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. Thus, 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 behavior of the individual 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 innate and acquired psychological individual characteristics.

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

Social norm of behavior- this is a behavior that is fully consistent with status expectations. Due to the existence of status expectations, society can predict the actions of the individual in advance with sufficient probability, and the individual himself can coordinate his behavior with the ideal model or model accepted by society. Social behavior corresponding to status expectations is defined by the American sociologist R. Linton as 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 the command follows from the fact that N. Cameron tries 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 at the time of E. Durkheim, the successes of psychology were insignificant and therefore the functionality of the expiring 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.

Forms of human social behavior

People behave differently in this or that social situation, in this or that social environment. For example, some demonstrators peacefully march along the declared route, others seek to organize riots, and others provoke mass clashes. These various activities actors social interaction can be defined as social behavior. Hence, social behavior is the form and method of manifestation by social actors of their preferences and attitudes, capabilities and abilities in social action or interaction. Therefore, social behavior can be considered as a qualitative characteristic of social action and interaction.

In sociology, social behavior is interpreted as: o behavior, expressed in the totality of actions and actions of an individual or group in society and depending on socio-economic factors and prevailing norms; o external manifestation of activity, a form of transformation of activity into real actions in relation to socially significant objects; about the adaptation of a person to the social conditions of his existence.

To achieve life goals and in the implementation of individual tasks, a person can use two types of social behavior - natural and ritual, the differences between which are of a fundamental nature.

"Natural" behavior, individually significant and egocentric, is always aimed at achieving individual goals and is adequate to these goals. Therefore, the individual does not face the question of the correspondence between the goals and means of social behavior: the goal can and must be achieved by any means. The "natural" behavior of the individual is not socially regulated, therefore, as a rule, it is immoral or "cavalier". Such social behavior has a "natural", natural character, since it is directed to the provision of organic needs. In society, "natural" egocentric behavior is "forbidden", therefore it is always based on social conventions and mutual concessions on the part of all individuals.

ritual behavior("ceremonial") - individually-unnatural behavior; It is precisely through such behavior that society exists and reproduces itself. Ritual in all its variety of forms - from etiquette to ceremony - so deeply permeates the entire social life that people do not notice that they live in a field of ritual interactions. Ritual social behavior is a means of providing stability social system, and the individual who implements various forms of such behavior participates in ensuring the social stability of social structures and interactions. Thanks to ritual behavior, a person achieves social well-being, constantly being convinced of the inviolability of his social status and maintaining the usual set of social roles.

Society is interested in the social behavior of individuals to be of a ritual nature, but society cannot abolish the “natural” egocentric social behavior, which, being adequate in goals and unscrupulous in means, always turns out to be more beneficial for the individual than “ritual” behavior. Therefore, society seeks to transform the forms of "natural" social behavior into various forms of ritual social behavior, including through the mechanisms of socialization using social support, control and punishment.

Such forms of social behavior are aimed at the preservation and maintenance of social relations and, ultimately, the survival of a person as homo sapiens (a reasonable person), such as:

• cooperative behavior, which includes all forms of altruistic behavior - helping each other during natural disasters and technological disasters, helping young children and the elderly, helping future generations through the transfer of knowledge and experience;
• parental behavior - the behavior of parents in relation to offspring.

Aggressive behavior is presented in all its manifestations, both group and individual - from verbal insults to another person and ending with mass extermination during wars.

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 terms 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 directions developed by 3. Freud, C. G. Jung, A. Adler.

Freud's representations are based on the fact that the individual's behavior is formed as a result of a complex interaction of the levels of his personality. Freud distinguishes 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. Highest level constitutes the Superego—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 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.

The concept of C. G. 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 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 behave like Achilles or Hector, a wife like Penelope, and so on. Regular recitations (ritual reproductions) of archetyonic 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 border position between psychology, social philosophy, and sociology. Let us dwell in detail on the work of E. Fromm.

Fromm's positions - The representative of neo-Freudianism in and - more precisely, can be defined as Freilo-Marxism, since along with the influence of Freud, he was no less strongly influenced by the social philosophy of Marx. 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 Freilo-Marxism in general, the individual's behavior is determined by the environment. 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", implying one psychic experience that is common to all members of a given society, but for most of them 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, absurd abbreviations and abbreviations of "Newspeak" from the Orwellian 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.

This kind of taboo, ideologemes, logical and language 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 - it 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 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. Homans), who considers behavior as a system of reactions to various stimuli.

