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3/26/2022 4:23:19 PM
The VIllage
Responding to an emergency while in a group takes presence of mind to overcome groupthink.
Groupthink vs. Freethink
Conformity, obedience, diffused responsibility, and groupthink control behavior, challenging an individual’s reactions to an emergency. The power of the crowd compels conformity. We all have a desire to fit in, be liked, and not be considered a fool. People often seek company from those worse off than themselves to maintain a sense of self-worth. When subjects in a research project were asked if they got an 85% on a test whether they’d prefer to associate with someone who received a 95% or a person with 78%, more chose those with the lower than higher score.
Though groups have a positive influence on human behavior by adding harmony, security, and social support, they can also lead to faulty decision-making. In 1963, Stanley Milgram, a social psychology professor at Yale, designed an experiment that recruited volunteers to participate in a study they were told was to improve learning and memory.
The participants were instructed to teach students (learners) correct answers to a series of test items by using a device that supposedly delivered electric shocks of varying intensities up to 450 volts. They were instructed to shock the learners when they gave a wrong answer to a test item, assuring them that the shock would improve the learner’s memory.
When responding to incorrect answers from the learners, the volunteer participants obediently and repeatedly shocked them, raising the voltage when instructed to do so. The learners acted out by crying for help and begging the participants to stop. Some even complained of heart trouble. Yet, when told to continue, 65% of the participant volunteers did so, raising the maximum voltage to the point that learners became unresponsive.
wondered why someone would throw away reason and values to the point of potentially causing serious harm to another individual. He found that the setting seemed to make a difference. When the experiment was conducted in an office rather than a school, the highest shock rate dropped to 40 percent. If the orders were given by phone, the rate dropped to 20 percent.
Groups often manipulate members to act against their own values. Political parties develop platforms that many members don’t support. Groups stop people from hearing opposing information as happened under George Bush in 2003 when the U.S. government convinced a coalition to invade Iraq based on faulty information saying that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The war resulted in 6,000 American soldiers killed and thousands of civilians dead or maimed.
Groupthink occurs when perceiving the group as invincible and morally right, believing that it can do no harm. The thought that others know more than you, makes people willing to give up their responsibility to search out the truth and com to their own conclusions. Some groups censor members by withholding information, quashing dissenting opinions, and shielding the leader from dissenting views. Leaders fan an illusion of unanimity among the members and promotes negative stereotypes of those who aren’t. It makes members making less likely to help humanity outside their circle.
Media is filled with examples of people standing by while someone is raped or assaulted without anyone intervening or calling the police. Though the crime may occur in front of their eyes, they don’t act. People have been caught taking photos and even laughing as they observe the outrage. Social Psychologists label their behavior as the bystander effect—not offering help when in a group.
Reasons to act this way start with not recognizing someone is actually in need of help. When those around us are calm and don’t react to what is happening, then we may fail to acknowledge the need for emergency action. I witnessed this when a man I was talking to at a trade show suddenly stopped breathing and collapsed. Turning to the crowd that was forming, I shouted for CPR assistance, certain someone in the group of educated people could assist. When no one stepped forth, I used my rusty skills, updated by watching television med-series and thankfully brought him back to life well before the paramedics arrived.
People are afraid to get involved when no one rushes to assist. They won’t take personal responsibility, in part, for fear of appearing foolish. The more bystanders there are, the less responsible an individual feels. They imagine as I did at the trade show, that someone in the crowd was more qualified to help. Since I stood apart from the group, I acted. I feel certain that among those watching my then-dead colleague, there was a more qualified person. Alone, I acted immediately.
If you ever find yourself among bystanders watching an emergency, recognize that most people’s first instinct is to deny responsibility for the victim. This awareness can help you snap out of a bubble and realize everyone in the crowd is responsible. If assistance is called for, don’t shout as I did to a wall of bystanders, but look one person in the eye and ask for help, either by calling 911 or assisting with CPR if trained. Even if that person is unable to assist, it may stimulate someone else to come forward. Trust yourself, not the group, to do the right thing.
