Psychology

Groups do matter. Practically much of the worlds work is usually done by groups. If we want to perk up productivity in factories, school, boardroom or any other social place then we must come to an understanding about groups. Groups hold the key to solving social conflicts and societal problems like sexism, racism, discrimination and other social evils. They can also be a part of the problem. Groups are the key to understanding the mind set of people on why they act, feel and think how they do (Donelson, 2009). Groups may bring positive or negative effects on an individual. For people to be categorized as a group they must be socially attracted, share some common objectives and goals, interact with each other and have a shared identity that makes them different from others. The role of a group can be associated with the Stanford Prison experiment where groups of students were recruited to conduct roles of a guard and a prisoner as a psychological experiment to verify how human beings do conform to various roles. From the experiment we learn a great deal of psychological issues in the work place and other places where people lose their identities to their environs as well as the impact it has on behaviors and human interactions.

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by seventy undergraduates to play the guard and prisoner roles at Abu Ghraib (Singer, 2008). The experiment came to a halt after six days instead of the fourteen as planned, since the situation was disturbing. Prisoners suffered and came to accept humiliating and depressing treatment from the guards that led to emotional trauma among many. The guards equally became sadistic (Philip, 2009). The guards worked together to break the prison and went to an extent of attacking prisoners with fire extinguishers. They totally forgot they were students. After 36 hours, one prisoner had already started acting crazy screaming, cursing and going into a rage that was out of control thus he was released from the experiment (Philips, 2009). This leads to the big question asked by most people. What really happens when you place good nation or people in an equally evil situation Does evil conquest humanity or does humanity triumph over evil   The results of the experiment have been argued by many to demonstrate the impression of obedience when offered with a legal ideology, institutional and social support from other related groups (Singer, 2008). It illustrates cognitive dissonance theory that depicts an uncomfortable feeling that is caused by having two paradoxical ideas at the same time. The theory proposes that people possess a motivational drive that reduces dissonance by changing beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors by rationalizing and justifying them. The experiment reveals that given total power over inferior groups or people who deserve punishment it is human nature to act almost as the guards did.

The experiment supports situational attribution of behaviors rather than the dispositional. The situation caused the participants behavior but it had nothing to do with the inherent personalities of the individuals. It shows that even in work places due to the authority factor in the management, people are led blindly to obey authority that is usually unjust in delivering shock to innocent people. Good people can be easily transformed into perpetrators of evil and healthy people can as well begin to experience some pathological reactions in their bodies. One lesson that is learnt from the experiment is that, high powered people in comparison with low powered individuals are likely to take perspectives of others and act in egocentric ways (Shayne et al, 2006). The guards in this case were the high powered and though they were students generally, they took the place of guards and acted as they thought appropriate from their authority point of view. The prisoners who were low powered became depressed and emotionally traumatized because of their inferiority complexity. The other lesson learnt is how leaders negatively influence subordinates. The psychological experience of acting as a leader results in devaluation of subordinates (Shayne et al, 2006). Employees do feel alienated and helpless from work when their employers use what can be termed as non contingent punishments and this leads to stress among employees. In this case, the prisoners felt traumatized by the humiliation they underwent in the hands of the guards. They felt helpless thus they could scream or act crazy and ended up being psychologically disturbed.

Leaders do influence the subordinates to a point at which they can internalize their low authority roles and act in a way that support the asymmetrical structure of power. Not only did the participants in the experiment assigned as guards internalize their given roles but also the ones assigned as prisoners. The prisoners could accept demeaning assignments received even cleaning toilets in bare hands. They began to come to a belief and act in styles in line with their roles instead of decrying the inhumanity and may be attempting to exit the experiment. Power inequalities that persist over long time can lead to divergent status hierarchies in a social system (Shayne et al, 2006). Possessing status is powerful to extents that law status actors like employees in a work place do believe that their managers who are ranked in the high status deserve their high positions even at the expense of derogating their own group interests. Low status individuals always hold those ahead of them with high esteem and even when they have power in their hands, low status actors will always yield their given power to higher status equals (Philip et al, n.d)

Another situation other than prison where identities get submerged and people end up losing their identities is in the military service where they have to practically conform to the regulations and rules as well as the behavioral patterns of the group. Cadets dress alike, shave heads and they end up losing their degree of individuality and humanity in obedience as well as a sign of loyalty to the group. The military camps are hectic and punishing. Other situations are like in forced labor among the children where the children have to follow the rules to the letter. They basically have no freedom and this leads to psychological torture where the childrens self esteem is lowered, they start experiencing depression and self hate and feel helpless in the hands of their supervisors since in their mind they know they should be in school. They end up being alienated from their peers as they have the mentality they are disadvantaged or different from the rest. Groups are meant to bring positive results but most times due to their objectives and motives they end up doing more harm than good. Whether evil triumphs humanity or vice versa when people are placed in despicable environment is relative. Environmental influences can alter our behaviors and still our inner personal traits play a role in depicting the final result of a situation.