Examine and Assess the Influence of Other People on Human Behaviour and Performance.
Option B essay question
Examine and assess the influence of other people on human behaviour and performance.
This essay will examine and assess the influence of other people on human behaviour and performance, starting with Adorno et al (1950)'s large-scale study on the authoritarian personality with it's focus on the parental and family influence as well as alternative explanations, including evidence that multiple factors influence the formation of authoritarianism. It will then go on to examine the influence of peers in friendship choices and the significance of cultural differences as explored by Gonzalez et al (2004) in today's technologically advanced society. Finally, the essay will use the research done by Loftus and Palmer in the 1970's together with Loftus and Pickerell (1995) to assess and evaluate the influence of other people on human performance, in this case, memory and how it can be distorted by others.
The aim of Adorno et al's (1950) study was to measure personality and the predisposition for fascism (the F-scale) through the quantitative method of administering questionnaires to over 2000 participants, which yielded a substantial amount of data which could be analysed and generalised. He later set about explaining these attitudes and the factors that underpin the 'authoritarian personality' by conducting in-depth interviews with 150 participants, half of whom had scored highly on the F-scale and half had scored low to obtain more qualitative data. He then compared the results and the conclusion was that those who scored high on the scale were more likely to have come from a strict disciplinarian parental background than those who scored low on the scale. Aldorno used psychoanalytical theory to explain that a childhood environment of strict discipline could cause repressed feelings of anger and resentment against this, which as adults would then be projected onto others, usually people who are 'different' in some way to
Examine and assess the influence of other people on human behaviour and performance.
This essay will examine and assess the influence of other people on human behaviour and performance, starting with Adorno et al (1950)'s large-scale study on the authoritarian personality with it's focus on the parental and family influence as well as alternative explanations, including evidence that multiple factors influence the formation of authoritarianism. It will then go on to examine the influence of peers in friendship choices and the significance of cultural differences as explored by Gonzalez et al (2004) in today's technologically advanced society. Finally, the essay will use the research done by Loftus and Palmer in the 1970's together with Loftus and Pickerell (1995) to assess and evaluate the influence of other people on human performance, in this case, memory and how it can be distorted by others.
The aim of Adorno et al's (1950) study was to measure personality and the predisposition for fascism (the F-scale) through the quantitative method of administering questionnaires to over 2000 participants, which yielded a substantial amount of data which could be analysed and generalised. He later set about explaining these attitudes and the factors that underpin the 'authoritarian personality' by conducting in-depth interviews with 150 participants, half of whom had scored highly on the F-scale and half had scored low to obtain more qualitative data. He then compared the results and the conclusion was that those who scored high on the scale were more likely to have come from a strict disciplinarian parental background than those who scored low on the scale. Aldorno used psychoanalytical theory to explain that a childhood environment of strict discipline could cause repressed feelings of anger and resentment against this, which as adults would then be projected onto others, usually people who are 'different' in some way to
References: Brownlow, C. (2010) “Making Friends” in N Brace, J Byford (eds.) Investigating Psychology, Oxford University Press/Milton Keynes/The Open University. McAvoy, J. (2010) “Exposing the Authoritarian Personality” in N Brace, J Byford (eds.) Investigating Psychology, Oxford University Press/Milton Keynes/The Open University. Pike, G. and Brace N (2010) “Witnessing and Remembering” in N Brace, J Byford (eds.) Investigating Psychology, Oxford University Press/Milton Keynes/The Open University