Types of human behavior in society. Forms of social behavior of people

The concept of "behavior" came to sociology from psychology. The meaning of the term "behavior" is different from the meaning of such traditionally philosophical concepts as action and activity. If action is understood as a rationally justified act that has a clear goal, a strategy that is carried out with the involvement of specific conscious methods and means, then behavior is just a reaction of a living being to external and internal changes. This reaction can be both conscious and unconscious. So, purely emotional reactions - laughter, crying - are also behavior.

Social behavior is a set of human behavioral processes associated with the satisfaction of physical and social needs and arising as a reaction to the surrounding social environment. The subject of social behavior can be an individual or a group.

If we abstract from purely psychological factors and reason at the social level, then the individual's behavior is determined primarily by socialization. The minimum of innate instincts that a person possesses as a biological being is the same for all people. Behavioral differences depend on the qualities acquired in the process of socialization and, to some extent, on congenital and acquired psychological individual characteristics.

In addition, the social behavior of individuals is regulated by the social structure, in particular the role structure of society.

The social norm of behavior is such behavior that fully corresponds to status expectations. Due to the existence of status expectations, society can predict the actions of an individual in advance with sufficient probability, and

the individual - to coordinate his behavior with the ideal model or model accepted by society. The American sociologist R. Linton defines social behavior that corresponds to status expectations as a social role. This interpretation of social behavior is closest to functionalism, since it explains behavior as a phenomenon determined by social structure. R. Merton introduced the category of "role complex" - a system of role expectations determined by a given status, as well as the concept of a role conflict that occurs when the role expectations of the statuses occupied by the subject are incompatible and cannot be realized in some single socially acceptable behavior.

The functionalist understanding of social behavior was subjected to fierce criticism from, first of all, representatives of social behaviorism, who believed that it was necessary to build a study of behavioral processes on the basis of the achievements of modern psychology. The extent to which psychological moments were really overlooked by the role-based interpretation of behavior follows from the fact that N. Cameron tried to substantiate the idea of ​​the role-based determinism of mental disorders, believing that mental illness is the incorrect performance of one's social roles and the result of the patient's inability to perform them the way it is. society needs. Behaviorists argued that in the time of E. Durkheim, the successes of psychology were insignificant and therefore the functionalist paradigm met the requirements of the time, but in the 20th century, when psychology reached a high level of development, its data cannot be ignored when considering human behavior.

13.1. Concepts of human behavior

Human behavior is studied by many areas of psychology - in behaviorism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, etc. The term "behavior" is one of the key in existential philosophy and is used in the study of a person's relationship to the world. The methodological possibilities of this concept are due to the fact that it allows you to identify the unconscious stable structures of the personality or the existence of a person in the world. Among the psychological concepts of human behavior that have had a great influence on sociology and social psychology, we should first of all name the psychoanalytic trends developed by 3. Freud, K.G. Jung, A. Adler.

Freud's ideas are based on the fact that the behavior of an individual is formed as a result of a complex interaction of levels of his personality. Freud singles out three such levels: the lowest level is formed by unconscious impulses and urges determined by innate biological needs and complexes formed under the influence of the subject's individual history. Freud calls this level It (Id) to show its separation from the conscious Self of the individual, which forms the second level of his psyche. The Conscious Self includes rational goal setting and responsibility for one's actions. The highest level is the Super-I - what we would call the result of socialization. This is a set of social norms and values ​​internalized by an individual, which exerts internal pressure on him in order to force out of his consciousness undesirable (forbidden) impulses and inclinations for society and prevent them from being realized. According to Freud, the personality of any person is an ongoing struggle between the id and the superego, which loosens the psyche and leads to neuroses. Individual behavior is wholly conditioned by this struggle and fully explained by it, since it is only a symbolic reflection of it. Such symbols can be images of dreams, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, obsessions, and fears.

CG concept. Jung expands and modifies Freud's teaching, including in the sphere of the unconscious not only individual complexes and drives, but also the collective unconscious - the level of key images common to all people and peoples - archetypes. Archaic fears and value representations are fixed in archetypes, the interaction of which determines the behavior and attitude of the individual. Archetypal images appear in the basic narratives - folk tales and legends, mythology, epic - historically specific societies. The socially regulating role of such narratives in traditional societies is very great. They contain ideal behaviors that shape role expectations. For example, a male warrior should act like Achilles or Hector, a wife should act like Penelope, and so on. Regular recitations (ritual reproductions) of archetypal narratives constantly remind the members of society of these ideal patterns of behavior.

Adler's psychoanalytic concept is based on the unconscious will to power, which, in his opinion, is an innate personality structure and determines behavior. It is especially strong in those who, for one reason or another, suffer from an inferiority complex. In an effort to compensate for their inferiority, they are able to achieve great success.

Further splitting of the psychoanalytic direction led to the emergence of many schools, in disciplinary terms occupying a borderline position between psychology, social philosophy, and sociology. Let us dwell in detail on the work of E. Fromm.

The positions of Fromm - a representative of neo-Freudianism in psychology and the Frankfurt School in sociology - can be more accurately defined as Freudo-Marxism, since along with the influence of Freud, he was no less strongly influenced by Marx's social philosophy. The peculiarity of neo-Freudianism in comparison with orthodox Freudianism is due to the fact that, strictly speaking, neo-Freudianism is more of a sociology, while Freud is, of course, a pure psychologist. If Freud explains the individual's behavior by complexes and impulses hidden in the individual unconscious, in short, by internal biopsychic factors, then for Fromm and Freudo-Marxism as a whole, the individual's behavior is determined by the surrounding social environment. This is his similarity with Marx, who explained the social behavior of individuals in the final analysis by their class origin. Nevertheless, Fromm seeks to find a place for the psychological in social processes. According to the Freudian tradition, referring to the unconscious, he introduces the term "social unconscious", meaning by it a mental experience that is common to all members of a given society, but for most of them it does not fall on the level of consciousness, because it is displaced by a special mechanism that is social in nature, belonging not to the individual, but to society. Thanks to this mechanism of displacement, society maintains a stable existence. The mechanism of social repression includes language, the logic of everyday thinking, a system of social prohibitions and taboos. The structures of language and thinking are formed under the influence of society and act as an instrument of social pressure on the psyche of the individual. For example, coarse, anti-aesthetic, ridiculous abbreviations and abbreviations of "Newspeak" from Orwell's dystopia actively disfigure the consciousness of people who use them. To one degree or another, the monstrous logic of formulas like: "The dictatorship of the proletariat is the most democratic form of power" became the property of everyone in Soviet society.

