Individual and Society: Tensions, Harmony, and Human Behavior

Individual and Society: Tensions and Harmony

Tensions in the Individual-Society Relationship

Rejection

When the majority social group does not accept or recognize certain individuals as full members, it often leads to actions considered deviant from societal norms. Factors motivating social rejection include religious, cultural, and racial differences.

Self-Exclusion

The opposite of social rejection is self-exclusion. This tension arises when an individual does not identify with the community's parameters, feels dissatisfied with their surroundings, and ignores cultural norms. This can stem from incomplete family socialization, severe childhood trauma, or an abrupt societal change.

Marginalization

Resulting from social rejection and self-exclusion, marginalization is a state of isolation and segregation from the majority group. Marginalized individuals often develop alternative lifestyles and suffer economic and cultural deficiencies.

Violence

Violence is both a cause and consequence of social rejection. Aggression can lead to explicit rejection, and some individuals react to exclusion with violence and confrontation, often manifesting as criminal acts or gratuitous aggression.

Harmony in the Individual-Society Relationship

Harmony exists when individuals feel their society is more than a collection of independent human beings, and society respects and protects individual interests and wishes. Individuals are satisfied with their social environment and accept its implications. True social harmony requires not only society promoting individual aspirations but also individuals promoting the social good. When individuals feel satisfied and recognized within their group, they take responsibility and actively contribute to the general interests of the majority.

Human Behavior

Inherited or Learned Behavior

Behavior is an observable reaction to an internal or external stimulus. It differs from other reactions in that it can be observed and analyzed. Behavior can be instinctive (identical responses across a species) or learned (not biologically predetermined).

Instinctive Behavior

Instincts are biologically maintained, genetically determined, and inherited patterns of conduct. They govern behavior with rigid determination. For example, adult salmon instinctively return to their birthplace driven by genetic impulses.

Learned Behavior

Few human actions are purely instinctive. While mourning is instinctive in children, learned behaviors replace instinctive ones as children grow. In adults, very few responses are involuntary and automatic.

Motivation

Motivations are the reasons behind behavior. They are the factors that drive an individual to act in a certain way, based on mental processes and states. According to the homeostatic theory, humans primarily seek balance.