Skinner's concept in fact, it is a biologization one, since it completely removes the differences between the behavior of a person and an animal. 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 acceptable way of adaptation, 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. Homans.

The concept of J. iJ. 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 reinforcement, but if a person is full, it is not a reinforcement.

The effectiveness of the reward depends on the degree of deprivation in a given individual. Sub-deprivation refers to the deprivation of something that the 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) do not depend on deprivation, acting on all individuals without exception, due to the fact that they concentrate access to many types of reinforcements 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 contact with environment brought a reward, it is likely that the subject will 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 so.

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

Homans' behavioral concept of exchange appeared in the middle of the 20th century. Arguing with representatives of many areas of sociology, Homans argued that a sociological explanation of behavior must necessarily be based on a psychological approach. At the heart of the interpretation historical facts there must also be a psychological approach. Homans 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 socially valuable activities between people. Homans believes that social behavior can be interpreted using Skinner's behavioral paradigm, if supplemented with the idea of ​​the mutual nature of stimulation in relations 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.

Homans briefly formulated the exchange theory 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 dual 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 the value of the rewarded act and makes it more likely to be reproduced.

The most important concepts of the theory of exchange are:

• the price of behavior is what this or that act costs an individual, 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 exceeds the price that this act costs.

Thus, the theory of exchange depicts human social behavior as a rational search for benefits. This concept seems simplistic, and it is not surprising that it has attracted criticism from various sociological trends. 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 provide an explanation of social facts on the basis of psychological mechanisms.

In his exchange theories I. blau attempted a kind of synthesis of social behaviorism and sociologism. Understanding 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 cannot be reduced 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 those cases where individuals cannot offer each other sufficient rewards, the social ties 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 who are able to give the required remuneration becomes more privileged in terms of status than other groups. In the future, legitimation and consolidation of the situation and the separation of opposition groups take place. 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, looking at the phenomenon of organized philanthropy, Blau defines what distinguishes philanthropy as social institution from simply helping 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;
• legitimate authority - a system of values ​​that provides the power and privileges of a certain category of people in comparison with all others:
• 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.

Role concept by J. Mead is a symbolic interactionist approach 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 exchange theory with symbolic interactionism also tried to implement P. Singelman. Symbolic actionism 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.

Personality is a social phenomenon. Its sociality is multifaceted. The variety of forms of social connections and relations of an individual determines the types of its social behavior. The classification of these species is carried out on various grounds. The broadest basis for classifying types of social behavior is the definition spheres of being in which it appears. Among them - nature, society, man. These realms of being exist in different forms, the main of which are: material production (labor), spiritual production (philosophy, science, culture, law, morality, religion), life, leisure, family. In these spheres of life, corresponding types of behavior arise, form, develop: production, labor, socio-political, religious, cultural, household, leisure, family.

Based on the Marxist understanding of the essence of man as the totality of all social relations, a system of social relations can be chosen as a classification feature. On this basis, production behavior (labor, professional), economic behavior (consumer behavior, distributive behavior, behavior in the sphere of exchange, entrepreneurial, investment, etc.) are distinguished; socio-political behavior (political activity, behavior towards power, bureaucratic behavior, electoral behavior, etc.); legal behavior (law-abiding, illegal, deviant, deviant, criminal); moral behavior (ethical, moral, immoral, immoral behavior, etc.); religious behaviour.

In accordance with social structure of society

class,

the behavior of social strata and strata;

ethnic behavior,

socio-professional,

· half-role,

gender,

family,

reproductive, etc.

By subject of social behavior differ:

· public behavior,

mass,

class,

group,

collective,

cooperative,

corporate,

professional,

ethnic,

family,

individual

and personal behavior.

Various signs can be chosen as the basis for dividing the types of behavior. Without pretending to be rigorously scientific, to the accuracy and completeness of the selection of these features, we will name only some of the differentiating features and, as examples, we will indicate only some types of behavior in which these features are most pronounced. Yes, according to the parameter activity-passivity of the individual There are the following types of social behavior:

a passive,

adaptive,

conformal,

adaptive,

the stereotypical

standard,

active,

aggressive,

consumer,

production,

· creative,

· innovative,

the pro-social

· procreative,

Behavior of helping others

Responsibility behavior (attribution behavior).

By way of expression the following types are distinguished:

verbal,

nonverbal,

demonstration,

role-playing

communicative,

real,

the expected behavior

indicative,

the instinctive

reasonable,

tactful,

contact.

By implementation time behaviors are:

impulsive,

variable,

long-term implementation.

