Societies: How they are formed and how they transform individuals

According to Collins dictionary society is people in general, thought of as a large

organized group. This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society. Socialization is just as
essential to us as individuals. Social interaction provides the means via which we gradually
become able to see ourselves through the eyes of others, and how we learn who we are and
how we fit into the world around us.

In a science daily.com society, or a human society, is a group of people involved with

each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same
geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant
cultural expectations.

Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations)

between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be
described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.

In sociological terms, society refers to a group of people who live in a definable

community and share the same culture. On a broader scale, society consists of the people
and institutions around us, our shared beliefs, and our cultural ideas. Typically, more-advanced
societies also share a political authority.

Society can be understood, following the German sociologist Franz Oppenheirmer

(1992) as referring to the totality of all natural relations and institutions between man and man.
The size and scope of a society differs.

A small group of academic scholars, for instance, can be called a society; while we also
speak of society, classified according to geographical location, culture, ethnicity, belief
system or religion, political ideology, and type of economy, among others.

The basis of classification usually corresponds to the common features of the members
in a society. Consequently, societies can overlap, such as when religious societies and ethnic
societies exist in one geographical society, which explains why it is natural for a human
individual to be a member of a different societies at the same time.
 In each kind of society that he/she is a part of, the human person plays a set of roles,
the totality of which defines his//her social identity. In what follows, we shall examine the kinds
of society based on the primary means of subsistence of resources of life’s necessities.

The information superhighway that we know today gives more focus on computer
hardware, software, and systems in terms of contribution to society as the basic tools enabling
fast and efficient transfer of information. Before personal computers were mainly used for word
processing. Nowadays the emergence of portable computers enables many people to
transact business everywhere.

According to Soren Kierkegaard rather than being ourselves, we tend to conform to an

image or idea associated with being a certain type of person. For example, if we create the
people we want to be or the ideal versions of ourselves in our Facebook profiles, then we
conform to pattern. To the extent that we do see others and ourselves with generalizations;
not recognizing existing individuals. For him we are reduced to mediocrity. Our modern age
remains an era of increasing dullness, conformity, and lack of genuine individuals. (Socio 2007)

Life was much simpler before. One begins to comprehend how technology evolved.
From medieval facts crafts to the Industrial Revolution that was dominated by factors such as
revolutionary discoveries in natural sciences, detection, and extraction of energy resources,
invention of mechanical devices, availability of investment capital, improved means of
transportation, communication, and growing interest taken by scientific and commercial
circles in technology and engineering.

Philosophically, our totality wholeness or complete life relies on our social relations.
Aristotle said that friends are two bodies with one soul. Mutual sharing, acceptance, and
sincerity that Carol encourage are akin with the outlooks of Karol Wojtyla’s We-You/I-You and
Martin Bubers I-Thou relations.

Social relationships tend to be less intimate, with lesser self-disclosure involved, but may
still be exclusive, and may demand levels of loyalty. It is human nature to relate with people.
It is our way of making connections that satisfy an important need: sense of belonging,
acceptance, and affiliation. You will encounter many different groups as you expand your
social network. Our social relationships, although dictated to a certain extent by our neutral
reflexes, are also affected by other factors such as social influence.
Forms of Social Influence

1. Conformity- is the act of adjusting your behavior, opinions, or beliefs to agree with the
prevailing norm or standard.

Why do people conform?

• To be accepted
• To avoid social disapproval, ridicule, or rejection
• To satisfy the need for approval from others are likely anxious or have o low
self-esteem.
• By conforming you get a sense of security that you are one to the group.
Conformity gives you a safety net.
• In a positive way conformity fosters group cohesiveness. It makes the
members united in achieving goals.
2. Compliance - occurs when individual gives in or agrees with the other person or group,
even if one holds a different opinion about the person or situation. Unlike conformity
wherein the person adjusts or changes attitudes and beliefs, the person who is
complying adapts to the actions or rules of another but does not necessarily mean that
the person agreed or has changed.
3. Identification- this takes place when a respectable, famous, or well-liked person exerts
great influence on others. The people follow the ways of the popular figure.