Introduction
Human behavior refers to the range of
behaviors exhibited by humans and which are influenced by culture, attitudes,
emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion
and/or genetics.
The behavior of people (and other
organisms or even mechanisms) falls within a range with some behavior being
common, some unusual, some acceptable, and some outside acceptable limits. In
sociology, behavior is considered as having social behavior, which is more
advanced action, as social behavior is behavior specifically directed at other
people. The acceptability of behavior is evaluated relative to social norms and
regulated by various means of social control.
Factors
affecting human behavior
§ Attitude – the degree to which the person
has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the behavior in question.
§ Social norms – the influence of social pressure that
is perceived by the individual (normative beliefs) to perform or not perform a
certain behavior.
§ Perceived behavioral control – the individual's
belief concerning how easy or difficult performing the behavior will be.
§ Core faith -
The person’s set of beliefs, like religion, philosophy, etc. Provided,
sometimes subconsciously, by his or her family, peers, social media, and the
society he or she lives in.
Classifications
of Human Behavior
•
Conscious
- State of awareness of thoughts, feelings, perception and what is going on
in the environment.
•
Unconscious
–
Overt - Open to public observation
Covert
- Unseen objects such as thoughts, feelings or responses which are not easily seen.
•
Rational
- Pertaining to reason, influenced or guided by reason rather than emotion.
•
Irrational
- Illogical
•
Voluntary
- Intentional
•
Involuntary
– Doing something against your will, action made without intent or
carried out despite an attempt to prevent
them.
•
Simple
– ex. What you see is what you get.
•
Complex
- compound complicated behavior.
Theoretical approaches about the
factors that cause, maintain, alter behavior, and mental process:
•
PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH
-
is based on the belief that childhood
experiences greatly influence the development of
late personality traits and
psychological problems. It also stresses the influence of unconscious fears,
desires and motivations on thoughts and behavior.
•
HUMANISTIC APPROACH
-
emphasizes that each individual has
great freedom in directing his/her future, a
large
capacity for personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic worth &
enormous potential for self-fulfillment.
•
BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
-
Studies how organism learn new
behavior or modify existing ones, depending on
whether
events in their environment reward of punish these behavior.
•
COGNITIVE APPROACH
-
Examines how we process, store, and
use information, and how this information
influences
what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember believe and feel.
•
BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
-
Focuses on how genes, hormones &
nervous system interact with the environment to influence learning,
personality, memory, motivation, emotions at coping techniques.
Theories
that explain motivation to Human Behavior
HUMAN
NEEDS THEORY BY: MASLOW
•
PHYSIOLOGICAL
NEEDS
-
Needs
such as air, food, water, shelter, rest, sleep, activity and temperature
maintenance are crucial for survival.
•
SAFETY
AND SECURITY NEEDS
-
The
need for safety has both physical and psychological aspects. The person needs
to feel safe both in the physical environment and in relationship.
•
LOVE
AND BELONGING NEEDS
-
The
third level needs includes giving and receiving affection, attaining a place in
group, and maintaining the feeling of belonging.
•
SELF-ESTEEM
NEEDS
-
The
individual needs both self-esteem (ex. Feelings of independence, competence,
and self-respect) and esteem from others (ex. Recognition, respect, and
appreciation)
•
SELF-ACTUALIZATION
-
When
the need for self-esteem is satisfied, the individual strives for
self-actualization, the innate need to develop one’s maximum potential and
realize one’s abilities and qualities.
•
PSYCHOANALYTIC
THEORY (Sigmund Freud)
-
This
theory explained that human behavior is motivated by an inner force called the
human mind. This theory was introduced by SIGMUND FREUD.
SIGMUND
FREUD (1856-1939) was an Austrian physician who worked as an neurologist. Early
in his career, he used hypnosis to treat people with physical and emotional
problem. From his work with these patients, he began to conceptualize a theory
of human behavior.
•
Freud
theorized that people have two (2) basic instincts – SEXUAL and AGGRESSION.
These two (2) basic instincts are not always socially acceptable. When people
do not exhibit behavior that is not acceptable, do they often experience
punishment, guilt and anxiety.
•
Freud’s
theory describes a conflict between a person’s instinctual needs for
gratification
and the demands of society for socialization.
For Freud, a person’s core tendency is to
maximize instinctual gratification while
minimizing punishment and guilt.
– Addresses the relationship among inner
experience, behavior, social roles & functioning. This theory proposes that
conflicts among unconscious motivating factors affect behavior.
LEVEL
OF AWARENESS
•
CONSCIOUS
– aware of here and now, in contact with reality. It functions only when the
person is awake.
•
PRECONSCIOUS
/ SUBCONSCIOUS – Contains the partially forgotten memories that can be recalled
at will. Preconscious serves as the
“watchman” by preventing unacceptable & anxiety producing memories from
reaching the conscious awareness.
