Social behavior: definition and explanatory theories

Human beings are bio-psycho-social entities, which means that components of a biological, psychological and social nature coexist in each of us. With regard to social behavior, this will be the result of the fusion between genetic characteristics (DNA) and environmental factors that surround individuals.

However, in practice we cannot separate one element from the other to study them separately. The truth is that although each person is something apparently isolated, we all define ourselves by social behavior.

• Related article: "What is social psychology?"

What is social behavior? Definition

To understand a topic as complex as social behavior, it is necessary to review some of the main theories. In this way we can familiarize ourselves with the subject.

Since Antiquity, philosophers as relevant in Western thought as Aristotle already glimpsed the importance of social behavior and society for people's lives. For the polymath, the human being was a social animal whose individual actions were inseparable from social ones, since it is in society that people where we are morally formed,

being citizens and relating to the environment.

From these ideas we can sketch a simple definition of what social behavior is: the set of behavioral dispositions in which there is a great influence of the interactions social.

As we have seen before, it is a complex subject, so it is best to know the theories more relevant to social behavior so that you know how the people around you can act to daily.

Main theories

The most important theories of social behavior are the following.

1. Theory of social influence

Social influence is a social psychological process in which one or more subjects influence the behavior of others. Factors such as persuasion, social conformity, social acceptance, and social obedience are taken into account in this process.

For example, today it is common to see how in social networks the so-called “influencers” significantly influence social behavior, especially in adolescents. This influence can be of two types:

Informational influence

Happens when a person changes their thinking or behavior because they believe that the other's posture is more correct than your own. This means that there is a conversion process.

Regulatory influence

Unlike the informative, it occurs when a person is not completely convinced by the position of the another, and yet by wanting to be accepted by others, ends up acting against their own beliefs.

• You may be interested: "Asch's conformity experiment: when social pressure can"

2. Classical conditioning theory

Ivan Pavlov affirms that a stimulus corresponds to an innate response, but maintains that if that stimulus is associated with other events, we can obtain a different behavior. According to Pavlov, through induced stimuli, people's behaviors can be changed.

This is mainly where marketing comes from. For example, if in an advertising campaign the product is associated with a pleasant stimulus for people (smiles, beaches, beauty) this will be translated into a greater amount of sales.

3. Theory of operant conditioning

Developed by B. F. Skinner, operant conditioning it is a way of learning based on rewards and punishments. This type of conditioning holds that if the behavior brings with it a consequence, be it reward or punishment, the consequence of our behavior will lead us to learning.

This type of conditioning is frequently studied during learning early in development (infancy), but it is capable of explaining many other behaviors.

4. Vicarious learning theory

In vicarious learning (learning by imitation), reinforcement is another characteristic; focuses mainly on cognitive imitative processes of the individual who learns with a model figure. In the early years, parents and educators will be the basic role models.

The concept was proposed by the psychologist Albert bandura in his Theory of Social Learning in 1977. What he proposes is that not all learning is accomplished by personally experiencing actions.

5. Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory emphasizes the interaction of young people with the environment around them, understanding cognitive development as the result of a multi-causal process.

Activities they do together give children the chance to internalize the ways of thinking and behavior of the society where they are, adapting them as own.

The collectivity and the masses

The study of the Psychology of the masses initially comes from the psychoanalytic tradition. What he sought was to increase the influence of the actions of large groups on the isolated person; that is to say, on the identity of this one, and to understand how these actions influence cultural movements and other kinds.

However, during the twentieth century both behaviorism and the cognitive-behavioral current they began to explain this part of human life, from the study of the stimuli and the responses made operational by means of records.

As we have seen so far, social behavior is truly a fairly deep subject where there is diversity of relationships of feedback, taking into account that the behavior of one individual influences the behavior of another, thus shaping an effect collateral.

In conclusion

It is clear that understanding social behavior in an exact way is nothing but a utopia, perhaps because in society we are more unpredictable than individually. However, the social factor must be taken into account in any analysis of behavior.

Bibliographic references:

• Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex. Translated and Edited by G. V. Anrep. London: Oxford University Press. p. 142.