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Connections 3

How People Around You Influence Your Mind

 Personality Traits: Each person has their own set of individual personality traits,

such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. While

behaving with others, these traits mold the way we think and perceive each other's

actions, determining our thoughts and actions.

 Group Influences: Humans are social by nature, and their minds are greatly

affected by the groups which they are associated with. Group influences can result to

group polarization where group discussions amplify existing views and in groupthink

where the desire for harmony in a group may outweigh rational evaluations of the

alternatives.

 Attitudes: Our environment, particularly our interactions with the people around

us, influence our own attitudes through the process of social learning and cognitive

dissonance. For example, if we observe our peer expressions and positive feelings about a

specific activity, probably we will become more likely to have the same attitude.

 Roles and Role Conflict: In social settings, people usually display expected

behaviors that are defined by social norms or expectations. Role conflict arises when the

demands of conflicting roles are incommensurable either psychologically or cognitively.

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In this way, one may face a role conflict when their friend role contradicts their student

role.

 Intersectionality: Social identities link one another and influence individuals’

experiences in specific and multiple ways. Intersectionality acknowledges that elements

including race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status are intertwined to direct our

mentalities and behaviors. For instance, a person who identifies as a woman and a person

of color might experience specific challenges that are the source of their distinct

worldview.

 Depersonalization and Deindividualization: Large group settings or particular

social settings may bring about depersonalization (the loss of an individual identity) and

deindividualization (the loss of self-awareness). It may thus cause someone do the things

one normally wouldn’t as an individual, for example taking part in riots or simply

following any group norms blindly.

 Social Facilitation: Simply being in the presence of others may either help or

hinder individual performance, depending on the nature of the task. Social facilitation

theory says that the presence of other people makes easy and well-rehearsed tasks better,

but that it can inhibit performance on complex and unfamiliar tasks.

 Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism: Negligent attitudes and behaviors towards

specific groups can generate stereotypes and discrimination. In addition to the targeted

populations which are harmed, the individuals who have these attitudes also have their

beliefs and behaviours shaped.

Impact of Social Environment on the Function of Your Mind

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 Joy and Anxiety: In the presence of cheerful people, our own mood improves and

we experience more happiness. On the other hand, the presence of anxious people leads

to development of our own anxiety through the processes like emotional contagion. For

example, a cheerful friend's laughter may cheer us up and make us happier while a

worried colleague's constant fears may cause an increase in our stress levels.

 Imposter Syndrome and Dunning-Kruger Effect: Relating with others may either

intensify or reduce the 'imposter syndrome' (the feeling of being incompetent regardless

of the evidence of competencies) and the Dunning-Kruger effect (where overestimation

of one's abilities is observed due to lack of awareness). For example, positive feedback

and support from mentors or peers can fight the imposter syndrome, while when you are

among people whose self-confidence exceeds their competence will only support the

Dunning-Kruger effect.

 Authority, Obedience, and Compliance: Social hierarchies and authorities can

cause us to behave in certain ways through obedience and submission. The famous

experiment by Milgram showed that people can follow orders from higher officials even

if they disagree with their moral views. Similarly, methods such as foot-in-the-door or

door-in-the-face can contribute to how we behave in social contexts.

 Risky Shift and Conformity: A group dynamics can cause a risky shift

phenomena. This is where a group of people collectively makes riskier choices than each

individual would. Further, group membership and its correlate, conformity, other factors

that facilitate risky shift. For instance, a teenager could do something risky if they are in a

group because of the urge to obey their friends and the desire to be accepted by them.
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