Influencing Other’s Behavior and Its Impact Essay

As an individual, we have the capacity to affect other’s behavior, characters and attitudes. in fact, what we did to influence othetfr has the more impoact thyan what an anidicidual do it to himself. However, the power to persuade depends upon on what kind of persuasion we did and how the manipulation takes place. As an individual, we have then eytnmdecy to believe hwat opthewrs said and what others do towards us. Actually, it is more likely to believe other’s idea. Influencing others thohuhts and actions msut be continually improve his perception and quality towards quality and productivity (Seminar Information Service, 2007). However, how could we do this and what is the inpact of persuading our thought s and isea upon others? II. Influencing Others Thgoughts and behavior Communication with a person is one of the major concern on how to persuade others upon your ideas and belkifs. Constant communication will build a strong confidence and will mark trust and support when you are arguing or discussing something with him. It is also a way to get his attention ans support when you are in the midst of conversation with him. In fact, inidivucdual and group victory towards others mainly depends on the ability on how to communicate woth others. The process on how a person cvommunicatye wotu pthers strogly influence others perception on you. If you have the capability and skills in persuading others ideas to your own by means of well-built communicatiuon, you have also the powers to be understood and the influence to be inculcated toerda others. The communication skills are the key on how to exploit individual and even group potential and beliefs. Indeed, individual and group success mainly rooted from their ability to exchange words clearly and with persuasion. Explore and examine another person’s way of communication stryle in ordewr to adapt the implication and delivery and idea to the approach of that person. Well-defined relationship can sway other’s actions and judgments. However, how could a person buiuld strong relationship without the ability to communicate well? Building good relationds comes from building good communication skills. As constaent communicatiuon build authority, good relkationship also build power to plead one’s case. However, before entering to the relationship, it is important to underdtanr anf analyze forst one’s style of communication and relationship towdrs opther. The skill to analyze them will improve one’s way and strategy on how to relate woith them. The dynamica of the communicationa and rekationships of others pave the way on how to approach them in suach a way that they could handle our means of camaraderie amd acquaintance. The analysisi and defining our approach and goals and identifying the most effecvtove methopd will emphatically influcnec positively anothers’ behavior and their way of perception. In terms of psychological approach, assess and analyuze how the style natuarally encourage others type of relationship. Plan an influence strategy, and use an examined and analyzed techniques for association and rapport. There are studies conducted shoews that conformity has a strong influence towards individual. It increases conformity towards individual. The deegeree of comfomiryt is basewd on the levels of sympathty being shown and felt for that person (GERHART, 2006). There are many well-known studies in social psychology that demonstrate various influences on conformity. Conformity is defined as a change in behavior, belief, or opinion so that the change is more congruent, or agreeable, with an influential individual or group. Among these influences are group pressure, guilt, and authority (Kiesler & Kiesler, 1969). Research has also indicated that these influences hold much more power on conformity than originally preconceived. They can potentially become very powerful tools for subtle, human manipulation when used correctly. Due to this, it is very surprising that no direct research on the influence of sympathy on conformity exists. Sympathy is defined feelings of sorrow or concern for another person (not to be confused with empathy). Although no solid, empirical evidence for the influence of sympathy on conformity exists, it is often used effectively. Many strategies for donation collection aim at getting other people to conform to the belief that money is needed, and sympathy is typically used as a marketing tool. People in everyday situations also, either intentionally or unintentionally, elicit sympathy in others so that they may conform to their beliefs or comply with their requests. For example, Perina (2002) found that college students admit that 70 percent of their excuses for missed assignments are lies. A vast majority of these lies concern health problems and deceased relatives, which is likely to elicit sympathy in the professor. Another example of the influence of sympathy on conformity is the Christian religion. The Bible states that God gave His only Son, Jesus, so that no one else would have to suffer. People could sympathize with this, which would influence their conformity to the religion. Yet even with these powerful implications, no direct research can be found on this probable relationship. There does exist, however, some research where sympathy is applicable. Many psychologists and philosophers have suggested that sympathy mediates altruistic behavior (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1987; Wispe, 1991). Altruism is defined as intentional, voluntary behavior the benefits another and is not performed with the expectation of receiving external rewards or avoiding external punishment. Given this definition, conformity could be labeled as a subcategory of altruism. In many cases, people intentionally conform to the beliefs of others with no intent other than to please, or benefit, them. More recently, Eisenberg, Zhou, and Koller (2001) reported findings of sympathy predicting prosocial behavior. The only difference between altruism and prosocial behavior, by definition, is that prosocial behavior lacks a specified motive (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1987). Again, conformity can be identified as a subcategory of prosocial behavior, which is closely related to altruism. Other research can be interpreted as sympathy being a confounding variable, influencing conformity. Studies of guilt on conformity (Freedman, Wallington, & Bless, 1967) suggest that when participants experience guilt, they are much more likely to comply. Guilt is defined as feelings of responsibility for offensive actions. In their research, participants were induced to perform a negative behavior (e. g. , knocking over a thousand ordered note cards) at the expense of the perceived researcher, subsequently producing guilt. It could be argued, however, that the negative behaviors alone are likely to elicit sympathy, which in turn, could influence conformity to requests. Basically, the experimenter’s exposure to negative behaviors, regardless of the person responsible, could elicit sympathy and influence the participant’s conformity. This could have been controlled for had there been a group where confederates, followed by measurement of participant conformity, performed the negative behaviors. Therefore, sympathy is potentially applicable to this research. The purpose of this study is to examine the direct influence of sympathy on conformity. It is predicted that sympathy will promote the onset of conformity with the assumption that participants will only conform to the sympathized person. It is also predicted that women will display higher conformity, because they are more likely to be influenced by sympathy (Bond & Smith, 1996; Ickes, 1997). It is hypothesized that people experiencing sympathy for an individual are more likely to conform to that individual’s opinions than people of the general population. GERHART, A. D. (2006) THE INFLUENCE OF SYMPATHY ON CONFORMITY. SEMINAR INFORMATION SERVICE, I. (2007) Communicating with Influence: Building Successful Interpersonal & Team Communication.