The main component of the mechanism of social repression is social taboos that act like Freudian censorship. That in the social experience of individuals that threatens the preservation of the existing society, if it is realized, is not allowed into consciousness with the help of a "social filter". Society manipulates the minds of its members by introducing ideological clichés that, due to frequent use, become inaccessible to critical analysis, withholding certain information, exerting direct pressure and causing fear of social exclusion. Therefore, everything that contradicts socially approved ideological clichés is excluded from consciousness.

Such taboos, ideologemes, logical and linguistic experiments form, according to Fromm, the "social character" of a person. People belonging to the same society, against their will, are, as it were, marked with the seal of a “common incubator”. For example, we unmistakably recognize foreigners on the street, even if we do not hear their speech, by their behavior, appearance, attitude towards each other; these are people from a different society, and, getting into a mass environment alien to them, they stand out sharply from it due to their similarities. Social character is a style of behavior brought up by society and unconscious by the individual - from social to everyday. For example, Soviet and former Soviet people are distinguished by collectivism and responsiveness, social passivity and undemandingness, obedience to the authorities, personified in the person of the "leader", a developed fear of being different from everyone else, and gullibility.

Fromm directed his criticism against modern capitalist society, although he paid much attention to the description of the social character generated by totalitarian societies. Like Freud, he developed a program to restore the undistorted social behavior of individuals through the awareness of what was repressed. “By transforming the unconscious into consciousness, we thereby transform the simple concept of the universality of man into the vital reality of such universality. This is nothing but the practical realization of humanism. The process of derepression - the liberation of socially oppressed consciousness is to eliminate the fear of realizing the forbidden, to develop the ability to think critically, to humanize social life as a whole.

A different interpretation is offered by behaviorism (B. Skinner, J. Homane), who considers behavior as a system of reactions to various stimuli.

Skinner's concept is essentially a biological one, since it completely removes the differences between human and animal behavior. Skinner identifies three types of behavior: unconditioned reflex, conditioned reflex, and operant. The first two types of reactions are caused by the impact of appropriate stimuli, and operant reactions are a form of adaptation of the organism to the environment. They are active and spontaneous. The body, as it were, by trial and error, finds the most appropriate way to adapt, and if successful, the find is fixed in the form of a stable reaction. Thus, the main factor in the formation of behavior is reinforcement, and learning turns into "guiding to the desired reaction."

In Skinner's concept, a person appears as a being whose entire inner life is reduced to reactions to external circumstances. Reinforcement changes mechanically cause behavioral changes. Thinking, the higher mental functions of a person, the whole culture, morality, art turn into a complex system of reinforcements designed to evoke certain behavioral reactions. This leads to the conclusion about the possibility of manipulating people's behavior through a carefully developed "technology of behavior". With this term, Skinner denotes the purposeful manipulation control of some groups of people over others, associated with the establishment of an optimal reinforcement regime for certain social goals.

The ideas of behaviorism in sociology were developed by J. and J. Baldwin, J. Homane.

The concept of J. and J. Baldwin is based on the concept of reinforcement, borrowed from psychological behaviorism. Reinforcement in the social sense is a reward, the value of which is determined by subjective needs. For example, for a hungry person, food acts as a reinforcer, but if a person is full, it is not a reinforcer.

The effectiveness of the reward depends on the degree of deprivation in a given individual. Deprivation refers to the deprivation of something that an individual experiences a constant need for. As far as the subject is deprived in any respect, so much his behavior depends on this reinforcement. The so-called generalized reinforcers (for example, money), which act on all individuals without exception, do not depend on deprivation due to the fact that they concentrate access to many types of reinforcers at once.

Reinforcers are divided into positive and negative. Positive reinforcers are anything that the subject perceives as a reward. For example, if a certain exposure to the environment brought a reward, the subject is likely to seek to repeat this experience. Negative reinforcers are factors that determine behavior through the withdrawal of some experience. For example, if the subject denies himself some pleasure and saves money on it, and subsequently benefits from this saving, then this experience can serve as a negative reinforcer and the subject will always do this.

The effect of punishment is the opposite of reinforcement. Punishment is an experience that makes you want to never repeat it again. Punishment can also be positive or negative, but here everything is reversed compared to reinforcement. Positive punishment is punishment with a suppressive stimulus, such as a blow. Negative punishment affects behavior by depriving something of value. For example, depriving a child of sweets at dinner is a typical negative punishment.

The formation of operant reactions has a probabilistic character. Unambiguity is characteristic of reactions of the simplest level, for example, a child cries, demanding the attention of his parents, because parents always come to him in such cases. Adult reactions are much more complex. For example, a person who sells newspapers in train cars does not find a buyer in every car, but knows from experience that a buyer will eventually be found, and this makes him persistently walk from car to car. In the last decade, the same probabilistic nature has assumed the receipt of wages in some

Russian enterprises, but nevertheless people continue to go to work, hoping to get it.

The behaviorist concept of Homans' exchange appeared in the middle of the 20th century. Arguing with representatives of many areas of sociology, Homane argued that a sociological explanation of behavior must necessarily be based on a psychological approach. The interpretation of historical facts should also be based on a psychological approach. Homane motivates this by saying that behavior is always individual, while sociology operates with categories applicable to groups and societies, so the study of behavior is the prerogative of psychology, and sociology should follow it in this matter.