As crime increases throughout the country, we need to be vigilant. Thefts of catalytic converters are commonplace, and since the Ukraine fiasco, gas is being siphoned off or taken by drilling a hole in gas tanks under the car. We have to stay diligent and do our part to stop such behavior.
If someone looks suspicious, don’t be subject to groupthink. If the crowd appears unconcerned, yet stays to watch, there’s a problem. Don’t fall into the trap of waiting for someone else to act. We are all on neighborhood watch and must speak up. Talk to the person in question and find out what he or she is doing? Get a nearby person to approach the suspect with you, so you are not alone. Act fast. You may be the next victim needing someone’s assistance.
References:
Forcyth, D. (2022) The Psychology of Groups. NOBA project. University of Richmond. retrieved from https://nobaproject.com/modules/the-psychology-of-groups
Website. (2022) Group Behavior. Lumen Introduction to Psychology. retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/conformity-compliance-and-obedience/
Burkley, M. (2009) Why do we Help Less When there is a Crowd. Psychology Today. retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-social-thinker/200911/why-do-we-help-less-when-there-is-crow
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Art is always for sale. Contact me at [email protected].
The Village is a 6' by 2' acrylic painting. available for $ 699.
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3/19/2022 1:28:47 PM
Magnolias in Boom
Trees are budding and will soon cover the city with fragrance and color. A great time to be alive.
Finding Joy
With so much uncertainty in the world and with pundits spouting gloom over airwaves, it is important to pay attention to more positive occurrences that happen daily and find ways to celebrate them. The past two weeks were particularly difficult for me. Images from Ukraine and hearing of illnesses plaguing my friend’s spouses and parents are a reminder of my mortality.
On the flip side, it was a delightful two weeks, for I was present to see the gleam in her eyes when a six-year-old read all the way through Hop on Pop. By the last page was read, she glowed with pride, and asked me if I could bring her Green Eggs and Ham to try it next. During covid, with school closed, I tried teaching her the alphabet on the o day a week we spent together. But wasn’t enough for her to start reading. It took a kindergarten teacher a half-year to accomplish what I tried over eighteen months.
Being there to bask in her smile and see her excitement at what she accomplished, lifte my spirits. I could almost see the wheels of her brain turn as the realized she was capable of reading.
It is an honor to be with someone during such “Ah-ha” moments. When a child takes a first step, ride a bicycle, graduates from high school and college, get married we are provided with an opportunity to celebrate. When a woman gives birth a child and parents hold the baby for the first time, they feel rewarded by having brought life into the world. When a friend gets a promotion, completes a 26K run, or learns how to make a bowl on a potters wheel, it is a time to celebrate. By witnessing accomplishments and taking a moment to acknowledge them, the individual’s pleasure, and so does yours.
Since I no longer have young children at home, I have to look deep within myself and connect with friends and family to vicariously witness moments of accomplishment and share in their excitement. It is easy to stay wrapped up in my tiny cocoon where darkness prevails, and takes a small amount of work to break out where the sun is shining. But if you look around, you find bits of it everywhere.
Wars, pandemics, and inflation suck the air out of life with continuous reports of horror. But if you ask yourself what you learned over the past week, and what you accomplished, you may be surprised. Perhaps you tried a new recipe and nailed it to the pleasure of your family. Maybe your business did a little better, and may survive the downturn in the economy. Celebrate. Or perhaps your neighbor landed a new job. Celebrate. Don’t let it roll past without acknowledgment.
As I sit at my desk asking myself what brought me joy this week, I come up with little things. I learned how to make a plotline with a fifth grader and helped her finish her homework. I didn’t make plotlines when I was in school the challenge was a lot of fun. Yea! My brain still functions. And—after a year of speaking to galleries and museums, I set a date for a public showing of the twenty-eight trees I painted during covid. That is a milestone worth celebrating. Having them shown for a month next year will be one that will invite people to share in my excitement.