Under the conditions of modern drastic socio-economic transformations, new types of social behavior are emerging that cannot be unambiguously attributed to any of the above types of behavior. Among them stand out: behavior associated with the processes of urbanization, environmental and migratory behavior.

In all forms of social behavior, the socio-psychological and personal aspects are predominant. Therefore, there is reason to believe personality is the main subject of social behavior. Therefore, we are talking about the social behavior of the individual. With all the variety of forms and types of social behavior of the individual, their common feature, in a sense, a system-forming quality, stands out. This quality is normativity. Ultimately, all types of social behavior are varieties of normative behavior.

Human behavior in society is a complex concept that reflects the interaction of a particular person with other people. This concept reflects a person's reaction to events, situations and the behavior of other people. Any type of human behavior is based on the needs of a person in communication with society, interaction with people in order to achieve their goals.

Psychologists divide human behavior in society into 3 types: aggressive, passive, and assertive. At the same time, a person can change the type of behavior if he wants to change. Most often, a person is dominated by one type of behavior that helps him get through difficulties and resolve conflicts. Let's look at each of the types of human behavior.

Aggressive behavior

Aggression is a behavior in which a person chooses methods to achieve a result that violate the rights of other people. An aggressive person imposes his beliefs and does not take into account the interests of others. Aggressive behavior requires a lot of emotional effort and energy.

This behavior is typical of people who like to take control of everything. Relationships with other people are built on the negative. Usually, people with aggressive behavior are insecure and weak-minded individuals whose goal is to belittle other people in order to become better and more confident against their background.

Passive behavior

Passivity is a behavior in which a person sacrifices his interests and allows others to violate their rights. A passive person does not publicly express his thoughts, emotions, beliefs. He constantly apologizes, makes excuses, speaks quietly and uncertainly. They put other people's interests above their own beliefs.

Most often, passive people take on the role of the Victim and feel helpless and weak. Passive behavior, like aggressive behavior, is a sign of self-doubt. But, unlike aggressive behavior, a passive person does not take responsibility for their actions. He gives the right to other people to make decisions for him, even if he is sure that this decision will bring harm.

The basis of passive behavior is the fear of life's difficulties, the fear of making decisions, the fear of standing out from the crowd and the fear of responsibility.

The purpose of passive behavior is to prevent any conflict at the stage of its occurrence, as well as to make your life easier by shifting responsibility to others.

assertive behavior

Assertiveness is the expression of one's thoughts and emotions directly and confidently. Assertiveness is a behavior characteristic of self-confident people. This is the "golden" mean between aggressive and passive behavior.

An assertive person is able to defend his rights and solve life's difficulties, while not entering into conflict. He knows what he needs and speaks openly about it, he can easily refuse another person, in a situation where it will be necessary. An assertive person respects himself and the opinions of other people, but at the same time he does not depend on the opinions of others.

Next page:

Every day we are among people, we perform some actions in accordance with this or that situation. We have to communicate with each other, using generally accepted norms. Together, all of this is our behavior. Let's try to go deeper

Behavior as a moral category

Behavior is a complex of human actions that an individual performs over a long period of time under given conditions. These are all actions, not individual ones. Whether actions are performed consciously or unintentionally, they are subject to moral evaluation. It is worth noting that behavior can reflect both the actions of one person and the whole team. At the same time, both personal characteristics of character and the specificity of interpersonal relationships have an influence. By his behavior, a person reflects his attitude to society, to specific people, to the objects surrounding him.

The concept of a line of conduct

The concept of behavior includes the definition of a line of behavior, which implies the presence of a certain system and consistency in the repetitive actions of an individual or the characteristics of the actions of a group of people over a long period of time. Behavior is perhaps the only indicator that objectively characterizes the moral qualities and driving motives of a person.

The concept of rules of conduct, etiquette

Etiquette is a set of norms and rules that regulate the relationship of a person with others. It is an integral part of social culture (culture of behavior). It is expressed in a complex system of relationships between people. This includes concepts such as:

• polite, courteous and patronizing treatment of the fair sex;
• a sense of respect and manifestation of deep respect for the older generation;
• correct forms of everyday communication with others;
• norms and rules of dialogue;
• being at the dinner table;
• treatment of guests;
• compliance with the requirements for human clothing (dress code).

All these laws of decency embody the general ideas of human dignity, the simple requirements of convenience and ease in human relationships. In general, they coincide with the general requirements of courtesy. However, there are also strictly established ethical standards that have an unchanging character.