According to Homans, when studying behavioral reactions, one should abstract from the nature of the factors that caused these reactions: they are caused by the influence of the surrounding physical environment or other people. Social behavior is just an exchange of activity between people that has some social value. Homane believes that social behavior can be interpreted using Skinner's behavioral paradigm, if supplemented with the idea of ​​the mutual nature of stimulation in relationships between people. The relationship of individuals among themselves is always a mutually beneficial exchange of activities, services, in short, it is the mutual use of reinforcements.

Homane's theory of exchange was succinctly formulated in several postulates:

the postulate of success - those actions that most often meet with social approval are most likely to be reproduced; incentive postulate - similar reward-related stimuli are highly likely to cause similar behavior;

postulate of value - the probability of reproducing an action depends on how valuable the result of this action seems to a person;

the postulate of deprivation - the more regularly a person's act was rewarded, the less he appreciates the subsequent reward; the double postulate of aggression-approval - the absence of an expected reward or an unexpected punishment makes aggressive behavior likely, and an unexpected reward or the absence of an expected punishment leads to an increase in value.

the nature of the rewarded act and contributes to its more likely reproduction.

The most important concepts of the theory of exchange are: the price of behavior - what this or that act costs an individual, - the negative consequences caused by past actions. In worldly terms, this is retribution for the past; benefit - occurs when the quality and size of the reward exceed the price that this act costs.

Thus, the theory of exchange depicts human social behavior as a rational search for benefits. This concept looks simplistic, and it is not surprising that it has provoked criticism from a variety of sociological schools. For example, Parsons, who defended the fundamental difference between the mechanisms of human and animal behavior, criticized Homans for the inability of his theory to explain social facts on the basis of psychological mechanisms.

In his theory of exchange, P. Blau attempted a kind of synthesis of social behaviorism and sociologism. Realizing the limitations of a purely behaviorist interpretation of social behavior, he set the goal of moving from the level of psychology to explaining on this basis the existence of social structures as a special reality that is irreducible to psychology. Blau's concept is an enriched theory of exchange, in which four successive stages of transition from individual exchange to social structures are singled out: 1) the stage of interpersonal exchange; 2) the stage of power-status differentiation; 3) the stage of legitimation and organization; 4) the stage of opposition and change.

Blau shows that, starting from the level of interpersonal exchange, exchange may not always be equal. In cases where individuals cannot offer each other sufficient rewards, the social bonds formed between them tend to disintegrate. In such situations, there are attempts to strengthen disintegrating ties in other ways - through coercion, through the search for another source of reward, through subordination of oneself to an exchange partner in the form of a generalized loan. The latter path means a transition to a stage of status differentiation, when a group of persons capable of giving the required remuneration becomes more privileged in terms of status than other groups. In the future, legitimation and consolidation of the situation and the allocation of

opposition groups. In analyzing complex social structures, Blau goes far beyond the paradigm of behaviorism. He argues that the complex structures of society are organized around social values ​​and norms, which serve as a kind of mediating link between individuals in the process of social exchange. Thanks to this link, the exchange of rewards is possible not only between individuals, but also between an individual and a group. For example, considering the phenomenon of organized charity, Blau determines what distinguishes charity as a social institution from the simple help of a rich individual to a poorer one. The difference is that organized charity is socially oriented behavior, which is based on the desire of a wealthy individual to conform to the norms of the wealthy class and share social values; through norms and values, a relationship of exchange is established between the sacrificing individual and the social group to which he belongs.

Blau identifies four categories of social values ​​on the basis of which exchange is possible:

particularistic values ​​that unite individuals on the basis of interpersonal relationships;

universalist values, acting as a measure for evaluating individual merits;

oppositional values ​​- ideas about the need for social change, allowing the opposition to exist at the level of social facts, and not just at the level of interpersonal relations of individual oppositionists.

It can be said that Blau's exchange theory is a compromise, combining elements of Homans theory and sociologism in the treatment of reward exchange.

The role concept of J. Mead is an approach of symbolic interactionism to the study of social behavior. Its name is reminiscent of the functionalist approach: it is also called role-playing. Mead considers role behavior as the activity of individuals interacting with each other in freely accepted and played roles. According to Mead, the role interaction of individuals requires them to be able to put themselves in the place of another, to evaluate themselves from the position of another.

Synthesis of the exchange theory with symbolic interactionism was also attempted by P. Singelman. Symbolic interactionism has a number of points of intersection with social behaviorism and exchange theories. Both of these concepts emphasize the active interaction of individuals and consider their subject from a microsociological perspective. According to Singelman, relationships of interpersonal exchange require the ability to put oneself in the position of another in order to better understand his needs and desires. Therefore, he believes that there are grounds for merging both directions into one. However, social behaviorists were critical of the emergence of the new theory.

QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1. What is the difference between the content of the concepts of "social action" and "social behavior"?

2. Do you think that the representatives of social behaviorism are right or not that human behavior in society can be controlled? Should a society govern the behavior of its members? Does it have the right to do so? Justify your answer.

3. What is a taboo? Is it taboo, say, forbidding outsiders to enter the territory of a military unit? Justify your answer.

4. How do you feel about social prohibitions? Should there be any prohibitions in an ideal society, or is it better to abolish them altogether?

5. Give your assessment of the fact that in some Western countries same-sex marriages are legalized. Is this a progressive move? Justify your answer.

6. What, in your opinion, causes aggressive social behavior, for example, extremism of various directions?

ABOUT TOPICS

1. Psychoanalytic directions in the study of social behavior.

2. 3. Freud and his doctrine of human behavior.

3. Collective unconscious and social behavior in the teachings of C. Jung.

4. Behavioral concepts in sociology.

5. Social behavior within the framework of the theory of exchange.

6. The study of social behavior in the framework of the theory of symbolic interactionism.

In order to maintain order in society, people must follow certain rules. Social order requires the observance of general norms, at least by most people. Without the existence of a social order, the interaction of people would become a real problem, and their expectations would lose their meaning. Society seeks to ensure that the actions of its members conform to basic social norms.

Compliance with norms is carried out with the help of social control.

