How does the social environment affect human behavior? Do you behave differently around the higher-ups?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social environment has a tremendous influence on human behavior. People tend to act differently than their normal self around higher-ups and people from out-groups. Also, men tend to take greater risks in the company of women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep reading to learn about the psychology of social interaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The psychology of social interaction is premised on the idea of “persona.” People play out different personas or social masks in different social environments. For a clear and easy example, imagine how you act around your best friend compared to how you act around your boss\u2014in most cases, your behavior will be wildly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve already discussed the human tendency to divide people into in-groups and out-groups, but we also subdivide our in-groups into ranks\u2014in Sapolsky\u2019s words, we have hierarchies<\/em>. We tend to feel closer to those who are close in rank to us in those hierarchies.<\/strong> For example, an office worker would likely feel more kinship with his coworkers than with either the company CEO or the janitor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A hierarchy is different from typical \u201cus versus them\u201d dynamics because all members are still part of the same group, and (at least in theory) all work together for the common good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, Sapolsky points out that the effects of our social environments go beyond influences from people we personally know.<\/strong> For instance, men tend to become more aggressive and take greater risks when women are present. Also, in situations where helping someone would be inconvenient (but not dangerous), the more people there are present, the less likely anyone is to step forward to help\u2014the so-called \u201cBystander Effect.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In situations where helping would be dangerous, however, people are actually more <\/em>likely to step in if there are witnesses nearby. That might be because of the chance to be recognized as a hero, or perhaps simply because it seems more likely that we\u2019ll have backup if things get out of hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n