• Respectful treatment of students and teachers.
  • Observance of subordination in relation to subordinates to their leadership.
  • Standards of conduct in public places, during seminars and conferences.

Psychology as a science of behavior

Psychology is a science that studies the characteristics of human behavior and motives. This area of ​​knowledge studies how mental and behavioral processes proceed, specific personality traits, mechanisms that exist in the human mind and explain the deep subjective reasons for one or another of his actions. It also considers the distinctive features of a person's character, taking into account those significant factors that determine them (stereotypes, habits, inclinations, feelings, needs), which may be partly innate, and partly acquired, brought up in appropriate social conditions. Thus, the science of psychology helps us understand, as it reveals its mental nature and the moral conditions of its formation.

Behavior as a reflection of human actions

Depending on the nature of a person's actions, various ones can be defined.

• A person by his actions may try to attract the attention of others. Such behavior is called demonstrative.
• If a person assumes any obligations and fulfills them in good faith, then his behavior is called responsible.
• Behavior that determines the actions of a person aimed at the benefit of others, and for which he does not require any reward, is called helping.
• There is also internal behavior, which is characterized by the fact that a person decides for himself what to believe in, what to value.

There are others that are more complex.

• Deviant behavior. It represents a negative deviation from the norms and patterns of behavior. As a rule, it entails applying to the offender various kinds punishment.
• If a person demonstrates complete indifference to the environment, unwillingness to make decisions independently, mindlessly follows others in his actions, then his behavior is considered conformal.

Behavior characteristic

The behavior of an individual can be characterized by various categories.

• Innate behavior - as a rule, these are instincts.
• Acquired behavior is the actions performed by a person in accordance with his upbringing.
• Intentional behavior - actions carried out by a person consciously.
• Unintentional behavior is actions that occur spontaneously.
• Behavior can also be conscious or unconscious.

Code of Conduct

Close attention is paid to the norms of human behavior in society. A norm is a primitive form of requirement regarding morality. On the one hand, it is a form of relationship, and on the other hand, it is a specific form of consciousness and thinking of an individual. The norm of behavior is constantly reproducible actions of the same type of many people, obligatory for each person individually. Society needs people to act according to a certain scenario in given situations, which is designed to maintain social balance. The binding force of norms of behavior for everyone individual person based on examples from society, mentors and the immediate environment. In addition, habit plays an important role, as well as collective or individual coercion. At the same time, the norms of behavior should proceed from general, abstract ideas about morality and ethics (the definition of good, evil, and so on). One of the tasks of the correct education of a person in society is to ensure that the simplest norms of behavior become an internal need of a person, acquire the form of a habit and be carried out without external and internal coercion.

Raising the next generation

One of the most crucial moments in the upbringing of the younger generation are. The purpose of such conversations should be to expand the knowledge of schoolchildren about the culture of behavior, explain to them the moral meaning of this concept, as well as educate them in the skills of correct behavior in society. First of all, the teacher should explain to the students that it is inextricably linked with the people around them, that it depends on how the teenager behaves, how easy and pleasant it will be for these people to live next to him. Teachers should also bring up positive character traits in children using the examples of books by various writers and poets. Students should also be taught the following rules:

• how to behave at school;
• how to behave on the street;
• how to behave in a company;
• how to behave in public transport;
• how to behave when visiting.

It is important to pay special attention, especially in high school, to such an issue, both in the society of classmates, as well as in the society of guys outside of school.

Public opinion as a reaction to human behavior

Public opinion is a mechanism by which society regulates the behavior of each particular individual. Any form of social discipline falls under this category, including traditions and customs, because for a society it is something like a legislative norm of behavior that the vast majority of people follow. Moreover, such traditions form public opinion, which acts as a powerful mechanism for regulating behavior and human relationships in various spheres of life. From an ethical point of view, the determining moment in regulating the behavior of an individual is not his personal discretion, but public opinion, which is based on certain generally recognized moral principles and criteria. It must be admitted that an individual has the right to independently decide how to behave in a given situation, despite the fact that the norms adopted in society, as well as collective opinion, have a tremendous influence on the formation of self-consciousness. Under the influence of approval or censure, the character of a person can change dramatically.