Social control is a set of methods that determine the compliance of people's behavior with the norms of society.

Society has invented many methods of control. One of the first - school marks. They enshrined the opinion of significant representatives of society. In responsible social processes, another, even more important tool is used - expert assessments. They are carried out collectively by specially trained people according to specially compiled methods.

The main types of social control are customs and traditions, morality, religion, law. Each type of social control can conditionally be divided into two components: normative and institutional. Regulatory side social control is represented by a system of norms containing the requirements of society, group, state, other social subject to the behavior of the individual.

A social norm is an example, a standard, a model of the required (proper, desired) behavior. Social norms are acquired by the individual in the process of socialization.

All social norms according to the method of social control are divided into three groups:

• 1) allowing norms grant certain rights (for example, the right to own property);
• 2) binding (prescriptive) norms impose obligations (for example, the obligation of parents to financially support their children);
• 3) forbidding norms establish a ban on the commission of some specific actions, for example: “do not kill”, “do not steal”, etc.

The norm must be socially conditioned, i.e. socially useful. It must contribute to the satisfaction of some social need, meet the social interests of any large group. If a norm loses its social utility, it dies off, as a rule, and is replaced by another social norm.

By scale, the norms are divided into norms that exist in small groups and norms that exist in large groups. These include group habits, customs, traditions, mores, etiquette, laws. There is secular etiquette, there are youthful manners, there are national customs and religious traditions.

The institutional side of social control is that the norm itself cannot automatically become a model of behavior in practice. To implement social norms, certain subjects of social control are needed, endowed with the right and opportunity to apply sanctions. Exist official (formal) and informal (informal) subjects of control. The former include, for example: religious institutions, educational institutions, law enforcement agencies. The second are family, friendly company, etc. Formal sanctions are established by regulations (reprimand, fine, imprisonment, etc.), informal sanctions are applied directly (demonstrative silence, boycott, public censure, etc.).

Depending on the severity of punishment, the norms are arranged in the following order: habits, customs, traditions, mores, laws, taboos. Norms are the guardians of values. And society appreciates what contributes to its stability and prosperity. Guards norms - sanctions.

The purpose of social control- ensuring conformity of people's behavior, i.e. conforming to social norms. Conformism - outward conformity with social demands.

There are four types of sanctions: positive and negative, formal and informal.

Formal positive sanctions- this is public approval from official organizations (governments, institutions, firms, etc.) - awards, honorary titles, prizes.

Informal positive sanctions: public friendly praise, compliments, smiles, applause, etc.

Formal negative sanctions: imprisonment, arrest, fine, etc.

Informal negative sanctions: censure, mockery, mockery, boycott and others. These sanctions are applied in small groups. Their combined action is called group pressure.

The imposition of sanctions on oneself is called self-control. Conscience is its manifestation. Impulsive behavior, the inability to dominate one's desires and whims, characteristic of children, is called infantilism(from lat. - infancy).

One of the important means of social control in a large group is public opinion.

Public opinion is a set of assessments and judgments of common sense (reasonable ideas) shared by some part of society.

In primitive society, the only form of social control was custom. Later, customs were added religious norms which gradually occupy a dominant role as a type of social control. In modern society, the most effective type of social control is right: legal norms and state-legal institutions. All types of social control are interconnected, support each other, mutually reinforce each other.

Social control rewards those who are successful in socialization and punishes those who fail. The loser find themselves on the "social bottom", join the ranks of the poor. Criminals, beggars, the unemployed, homeless people - groups of the population that have failed socialization.

Deviation from the norm is called - deviation, or deviant behavior. At all times, society has tried to suppress undesirable forms of human behavior. Sharp deviations from the norm, both positively and negatively, threatened the stability of society, which has always been valued above all else.

Deviant behavior refers to any behavior that does not correspond to written or unwritten norms.

In most societies, the control of deviant behavior is asymmetrical: deviations in a bad direction are condemned, and in a good direction they are approved. The most disapproved behavior includes the actions of revolutionaries, terrorists, traitors, criminals, vandals, beggars, etc. The most acceptable behavior includes the actions of national heroes, outstanding artists and athletes, scientists, political leaders, etc.

In normally developing societies and under normal conditions, each of these groups accounts for approximately 10-15% of the population. Approximately 70% of the population are people with minor disabilities.

The topic of social behavior is of great importance in modern times. Social behavior implies a psychological impact on people and the occupation of a particular position among them. As a rule, this type of behavior is considered as the opposite of individual behavior, which, in turn, is not related to the position of a person occupied by him in society, and to the relations that develop between him and the people around him, and is also not designed to affect individual people. or society as a whole of any influence.

Psychologists distinguish several types of social behavior. We will consider the following:

• Bulk Behavior
• group behavior
• Gender-role behavior
• prosocial behavior
• Competitive Behavior
• obedient behavior
• Deviant behavior
• Illegal behavior
• Problem behavior
• Attachment Type Behavior
• maternal behavior
• Some other forms

Let's consider each of the types in more detail.

Bulk Behavior

Mass behavior is a poorly managed social activity of a large number of people who are not organized and do not pursue a specific goal. Often it is also called spontaneous behavior. Examples include fashion, rumors, panic, various religious, political and economic movements, and so on.

group behavior

Group behavior refers to the actions of people who are united in a social group. Most often it arises due to special processes occurring in such groups. It differs in that the members of the group act in concert, constantly interacting with each other, even when they are outside the group.

Gender-role behavior

Sexual role behavior is behavior that is characteristic of people of a particular gender and is associated with the main social roles performed by these people in the process of life of any society.

Mass, group and sex-role behavior is characteristic of groups and individuals and depends on what social functions they perform and what goals they pursue. The following types of social behavior describe a person in the process of its interaction with other personalities.

prosocial behavior

The basis of a person's prosocial behavior is his desire for help and support from others. When prosocial behavior is aimed at directly helping someone who needs it, then it is called helping behavior.