Wonderful things happen every day to make us happy if we search for them, are willing to put jealousies aside, and acknowledge little accomplishments. They matter a lot. I’d love to hear from you and discover the joys you participated in last week. Please comment below.
Though art is for sale, the originals from my tree series are not. If you are interested in a canvas print, I can have one made up for $60. People put two or three in a row as an in- home walk in the woods. For information contact me at [email protected].
3/12/2022 10:32:55 AM
Beginnings
There is little evidence that prehistoric people fought wars.
Why People Like War
As a pacifist, I wonder about the attraction people have to fight. Why put yourself in danger, knowing that your life will be at risk? I can understand leaders who make citizens fight so they can acquire land and riches for their empires. They are well guarded and have others do their dirty work. But, ordinary people who move willingly into harm's way is a puzzle. A punch to the jaw or slap on the face is painful, a bullet to the chest can cause death. Why walk into them?
According to research by psychologist Lawrence LeShan, war holds a deep attraction for large numbers of people in almost every culture. Views of reality change during wars to differ from peacetime. And, though people as far back as Herodotus in the fifth century B.C. tried to understand its cause, there hasn't been a theory developed yet that can stop it.
There are ideas psychologists and sociologists have as to why war is enticing. They say there is a fundamental human need not only to be unique but to be part of something larger than yourself. Though we are separate individuals, we are part of the total cosmos and not apart from anything else. War heightens perceptions and sharpens the experience of our being, yet provides a way to belong to something greater and more intense.
LeShan notes that war provides offers temporary solutions to psychological problems, and once begun there are strong social pressures to continue. Some people love it, lust for blood, and even martyrdom. Others relish the order and disciple that brings both security and an urge to rebel. Many who cherish the intensity and friendships made in combat feel lost when they return to civilian life. Some never adapt, though a desire to fight is against the very values we are supposed to be fighting for.
A Scientific American article says that war is not innate to the human species, though there is some division in thought about that. Hawk anthropologists say wars go back hundreds of thousands of years among hunter-gather ancestors with an instinctive tendency to protect one's tribe and hate outsiders. The doves believe that though people have the capacity to engage in warfare, their brains aren't hardwired to do so. With the advent of agriculture, and a growing regional population, a concentration of resources, and high-volume trade made fights more likely to occur. Simple hunting and gathering societies with few possessions, for over 200,000 years cooperated with one another. Social arrangements such as cross-group kinship and marriage, cooperation in hunting, and sharing food let people move from one group to another, making them value peace and stigmatize killing.
Countries toward war with thoughts of an evil enemy nation and that when defeated, the world would become a paradise. They carry the belief that taking action is a path to glory that will heighten existence. Many who participated in the January 6th uprising were led by this idea. Another propellant causing people to fight is calling those who do not agree, traitors. By the time that happens, war cries from the collective psyche are so powerful they are difficult to escape. Traitors and conscientious objectors are put in prison and sometimes killed as they were during World War II.
There is also the mythic perception that God and destiny are on your side. It occurs during times when stress and uncertainty are strong pulls. The world gets divided into Good and Evil with activists certain they are fighting for justice. Many participants felt that way during the January 6th insurrection. Thousands joined in after Woodrow Wilson's "Make the world safe for democracy" speech that led to World War I.
Though governments play a major role in perpetuating war, they are ineffective at preventing them. Once fighting starts, they become strikingly efficient, solving problems that might ordinarily take years. Officials at the highest level get charged with managing the war and given a large amount of money for defending the country. No one of equal caliber ever receives an equal position with resources to maintain peace.
To be able to choose between war and peace without contamination by mythical thinking and social pull, it is important to meditate, engage in healthy play and activities that increase individual potential. It is difficult to free the mind from mob thinking, yet that is what has to be done. War has never made the world safer for democracy. It won't bring about the perfect society or develop into a lasting peace if people can't evolve to a higher plane of consciousness.
Please comment on my blog site at www. eichingerfineart.com/blog
Art is always for sale. Contact me at marilynne2eichingerfineart.com. Beginnings is 3-" by 40" acrylic painting on canvas/ available for $499.
