that is
generated by the environment is being transmitted into the minds of the individual. In other words, it is the internal representation of how the
individual perceives the world to be and how he will respond to this internal
representation.
Social constructs of human behaviour are determined by the nurturing and
relational aspects of development.
One such aspect is a person’s early childhood development and its subsequent phases of development.
During a person’s early childhood, if he/she is nurtured in what they
perceives as a warm and accepting environment, the person would probably grow up to have an adequate sense of trust, identity and self-
esteem, and able to respond to life challenges more rationally.
Explain the Social Influence
Human behaviour is influenced by other people in countless ways and on
a variety of levels.
Overt, deliberate persuasion by other people can cause
us to change our opinions and/or behaviour. However, a great deal of social influence operates more subtly in the form of norms, which are
acquired social rules. People are generally unaware of these norms until they violated them.
For example, every culture has a norm for “personal
space”, that is the physical distance maintained between adults. Violation
of norms generally makes people uncomfortable, while adherence to them provides security and confidence in a variety of social situations.