Competitive Behavior

Competitive behavior is called when the surrounding people are perceived by a person as potential or real competitors, and he enters into a fight or competition with them. This behavior is calculated to achieve advantage and victory. Functionally or meaningfully related to competitive behavior type behaviorA, according to which a person is impatient, irritable, hostile and distrustful, and type behaviorB, according to which a person does not seek to compete with anyone, and expresses a benevolent attitude to everyone.

obedient behavior

Obedient behavior refers to forms of social behavior that ensure civilized and cultural interaction between people. Quite often, this type of behavior is called law-abiding behavior, and in contrast to it, deviant, illegal and problematic behavior is called.

Deviant behavior

Deviant behavior is behavior that goes against social, moral and/or ethical norms accepted in society. Despite this, deviant behavior cannot be called illegal, which involves condemnation under the law.

Illegal behavior

Illegal behavior is behavior that violates established social norms. This form of behavior involves condemnation by the court - a person can be punished for it, based on the current legislation.

Problem behavior

Problematic behavior refers to any behavior that causes psychological problems in a person. In most cases, problem behavior consists of incomprehensible and unacceptable for other forms of behavior that can be maladaptive, destructive or antisocial.

In addition to other forms of social behavior, one can meet those that will characterize close relationships between people. Such species are attachment-type behavior and maternal behavior.

Attachment Type Behavior

Attachment type behavior is expressed in the desire of a person to be near others all the time. The presented form of behavior manifests itself already in childhood, and in most cases the object of affection is the mother.

maternal behavior

In general, maternal behavior is the behavior inherent in mothers towards their children, as well as the behavior of any person in general, which is similar to the behavior of a mother towards a child.

There are also some other forms of social behavior, interconnected with the relations of people developing in society. Such behavior can be called behavior, the purpose of which is to avoid failure and achieve success, gain power or submission to someone; confident or helpless behavior, as well as some others.

Other forms of social behavior

Striving for Success- this is a special form of social behavior that influences the success of a person and, to a certain extent, his fate. The desire for success was most developed in the last century, and today it characterizes a huge number of successful people.

Avoiding Failure is an alternative form of striving for success. This kind of behavior manifests itself in a concern not to be the last among the rest of the people, not to be worse than them, not to become a loser.

It is also possible to distinguish such types of social behavior as desire for communication with other people and its opposite - avoidance of people. A separate form can be called desire for power and striving to maintain power if the person already has it. The opposite of the last two is desire for obedience.

Another form of social behavior that scientists have drawn attention to is confident demeanor, when a person is self-confident, strives for new achievements, sets himself new tasks, solves them and.

However, it is not uncommon to see capable people who want to succeed and have the ability to do so, fail because of uncertainty and in cases where they should not have been shown. This behavior is called helpless behavior, and is defined as behavior in which a person, having everything that is needed to achieve success, remains inactive, thereby dooming himself to failure.

Conclusion

Recently, the attention of sociologists has been attracted precisely by those types of social behavior that have the greatest impact on the state of society, the position of the individual and his fate.

Such can be considered all kinds of manifestations of good and evil, friendliness or hostility, the desire for success and power, confidence or helplessness. Much attention among the manifestations of good and evil is given to altruism and prosocial behavior.

As for antisocial behavior, manifestations of aggression are especially studied among its forms. It is also interesting that aggression and aggressive behavior have become of interest to scientists for the reason that hostile behavioral forms and hostility between people have existed for many centuries, and for some researchers, aggressiveness is a form of social behavior that cannot be eliminated from the life of society.

NOTE: The way a person behaves, and what form of social behavior is most comfortable and acceptable for him, is greatly influenced by his stable features. But more importantly, knowing about them, a person gets the opportunity to adjust his course of action, as well as to understand what his advantages and disadvantages are. And if you are already reading this article, then it is quite likely that you yourself are interested in such questions, albeit not with the goal of changing yourself, but with a goal. So we invite you to take our special self-knowledge course, which will tell you a lot of interesting things about yourself. You can find it here.

Society is a given that we do not choose, do not create and cannot control, but it controls us, and to one degree or another governs us. in society - what is it?" - you ask. This article offers an answer to the question. You will be asked to understand this complex issue, to understand for yourself why it happens this way and not otherwise, and whether we can change anything.

social structure

Each of the aspects of society (socio-economic, cultural, institutional and human nature) is in itself a complex association formed by the combination and interdependence of simpler components. The socio-economic order is formed by a combination of labor and personal activity. The institutional aspect includes public and private organizations. Culture is a combination of knowledge and technology, worldview and values. Human nature is also formed from the interaction of hereditary nature and its development in a particular individual. The characteristic of a person in society is therefore called the special term "individuality".

Like everyone else, society is irreducible. This complex whole cannot be reduced to any of the aspects, the characteristics of a person in a society do not characterize this society as a whole. Any explanation of society in terms of one aspect, be it culture, human nature, power struggles, or various institutions, is incomplete. It, like all complex systems, must be considered as an interaction of various scales, forming a single and irreducible whole.

And, as in other similar systems, its constituent parts do not exist separately, in isolation, but must be considered in their relationship with the rest of the whole.

Hierarchical structure

A fundamental aspect of human social organization is its All forms of social organization, from a society of gatherers and hunters to a highly developed civilization, are characterized by an unequal distribution of power and hierarchy. Not all hierarchies are the same. Some have pronounced centralized power and class divisions. Others, like the hunter-gatherer society, are less vertical, more democratic, and may not even have permanent leaders. But they all have something in common: the distribution of power in them is always uneven. There is always a dominant sector, it can be men, leaders, clans, healers, etc.

The biological reason for the existence of hierarchy lies in our competitive nature. Competition is one of the many aspects of human nature. Moreover, many of its aspects also conflict and compete with each other. For example, by nature, we strive not only for competition, but also for communication. That is, by nature, we must be related and related to others and at the same time compete with them. Human competition forces us to organize ourselves into structures with an unequal distribution of power. Hierarchy, then, is an inevitable aspect of social organization.

The function of society

Unlike organisms or colonies whose behavior corresponds to the function they perform, the society as a whole does not have any specific role.

