Human Behaviour and Performance Are the Result of Multiple Influences.' Examine and Assess This Assertion, Drawing on Examples from Chapter 1,6 and 7 of Discovering Psychology.
'Human behaviour and performance are the result of multiple influences.' Examine and assess this assertion, drawing on examples from Chapter 1,6 and 7 of Discovering Psychology.
Internal and External Influences on Human Behaviour and Performance
Research has examined the influence of a wide range of factors on human behaviour and performance. These may be linked to theoretical and technological developments (for example, the influence of behaviourism and conditioning, or brain imaging techniques in examining the structure and function of mental processes). These factors can also be split into those which are internal and external. Internal factors are more stable and linked to a person’s biological (or even genetic) make-up or core personality. External are those which act upon the person: for example, upbringing, social context and culture, and influence of peers. To explore the current brief, three broad types of influence will be discussed (personality, friendship and culture, and biology) and considered in terms of how they impact behaviour and performance.
Personality can generally be characterised as a potential internal factor for influencing behaviour and performance. Personality theories describe a set of traits and characteristics that are stable and enduring over time. Personality plays an important role in social psychology in terms of how people understand the behaviour of others, and the role of personality is generally overestimated in determining causes of behaviour and underestimating external causes. Ross (1977) defined this as the fundamental attribution error. In personality research, attitudes are important variables to measure and are considered to reflect underlying personality types.
Motivated by the events of the Second World War, a specific application of personality theory by Adorno et al. (1950) examined one personality type in depth. The authors aimed to test whether an authoritarian personality - as indicated by expression of
Internal and External Influences on Human Behaviour and Performance
Research has examined the influence of a wide range of factors on human behaviour and performance. These may be linked to theoretical and technological developments (for example, the influence of behaviourism and conditioning, or brain imaging techniques in examining the structure and function of mental processes). These factors can also be split into those which are internal and external. Internal factors are more stable and linked to a person’s biological (or even genetic) make-up or core personality. External are those which act upon the person: for example, upbringing, social context and culture, and influence of peers. To explore the current brief, three broad types of influence will be discussed (personality, friendship and culture, and biology) and considered in terms of how they impact behaviour and performance.
Personality can generally be characterised as a potential internal factor for influencing behaviour and performance. Personality theories describe a set of traits and characteristics that are stable and enduring over time. Personality plays an important role in social psychology in terms of how people understand the behaviour of others, and the role of personality is generally overestimated in determining causes of behaviour and underestimating external causes. Ross (1977) defined this as the fundamental attribution error. In personality research, attitudes are important variables to measure and are considered to reflect underlying personality types.
Motivated by the events of the Second World War, a specific application of personality theory by Adorno et al. (1950) examined one personality type in depth. The authors aimed to test whether an authoritarian personality - as indicated by expression of
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