A Psychological Perspective: Why We Change the Way We Act
Changes in our life may produce attitudes which are then manifested in our behavior. Change is a necessary part of living, to develop as a person we must accept and experience change in a productive manner. Change affects all areas of our lives, from the people with whom we interact, to the places we go, to the clothes we wear each day. We all change over; no one remains the same person all the time. We change in response to the environment and circumstances we surround ourselves with, and to the experiences we encounter throughout our lives. “Changes in our life circumstances may trigger different changes in our attitudes which are then manifested in our behavior” (Fabien, 2013, p1). Change is a part of human existence and behavior. As we age our behavior changes. When we change the people we are with our behavior changes. If one’s behavior did not change depending on the circumstances and environment many problems would result. Being with your boss for an evening meal is very different for most people than a dinner out with a romantic partner and different behaviors are expected in each circumstance. Kissing one’s boss on the cheek at the end of a meal together may in fact cause problems. At the same time not kissing one’s mate at the end of an evening out can unintentionally cause a whole different host of problems. “One of the most important observations from psychological research is that many decisions are made by automatic, unconscious processes on the basis of information that our conscious, rational brains are hardly aware of” (Manning, 2012, p2). Even though behavior is controlled by automatic and often rigid expectations, behavior changes depending on environment and circumstances, as well as because of the company we keep, and acceptable behavior is often determined by a variety of influences.
Behavior Changes Depending on Environments and Circumstances
“Social cognition refers to...