However, while not required, in some cases social systems have a function that is largely determined by the political structure of the system. Social systems with a hierarchical structure work for the benefit of those at the top of the hierarchy at the expense of those below.

The idea that society exists for the benefit of each individual is erroneous. The social system can work both for the benefit and to the detriment of a person. How it will work in a particular case depends on random and arbitrary historical events. Individuals' attempts to control or design a system tend to lead to unforeseen and often undesirable consequences.

Is it possible to objectively compare different societies?

Contrary to relativistic beliefs, systems can be evaluated objectively and compared in terms of the benefits they provide to individuals. As mentioned earlier, systems do not have any function, therefore, they can work both for the benefit and harm of a person. From this position, some of them are good. Others are bad. Some systems are better than others.

A good system is one that promotes the general welfare. The bad harms people or contributes to the well-being of some at the expense of others, because the characteristics of a person in the society of other people always presuppose this division.

How can society be changed?

What is the characteristic of a person in society? The answer to this question is not so easy to give. We started this article by saying that we do not choose, create and cannot control society, but it controls the life of each of us. Does this mean that it is an independent system that controls people and is not subject to their control? Is it possible to change the society in which we live?

The topic "man and society" has always attracted the attention of politicians and sociologists. As the saying goes, social systems are "not set in stone". There is no reason why people could not change them. We must be able to choose a social system that will work for the benefit of the people. The characteristic of a person in society is a topic that concerns each of us.

However, for a number of reasons this is not so easy to implement. First, individuals cannot change the system on their own. Only collective action can lead to changes in it. And collective action is difficult to organise, as it tends to be set up to be part of the system, not to rebel against it. Second, those who benefit the least from the system and have the most reason to want to change it have the least power in the system.

To what extent should a person be responsible for society?

In general, the responsibility of people is very small. After all, if we often have a very vague understanding of our own nature, and the ability to control it is very limited, what can we say about such a complex topic as society in human life? However, despite the limited responsibility that individuals have, responsibility for it still exists.

Characteristics of a person in society in terms of the degree of responsibility

It is those of us at the top of the hierarchy who bear the greatest responsibility. They tend to have a higher level of education, health, opportunities, resources and power to effect change. But at the same time, they are the least likely to improve the system. This is because they benefit the most from it and will therefore resist change and will not support change that hurts them. In addition, the way of thinking of such people, as a rule, is deprived of the necessary critical and analytical potential. The higher a person climbs the ladder of hierarchy, the more he tends to conform to the system in order to protect his power.

The lower a person is on the hierarchy level, the lower the role of a person in society, the less responsibility he has, since he usually has a low level of education, health, material resources, he lacks the ability and power to make changes. In addition, such people are often manipulated, they are controlled by those who are above. They are forced to take care of their fundamental and urgent needs first of all. The topic "man and society" is, as it were, inaccessible to them.

The middle strata of society have almost the same responsibility as those at the top of the hierarchy. The degree of this responsibility is inversely proportional to its verticality, as well as the role of a person in society. In order to maintain their power, the top of society will try to keep the middle strata happy (and in lower hierarchies, they will try to take care of the lower strata as well). Therefore, the middle strata also benefit from the existing system with its capabilities, resources and unlimited power, which means that they share responsibility with the top of society. Unlike the latter, who are not capable of changing the system, the middle strata have opportunities and resources for this. However, in their struggle for power, they tend to conform to the system and act in the interests of those at the top, ensuring the legitimacy of the system. The characteristic of a person in society is something that is largely on their conscience.

Ignorance is no excuse

Ignorance, lack of understanding does not release the top and middle strata of society from responsibility. Unlike the lower strata, they have the ability and resources to understand and influence the system. If the system is bad, then by adapting to it, they contribute to maintaining its bad state. Despite the collective consciousness of rationalizing, justifying or ignoring the harm of the system, individuals still remain responsible for this state of affairs. Society plays an important role in human life, and we all bear responsibility for it.

In unequal societies, the system is usually challenged not by those from the upper or lower strata of society, but by that minority from the middle stratum who decide to protect freedom, justice, equality and the interests of those below, future generations, and the environment. While most members of the middle strata of society tend to adapt quickly to the system, those who do not identify with it, cannot put up with it, and who have enough education, material resources and strength to challenge her.

Revolutionary changes caused by such people often result in the replacement of one kind of hierarchy by another (which in some cases turns out to be even worse). On the other hand, sustainable improvement of the system occurs when these people enter the scene and participate in the process of social development.

In a broad sense, society is a part of the material world isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, consisting of people united by historically established forms of interaction. In a narrow sense, society is a collection of people who are aware that they have permanent common interests that can best be satisfied only by their own actions.

SOCIETY:

1. Historical stage in the development of mankind (primitive society, feudal society).
2. A circle of people united by a common goal, interests, origin (noble society, society of philatelists).
3. Country, state, region (French society, Soviet society).
4. Humanity as a whole.

The formation of society precedes the state organization of its life, that is, there was a time when society existed, but the state did not.

The main purpose of society is to ensure the survival of man as a species. Therefore, the main elements of society, considered as a system, are the spheres in which the joint activities of people are carried out, aimed at preserving and expanding the reproduction of their lives.

The economic sphere is the economic activity of society, when material goods are created.

The social sphere is the emergence and interaction of people with each other.

The political sphere is the area of ​​interaction between people about power and subordination.

The spiritual sphere is the area of ​​creation and development of spiritual goods.

Man is the highest stage in the development of living organisms on Earth, the subject of labor, the social form of life, communication and consciousness. Therefore, the concept of "man", which defines the bodily-spiritual social being, is wider than the concept of "personality".

The concept of personality expresses the social essence of man. A personality is a subject of activity that has a certain consciousness, self-consciousness, worldview, is influenced by social relations and at the same time comprehends its social functions, its place in the world as a subject of the historical process. There is no more individualized object in the world than a person: how many people, so many individuals. Each person has individual characteristics of memory, attention, thinking. A person becomes a personality through self-knowledge, which allows you to freely subordinate your "I" to the moral law.

