Social influences on behavior

¶ … socially influenced encounters, one a personal example of racism and groupthink encountered at work, the other an example from the national media.

Example 1: Racial Discrimination in the Workplace, or "Why are you sitting there?"

Theoretically, everyone at one's place of work should be regarded as an equal and as a colleague, even as a potential if not an actual friend. But recently, an organization to which one of the team members belonged called a common meeting to discuss the organization's new policies for health insurance. As the crowd quickly filled the room, a noticeable pattern of behavior transpired. People did not merely sit with those whom they worked with, or their friends. Instead, there was a noticeable pattern of separation by ethnicity. The minority group was visibly located on one side of the room and the majority ethnicity of the other employees sat on the other side of the room. This was not a formal strategy; it seemed to happen as unconscious behavior. A kind of unconscious 'groupthink' seemed to be going on, or a tacit endorsement of the social alignments of the society, based upon attitudes regarding race and ethnicity.

According to the team member, she resolved to challenge this sort of behavior. She sat with colleagues whom were unfamiliar and not of her ethnicity. She overheard one of her usual seating partners at such functions whisper, "why is she sitting over there?" Clearly, (and in this case correctly) they assumed that the renegade worker's decision to sit in the seat was an effort to make a statement, rather than to merely occupy the nearest available chair in the crowded room. Another young lady, in a low whisper, questioned the woman's decision. The woman explained that the meeting was about to start, and there were few other places to sit, which was the truth.

As the room waited for the meeting to begin, the ice having been broken, the woman engaged in a conversation with the persons around her seat. The commonly shared bond of having to attend a rather boring and lengthy meeting acted as a kind of pro-social influence that facilitated greater diversity in the room's social interactions. Furthermore, given that no one wished (social facilitation) to make an openly negative statement, given that the company is supports the principle of diversity (at least in theory) everyone was socially influenced to behave in a more positive and inquisitive fashion towards one another by proximity and by social custom -- it is considered natural to talk before such meetings, and considered unacceptable to socially 'loaf' in silence.

In the end, after several lengthy conversations and friendly exchanges the now mixed group went out to lunch together. They had several discussions on their dissimilar work responsibilities and functions, and found common ground in their vocational experiences. After the meetings adjourned the woman did hear some less accepting individuals mutter "why did she sit there?" Later, the woman's colleagues questioned why she sat with "the ladies on the 3rd floor," although they resisted making a reference to their race of the other women, another example of professional demeanor acting as a kind of social facilitator, suppressing overt racism, or at very least, ethnocentrism, although the implications were clearly present in the tone of the question.

Second example: High School Prejudice

In 2003, the Oprah Winfrey Show profiled a racially divided high school, where racism and prejudice were evident in the student body. Students allied themselves with 'like' persons much as in the above work situation, where only adults were concerned. As in the above-cited example, certain members of the community, although not all, wished to create a more cohesive social organization. Rather than engage in informal broaching of social norms, a more formal approach was used. This reflects the fact in high school, even more so than in the work place, that allying one's self with a particular group of one's friends is extremely important.

The high school instituted what it called a Challenge Day. At first, the students were resistant to the idea. The day began with a series of team-related activities that forced students from different cliques and ethnic groups to engage with one another. The team-based activities broke down the tendency for some teens to socially loaf, or remain silent or introverted when engaged in school-related group activities. Also, by creating a diverse environment the school used social influences amongst the teens to facilitate more positive interactions and experiences between normally isolated groups. Then, small groups were created, again to limit social loafing, where it was required that students openly share truthful facts about themselves.

The purpose of a high school, unlike a work environment, is to build character and to educate the students. Work is always about realizing an objective, however much the organization may pay lip service to the benefits of diversity for the organization. Although persons must work together, this does not mean that they must like one another, only tolerate one another, nor do they have to get to know their work colleagues very deeply on a meaningful level. Thus, although breaking the boundaries within the workplace may have offended some people and educated others, it did not make a major social rupture within the organization. It could be ignored, or merely chatted about afterwards.