References:
Ferguson, R.B. (2018) War s Not Part of Human Nature. Scientific American. retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-is-not-part-of-human-nature/
Kasin,A. (2021) Why Men Love War. Esquire. retrieved from https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a28718/why-men-love-war/
Leshan,L. (2022 web site) Why We Love War. UTNE Reader. retrieved from WAR.
3/4/2022 3:17:10 PM
Turmoil
What we are used to seeing around us is nothing compared to what is happening in Ukraine.
Courage
When I see images of housewives carrying machine guns and making Molotov Cocktails and hear of sixty-year-old men taking up arms, I am amazed at their courage. When hearing tales of mothers leaving sons, husbands, and fathers to seek shelter for babes in arms and older children I find it hard to fathom their stamina. Over one-half million people left possessions behind to head for refugee camps to live in unheated tents.
Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. It is having strength in the face of pain or grief. It is a choice you make to control fear and deal with something dangerous or difficult. John McCain defined it as a brief, singular occurrence: "that rare moment of unity between conscience, fear, and action, when something deep within us strikes the flint of love, of honor, of duty, to make the spark that fires our resolve."
Courage comes in many forms. According to Kathleen Reardon in business, it is a calculated risk-taking that is learned and refined over time. A whistle-blower points out corruption at the highest levels of his or her company, or a young manager refuses to work on a project for fear it will discredit the company are but two of many examples that occur daily in firms.
A rock climber hanging on ropes off the edge of a cliff and a NASCAR racer going over 200 miles an hour have personal courage. Theirs is not necessarily the type that will carry over to a wartime situation. What they do affects a select group of people who admire them and don't want them hurt.
The thought processes used to calculate courage in business and society are similar in nature in that what is being done is for something outside of themselves. Under these circumstances, courage requires a mixture of qualities that include risk-taking, generosity, and empathy.
This type of bravery is linked to increased resilience and strong feelings of personal confidence. According to an Oxford publication on the Psychology of Physical Bravery, courageous people tend to be risk-takers, resilient to PTSD, less cautious, and leaders with a good sense of humor and a deep sense of empathy. They tend to be optimists who believe what they are doing will make a difference. Many are people who model themselves on the heroic and altruistic acts of parents and relatives. Some courage occurs because a person has practiced an act over and over again so that when action is called for it is automatically repeated and not affected by fear.
The public's perception of courage depends, in part, on the political situation in which it arises. Stalin was perceived as a hero by Soviet citizens until his atrocities became known. Also, certain acts of bravery, like suicide terrorism, are considered heroic to some groups and distasteful to others.
Would I be strong in the face of an invasion? The answer is I don't know. Most heroes act on the spur of the moment, feeling they don't have a choice but to ignore their fear. Protecting another's life from harm is not an option for them. They just do it. As you might imagine, risk-taking behavior decreases when people are married or have young children. For them, an act of courage is deliberated carefully. It is interesting to note that brave individuals are psychologically strong people who take stress in stride and live longer lives.
Many thoughts must be going through the minds of the men and women in Ukraine. I am moved as they fight for their country against overwhelming odds. Ordinary people who have banded together are showing the world what bravery is. I saw pictures of evacuees ditching their suitcases in favor of carrying their dogs and cats to safety and I watched Russian protesters protest courageously against Putin. It's sad to think that it takes wars to make heroes, but I certainly am seeing a lot of them now.
References:
Reardon, K. (2007) Courage as a Skill. Harvard Business Review, retrieved from https://hbr.org/2007/01/courage-as-a-skill
Kuge,U.& Hausman,C. & Black, L. & Bongar, B.(2017) Psychology of Physical Bravery. Oxford Handbooks Online. retrieved from OXFORD
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Wright,T. 2022 - The memories that fire the courage of Ukraine's freedom fighters. The Sydney Morning Herald. retrieved from HERALD
Do comment on my blog site at www.eichingerfineart.com/blog
Turmoil is a 48" by 36" acrylic painting on canvas with silver frame / $799. For information contact, [email protected]