Under the activity in science understand the relationship of man to the outside world and to himself. Social activity is the interaction of socially significant actions implemented by the subject (society, class, group, individual) in various spheres of life.

There are two significant points to be made here:

1. The result of human activity is the development of the whole society as a whole.
2. As a result of this activity, the formation and self-realization of the personality takes place.

• transformation of the natural and social environment,
• going beyond experience, goal-setting, expediency.

1. Target -
2. Means to achieve the goal -
3. Actions aimed at achieving the goal -
4. Result.

• Biological (self-preservation, breathing),
• Social (communication, self-realization, public recognition),
• Ideal (in knowledge, in art).

Types of human activity: Practical:

• material and production,

• cognitive activity,
• value-oriented
• prognostic.

A norm is a model, a rule of behavior, and social norms are for a person a measure and a rule of his behavior in society.

Human behavior is regulated through:

• permission - desirable behaviors,
• precepts are specified rules of conduct,
• Prohibitions are acts that are forbidden or should not be done.

• customs,
• traditions,
• moral standards,
• religious,
• political,
• legal.

Deviant (deviant) behavior. Social norms, rules generally accepted within a social community or group, patterns of behavior or actions in a certain situation. Norms represent the main regulator of human behavior in society and are necessary for the implementation of concerted collective actions.

The sphere of positive deviations approved by society or a group is talents and geniuses.

The sphere of negative deviations, condemned by society or a group, is alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, suicide, and criminal behavior.

Let's start with the position that society is a part of the world isolated from nature (in this case, nature means the totality of the natural conditions of human existence). What is this isolation? Unlike elemental natural forces, a person with consciousness and will is at the center of social development. Nature exists and develops according to its own laws independent of man and society. There is another circumstance: human society acts as a creator, a transformer, a creator of culture.

Society consists of a huge number of its constituent elements and subsystems, which are updated and are in changing relationships and interactions. Let's try to isolate some of these parts and trace the connections between them. Among the subsystems can be attributed primarily to the spheres of public life.

There are several areas of life:

• economic (relations in the process of material production),
• social (interaction of classes, social strata and groups),
• political (activities of state organizations, political parties),
• spiritual (morality, religion, art, philosophy, activities of scientific, religious, educational organizations and institutions).

Each sphere of public life is also a complex formation: its constituent elements give an idea of ​​society as a whole. It is no coincidence that some researchers consider society at the level of organizations operating in it (states, churches, education systems, etc.), others - through the prism of the interaction of social communities. A person enters society through a collective, being a member of several collectives (labor, trade union, dance, etc.). Society is presented as a collective of collectives. A person enters into larger communities of people. He belongs to a certain social group, class, nation.

The diverse connections that arise between social groups, classes, nations, as well as within them in the process of economic, social, political, cultural life and activity, are called social relations. It is customary to distinguish between the relations that develop in the sphere of material production and those that permeate the spiritual life of society. If the former provide society with material opportunities for existence and development, then the latter (ideological, political, legal, moral, etc.) are the result and condition for the interaction of people in the process of creating and disseminating spiritual and cultural values. At the same time, material and spiritual social relations are interconnected and ensure the development of society.

Public life is complex and multifaceted, therefore it is studied by many sciences, called public(history, philosophy, sociology, political science, jurisprudence, ethics, aesthetics). Each of them considers a certain area of ​​public life. Thus, jurisprudence explores the essence and history of the state and law. The subject of ethics is the norms of morality, aesthetics - the laws of art, artistic creativity of people. The most general knowledge about society as a whole is called upon to provide such sciences as philosophy and sociology.

Society has its own specifics in comparison with nature. “In all areas of nature ... a certain regularity dominates, independent of the existence of thinking humanity,” wrote the greatest physicist M. Planck. Therefore, natural science can concentrate on the study of these objective laws of development, independent of man. Society, on the other hand, is nothing more than a collection of people endowed with will and consciousness, carrying out actions and deeds under the influence of certain interests, motives, and moods.

Approaches to the study of man are different. In some cases, it is considered as if "from outside". Then it is important to understand what a person is by comparing him with nature (cosmos), society, God, himself. At the same time, fundamental differences between a person and other living beings are revealed. Another approach - "from the inside" - involves the study of a person from the point of view of his biological structure, psyche, moral, spiritual, social life, etc. And in this case, the essential features of a person are also revealed.

The concept of "individual" was first used in his writings by the ancient Roman scientist and politician Cicero. So he translated the word “atom” from Greek, which meant indivisible and referred to the smallest and indivisible, according to ancient philosophers, components of the surrounding world. The term "individual" characterizes a person as one of the people. This term also means how typical the signs of a certain community are for its various representatives (priest of Amon Anen, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, plowman Mikula Selyaninovich). Both meanings of the term "individual" are interconnected and describe a person from the point of view of his identity, features. This means that the features depend on society, on the conditions in which this or that representative of the human race was formed.

The term "individuality" makes it possible to characterize the differences of a person from other people, implying not only the appearance, but also the totality of socially significant qualities. Each person is individual, although the degree of this originality may be different. Multi-talented people of the Renaissance era were bright individuals. Remember the painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, engineer Leonardo da Vinci, painter, engraver, sculptor, architect Albrecht Dürer, statesman, historian, poet, military theorist Niccolò Machiavelli and others. They were distinguished by originality, originality, bright originality. All of them can be attributed to both individuals and personalities. But the word “personality”, which is close in meaning, is usually accompanied by the epithets “strong”, “energetic”. This emphasizes independence, the ability to show energy, not to lose one's face. The concept of "individuality" in biology means specific features inherent in a particular individual, organism due to a combination of hereditary and acquired properties.