•
UNCONSCIOUS
– The largest part of the personality that is often compared to the hidden
iceberg under the water that contains memory that is forgotten & cannot be
brought back to consciousness at will.
HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN AN ORGANIZATION
Human behavior in an organization
determines the quality of work, progress and success of the organization. No
machine and no computer can work by itself. No product is developed and
manufactured by itself. It's the workforce or rather the human resources of an
organization who develop ideas, create new products and services and then
deliver them to the markets. Thus, it is important for the management of an
organization to analyze the behavior of its entire work force. Human
performance consulting is in vogue today, thanks to the greater emphasis on the
psychology of the people behind the desk.
Every organization differs from the other with respect to its policies, work environment, recruitment process, job evaluation and culture. The most natural human tendency is to react positively and with great intensity where they are compensated well, encouraged well and get additional perks and holidays. In no way is it being suggested that an organization should overpay its staff. However, it must be kept in mind that the organization must treat its work force with immense dignity and respect and provide sufficient compensation. Even make the cleaning staff in your organization feel special and encourage them to do their task in the best possible way! The work force must be treated as an asset, not a liability, and once this is done you will notice remarkable change in the collective human behavior.
Every organization differs from the other with respect to its policies, work environment, recruitment process, job evaluation and culture. The most natural human tendency is to react positively and with great intensity where they are compensated well, encouraged well and get additional perks and holidays. In no way is it being suggested that an organization should overpay its staff. However, it must be kept in mind that the organization must treat its work force with immense dignity and respect and provide sufficient compensation. Even make the cleaning staff in your organization feel special and encourage them to do their task in the best possible way! The work force must be treated as an asset, not a liability, and once this is done you will notice remarkable change in the collective human behavior.
The external personal environment
plays a major role in his/her behavior and attitude. We are social animals with
unique aspirations, hopes, and insecurities. Only those who enjoy their work
can have a healthy balance between personal and professional life. Those who
don't enjoy their work will most likely not be satisfied with the work nor be
content in their personal life due to the imbalance that exists.
One important way to analyze human behavior is to study the relationship effectiveness. How effectively your staff communicates and relates to each other can tell you how much they care for their work and the people around them. Without proper training the office dynamic can become imbalanced just like any natural system.
It is not likely for an accountant or a biologist to sit and study human behavior effectively. You must have trained experts who understand the unique challenges the workplace brings. Not everybody is gifted with the skill to foresee a person's behavior beforehand.
One important way to analyze human behavior is to study the relationship effectiveness. How effectively your staff communicates and relates to each other can tell you how much they care for their work and the people around them. Without proper training the office dynamic can become imbalanced just like any natural system.
It is not likely for an accountant or a biologist to sit and study human behavior effectively. You must have trained experts who understand the unique challenges the workplace brings. Not everybody is gifted with the skill to foresee a person's behavior beforehand.
Conclusion
It is really important to know human
behavior (the basics of it, the history of it, and why do we study human
behavior) Because it helps you understand and appreciate people more. It allows
you to know what drives people, and that they not always mean to hurt others
but that's just the way they are. It helps you think of people in more positive
ways.
This in all aspects of life, including in the work setting.
It will allow you to understand better the motives behind the actions of people, your closest relatives, and others, you parents and your kids. Just a little example: you encounter a person, and that person seems to be sad. You assume that it's something about you and you develop a negative thougt about that person.
However, when you understand how different people feel and act in different ways, you might understand that it's nothing about you; it's just the way the person behaves for whatever reason and possibly because of his/her own issues.
There are people reacting on emotional levels, while others would keep restrained and not give way to their emotions. Some people may appear as cold and indifferent. If you've ever thought this way about your spouse, once you learn about human behavior, you may change your attitude in this respect. You may come to understand that the other person possibly feels very much about you but is just not the type to show his/her emotions openly.
So understanding human behavior helps us understand better other people and ourselves. It helps us have a better life, and appreciate more the world around us.
This in all aspects of life, including in the work setting.
It will allow you to understand better the motives behind the actions of people, your closest relatives, and others, you parents and your kids. Just a little example: you encounter a person, and that person seems to be sad. You assume that it's something about you and you develop a negative thougt about that person.
However, when you understand how different people feel and act in different ways, you might understand that it's nothing about you; it's just the way the person behaves for whatever reason and possibly because of his/her own issues.
There are people reacting on emotional levels, while others would keep restrained and not give way to their emotions. Some people may appear as cold and indifferent. If you've ever thought this way about your spouse, once you learn about human behavior, you may change your attitude in this respect. You may come to understand that the other person possibly feels very much about you but is just not the type to show his/her emotions openly.
So understanding human behavior helps us understand better other people and ourselves. It helps us have a better life, and appreciate more the world around us.
References:
http://www.212articles.com/articles/73307/1/Human-Behavior-In-Organization/Page1.html
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