Assessment of human behavior

Considering the question, one should not forget about such a concept as an assessment of the behavior of an individual. This assessment consists in the approval or condemnation by society of a particular act, as well as the behavior of the individual as a whole. People can express their positive or negative attitude towards the subject being evaluated in the form of praise or blame, agreement or criticism, manifestations of sympathy or dislike, that is, through various external actions and emotions. Unlike requirements expressed in the form of norms, which in the form of general rules prescribe how a person should act in a given situation, assessment compares these requirements with those specific phenomena and events that already take place in reality, establishing their compliance or non-compliance. existing codes of conduct.

golden rule of conduct

In addition to what we all know is generally accepted, there is Golden Rule. It originated in ancient times, when the first essential requirements for human morality were formed. Its essence is to treat others in the way you would like to see this attitude towards yourself. Similar ideas were found in such ancient works as the teachings of Confucius, the Bible, Homer's Iliad, and so on. It is worth noting that this is one of the few beliefs that has survived to our time in almost unchanged form and has not lost its relevance. The positive moral significance of the golden rule is determined by the fact that it practically orients the individual towards the development of an important element in the mechanism of moral behavior - the ability to put oneself in the place of others and emotionally experience their condition. In modern morality, the golden rule of behavior is an elementary universal prerequisite for relationships between people, expressing a successive connection with the moral experience of the past.

Behavior- the process of interaction of individuals with the environment, manifested in their external (motor) and internal (mental) activity. Behavior includes actions within the framework of any human activity and any form of his communication with other people.

Somewhat different in essence is social behavior. This term denotes way of life and actions of a large number of people, which has a significant impact on social life and the stability of society. The subjects of social behavior are the masses, the public, the crowd and, in some cases, individual individuals and their interpersonal associations (family, circle of friends, etc.).

Mass name a large number of people who cannot be united on any common basis. According to the political and economic situation, the number of people who make up the mass may be more or less, but can never be absent. Such people are politically neutral, content with their position, do not join any party and almost never go to the polls.

The concept has a slightly different meaning. "popular masses". They denote the presence in society of a breastfeeding majority, which in some cases, for example, during periods of political instability, becomes the driving force of social progress.

Crowd - it is an outwardly unorganized community of people who are in direct contact with each other, connected by a common emotional state and an object of attention. The crowd is characterized by activity and a high degree of conformity, i.e. easily suggestible.

There are random, expressive, conventional and active types of crowd. random crowd are people gathered, for example, near the scene. expressive crowd is a group of people who jointly express joy or grief, anger or protest. Under conventional crowd refers to a group of people whose behavior falls within the norms established for certain situations, but goes beyond the usual behavior, for example, rampaging fans at a concert. acting crowd - This is a group of people who are active in relation to a particular object. It is subdivided into aggressive, escaping, acquisitive and ecstatic. Aggressive , for example, is represented by a crowd of thugs. escaping I the crowd brings together people who are in a state of panic. money-grubbing are marauders, ecstatic I - brought to a frenzy as a result of any rituals.

Public - this is a large group of people, formed on the basis of their common interests, without any organization, but necessarily in the presence of a situation that affects these interests. The audience arises together with the appearance of the subject of general attention. It can be an event, a person, scientific discovery, art object, etc. Unlike the crowd, elements of rational discussion, criticism and struggle of opinions are possible for the public.

The types of social behavior include social movements, collective behavior and social behavior of the individual.

social movements- these are mass actions of representatives of a social group aimed at ensuring group or public interests, contributing to or hindering social change. Depending on the goals and nature of the social changes they seek, social movements can be of several types.

Political movements express demands on the state. They can move from the peaceful expression of their demands to decisive action in the form of propaganda of their views, calls for resistance to the authorities, and even uprisings. Utopian movements aim to create ideal social systems. Reform movements stand for peaceful change . revolutionary movements strive to establish a new social order by destroying the old social order. Conservative movements resist any change.

Social movements often arise in connection with dissatisfaction with the existing order. In the environment of movement is formed ideology, expressing a system of views, values, goals and ways to achieve them. In addition, any movement needs leader, having supporters who, united, form organization. Social movements rarely occur in stable societies, but often in unstable ones.

collective behavior- these are massive, unpredictable reactions of people to critical situations that arise objectively and suddenly. Most often, collective behavior manifests itself in the crowd. A person, getting into the crowd, becomes infected with its passions. There is a mental unification of people at the "herd" level, as a result of which a homogeneous mass is created. Such a crowd is easily influenced, it is easy to manipulate, creating an emotionally charged atmosphere.