In psychology, individuality is understood as a holistic description of a certain person through his temperament, character, interests, intellect, needs and abilities. Philosophy regards individuality as the unique originality of any phenomenon, including both natural and social. In this sense, not only people, but also historical epochs (for example, the era of classicism) can have individuality. If an individual is considered as a representative of the community, then individuality is seen as the originality of a person's manifestations, emphasizing the uniqueness, versatility and harmony, naturalness and ease of his activity. Thus, in a person, the typical and the unique are embodied in unity. The development of society is the result of human activity. In the process of activity, the formation and self-realization of the personality takes place. In everyday language, the word "activity" is used in the sense of the activity of someone or something. For example, they talk about volcanic activity, about the activity of human internal organs, etc. In a narrower sense, this word means the occupation of a person, his work.

Only a person has such a form of activity as an activity that is not limited to adaptation to the environment, but transforms it. For this, not only natural objects are used, but, above all, means created by man himself. Both animal behavior and human activity are consistent with the goal (i.e., expedient). For example, a predator hides in an ambush or sneaks up to the victim - his behavior is consistent with the goal: to get food. The bird flies away from the nest with a cry, distracting the attention of a person. Compare: a person builds a house, all his actions in this case are also expedient. However, for a predator, the goal is, as it were, set by its natural qualities and external conditions. At the heart of this behavior is a biological program of behavior, instincts. Human activity is characterized by historically developed (as a generalization of the experience of previous generations) programs. At the same time, a person himself determines his goal (carries out goal-setting). He is able to go beyond the program, i.e. existing experience, to define new programs (goals and ways to achieve them). Goal-setting is inherent only in human activity. In the structure of activity it is necessary, first of all, to distinguish subject and an object activities. The subject is the one who carries out the activity, the object is what it is aimed at. For example, a farmer (subject of activity) affects the land and crops grown on it (object of activity). The goal is a conscious image of the anticipated result, the achievement of which is aimed at the activity.

There are various classifications of activities. First of all, we note the division of activity into spiritual and practical. Practical activity is aimed at the transformation of real objects of nature and society. It includes material production activity (transformation of nature) and social transformation activity (transformation of society). Spiritual activity is associated with a change in people's consciousness. It includes: cognitive activity (reflection of reality in artistic and scientific form, in myths and religious teachings); value-oriented activity (determining the positive or negative attitude of people to the phenomena of the surrounding world, the formation of their worldview); prognostic activity (planning or foreseeing possible changes in reality). All these activities are interconnected. Other classifications distinguish labor, higher nervous, creative, consumer, leisure, educational, recreational activities (rest, restoration of human strength expended in the labor process). As in the previous classification, the allocation of these species is conditional.

What is creativity? This word is used to designate an activity that generates something qualitatively new, which has never existed before. It can be a new goal, a new result or new means, new ways to achieve them. Creativity is most clearly manifested in the activities of scientists, inventors, writers, and artists. Sometimes they say that these are people of creative professions. In fact, not all people professionally engaged in science make discoveries. At the same time, many other activities include elements of creativity. From this point of view, all human activity is creative, transforming the natural world and social reality in accordance with their goals and needs. Creativity lies not in that activity, where each action is completely regulated by rules, but in that, the preliminary regulation of which contains a certain degree of uncertainty. Creativity is an activity that creates new information and involves self-organization. The need to create new rules, non-standard techniques arises when we encounter new situations that differ from similar situations in the past.

Labor is a type of human activity that is aimed at achieving a practically useful result. It is carried out under the influence of necessity and, ultimately, has the goal of transforming the objects of the surrounding world, turning them into products to satisfy the many and varied needs of people. At the same time, labor transforms the person himself, improves him as a subject of labor activity and as a person.

The word "norm" is of Latin origin and means literally: the guiding principle, the rule, the pattern. Norms are developed by society, social groups that are part of it. With the help of norms, requirements are imposed on people, which their behavior must satisfy. Social norms guide behavior, allow it to be controlled, regulated and evaluated. They guide a person in questions: what should be done? What can be done? What can not be done? How should you behave? How should you not behave? What is acceptable in human activities? What is undesirable? With the help of norms, the functioning of people, groups, the whole society acquires an orderly character. In these norms, people see standards, models, standards of proper behavior. Perceiving them and following them, a person is included in the system of social relations, gets the opportunity to interact normally with other people, with various organizations, with society as a whole. The norms existing in society can be represented in a number of their varieties.

Customs and traditions, in which habitual patterns of behavior are fixed (for example, wedding or funeral rites, household holidays). They become an organic part of people's way of life and are supported by the power of public authority.

Legal regulations. They are enshrined in laws issued by the state, clearly describing the boundaries of behavior and punishment for breaking the law. Compliance with legal norms is ensured by the power of the state.

Moral standards. In contrast to law, morality carries mainly an evaluative load (good - bad, noble - vile, fair - unfair). Compliance with moral rules is ensured by the authority of the collective consciousness, their violation meets public condemnation.

Aesthetic standards reinforce ideas about the beautiful and the ugly not only in artistic creativity, but also in people's behavior, in production and in everyday life.

Political norms regulate political activity, the relationship between the individual and the government, between social groups, states. They are reflected in laws, international treaties, political principles, moral norms.

Religious norms. In terms of content, many of them act as norms of morality, coincide with the norms of law, and reinforce traditions and customs. Compliance with religious norms is supported by the moral consciousness of believers and religious belief in the inevitability of punishment for sins - deviation from these norms.

When answering, pay attention to the fact that this topic is related to the history of mankind, because society is the result of the development of mankind.

Imagine yourself in the place of a researcher when you answer tasks about a person, an individual, a person.

You have known examples of social norms and what deviant behavior of a person or group of people leads to since childhood.

Try to speak your mind.

To complete tasks on Topic 1, you need to be able to:

1. LIST:
The most important institutions of society, the sciences that study society, the sciences that study man.

2. DEFINE CONCEPTS:
Society, human existence, creativity, human activity, lifestyle.

3. COMPARE:
Society and nature, the role of play, communication, work in human life.

4. EXPLAIN:
Correlation of spheres of social life, variety of ways and forms of social development, relationship of spiritual and bodily, biological and social principles in man.

• Bogolyubov L.N. MAN AND SOCIETY.