Various attributes influence human behavior in relation to decision making. Psychologists have studied several perspectives that inspire human perceptions to assist people or support contrasting viewpoints. The diffusion of responsibility, pluralistic ignorance, and identifiable victim effect are some attributes that influence human decision making systems. Therefore, several psychological factors exhibited during social interactions have the potential to alter behavior either positively or negatively.
Some people are not likely to take charge for actions or inaction in the presence of others. The diffusion of social responsibility occurs when individuals adopt a bystander’s approach in the presence of a large group. Hence, being part of a group occasionally reduces the sense of responsibility of an individual (Ferreira, Simão, Ferreira, Souza, & Francisco, 2016). The diffusion of responsibility influences behavior while taking action on an issue is induced by social surroundings. Boon, Watkins, and Sciban (2014) aver that the aptitude to take action can be guided by the level of severity of the affected, interconnects with the person, and understanding of the problem. Therefore, an individual’s behavior is influenced by the diffusion of responsibility model.
Pluralistic ignorance is a psychological situation characterized by the conviction that one’s judgment or attitude is different from others. The concept is evident when the majority of people within a setup have a widespread misinterpretation of projected group regulations. For instance, members of a group may harbor values different from the group’s philosophies (Boon, Watkins, & Sciban, 2014). Likewise, when social norms of a group converge with the members’ private attitudes, a level of discrepancy is realized while the result influences the behavior of such people. Pluralistic ignorance affects human traits through a systematic error in their judgments. For example, by misconceiving other member’s values and perception regarding norms are influenced since the primary inspiration to the behavioral traits are based on wrong assumptions.
The identifiable victim effect influences empathy for a distinct individual under various levels of suffering compared to a large population of anonymous people. The attribute explains the influence of human emotions to respond to life experiences compared to the statistical presentation. For example, people are more likely to respond to medical appeals of a patient rather than participate in buying a life-supporting machine in a hospital. The decisions are skewed even if financing the facility can avoid more deaths. According to Jordan, Amir, and Bloom (2016), society is socialized to support identifiable victims. Accordingly, the concept influences behaviors when expensive measures have been taken to help individual victims rather than assisting an organization with a more positive impact on society.
Helping behavior is defined as the art of providing aid to people. Several social and cultural attributes determine the propensity to help others. Firstly, people’s ages and their interactions affect helping behavior. Secondly, human gender is another aspect that influences helping behavior of individuals. Dovidio, Piliavin, Schroeder, and Penner (2017) assert that women, given their profound emotional connectivity with situations, are more likely to assist compared to men. Socio-cultural expectations of people also influence the behavior to support others. Majority of global cultures have an unwritten societal rule that expects people to help others irrespective of how costly it is (Dovidio et al., 2017). Such cultural prospects influence the behavior to help others.
As it is evident from the discussion, human behavior is based on various psychological formations and their social interactions. Therefore, decision making systems tend to conform to type of conversations, groupings, and emotional situations of a person. It is important that people within a group interpret their rules from the same standpoints to avoid exhibiting variant behavioral traits. Hence, positive emotions create a constructive contribution to society.
References
Boon, S. D., Watkins, S. J., & Sciban, R. A. (2014). Pluralistic ignorance and misperception of social norms concerning cheating in dating relationships. Personal Relationships, 21(3), 482-496.
Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A., & Penner, L. A. (2017). The social psychology of prosocial behavior. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Ferreira, P. C., Simão, A. V., Ferreira, A., Souza, S., & Francisco, S. (2016). Student bystander behavior and cultural issues in cyberbullying: When actions speak louder than words. Computers in Human Behavior, 60, 301-311.
Jordan, M. R., Amir, D., & Bloom, P. (2016). Are empathy and concern psychologically distinct? Emotion, 16(8), 1-20.
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