Social behavior of the individual- these are externally observable actions, actions of individuals in a certain sequence, one way or another affecting the interests of other people, their groups, the whole society. Human behavior acquires social meaning, they are included in communication with other people. The social behavior of the individual is always reasonable and deliberate. It is influenced by a person's attitude to himself, to others, to society, predisposition and readiness for vigorous activity. All this is called social attitude. Depending on the change in the situation, the social attitude may also change.

The behavior of people that does not correspond to generally accepted values ​​and norms is called deviant (deviant) behavior. Deviant behavior can be both negative and positive. The first is manifested in the desire to disrupt the functioning of the social system, and the second - in the desire to improve it. To define an entity deviant behavior, you need to clearly highlight the weight of its components. This is, firstly, a person committing an act, secondly, the norms (rules) that are violated, and thirdly, a group of people or the whole society reacting to behavior.

Five stand out types of behavior Keywords: conformism, innovation, ritualism, streetism, rebellion. Of these, only conformism is not a deviation. All others are varieties of deviant behavior.

conformism(submission) means accepting the values ​​of a given social community, even by giving up one's own beliefs. The individual often obeys the opinion of the majority, although he may internally disagree with it. Innovation (innovation) is expressed in the acceptance of the goals of the group, but the rejection of the means to achieve them. ritualism (from the word "ritual") is expressed in the rejection of goals, but the acceptance of the means to achieve these goals. retreatism (withdrawal) is manifested in the complete denial of the values, goals and means accepted in a given society. At the same time, the individual seeks to isolate himself from society, “to withdraw into himself”. rebellion It is expressed in the complete denial of the values, goals and means proclaimed by society and an attempt to replace them with new ones, to establish a new social order.

Reasons for deviant behavior some theories explain in terms of biological, psychological and sociological factors. Biological approach indicates a person's innate predisposition to commit deviant acts, psychological - explains deviant behavior by various deviations in mental development, sociological - takes into account the influence of social and cultural factors.

The absence of deviations in the behavior of subjects contributes to the formation of a social order in society, which is a system that includes the relationship of individuals, the rules of command that contribute to the implementation of various types of activities. The normal functioning of society and the establishment of social order in it contributes to social control, which ensures the orderly interaction of the elements that make up society through normative regulation, including social norms (rules) and sanctions (encouragements and punishments).

Social control is formal and informal. formal control carry out state organizations through methods of isolation, separation and rehabilitation. isolation aims to eliminate the contact of the individual with society and applies to persons who have committed a crime. Isolation - it is also the termination of the individual's contacts with other people, but for a limited period, with the prospect of his return to society, for example, arrest. Rehabilitation - this is the preparation of the deviant to return to society and fulfill the necessary social roles.

Informal control characteristic of small groups. It manifests itself in both encouragement and criticism, ridicule of the deviant and even expulsion from the group. Types of informal control include social rewards, punishment, persuasion, and norm re-evaluation. Social rewards expressed in the approval of human behavior. Punishment reflects dissatisfaction with the behavior of the deviant and is expressed in statements, threats or in physical impact. Belief - this is a speech impact on a person in order to prevent deviant behavior. Re-evaluation of norms occurs when behavior that was considered deviant can be assessed as normal.

Social control is associated with socialization, during which people learn the patterns of behavior necessary for society. A pure person does not even think about the essence of his behavior, since he implements it at the level of habit. He himself selects neither himself the patterns of behavior that correspond to generally accepted norms. In addition, a person included in a particular group experiences this effect on himself and, in this regard, does not allow himself to commit deviant acts.

A type of social behavior is social conflict . It is a process of development and resolution of contradictions between people and social groups. Social conflict is a complex phenomenon that has its own characteristics in each specific case. However, in the course of any conflict, one can distinguish three stages - pre-conflict, directly conflict and its resolution.

Pre-conflict stage can be quite lengthy. In the course of it, contradictions accumulate, emotional stress, is determined object of conflict , those. that phenomenon, object, attitude, etc., which is equally highly valued by both conflicting parties. At this stage, it is possible to resolve the situation peacefully, without influencing the opponent. If both sides understand the inevitability of a collision, they seek to find out each other's weaknesses and develop a strategy for their actions.

At the second stage the parties go over to active hostile actions. They may be in the nature of an open confrontation, or they may contain actions hidden from the enemy, aimed at imposing a certain pattern of behavior on him.

Stage of conflict resolution associated with the cessation of hostile actions of the parties in connection with the elimination of the causes of the conflict. If the causes have not been eliminated, and the parties to the conflict have ceased active actions in relation to each other, then in this case we can only talk about stopping the conflict.

Ways to resolve the conflict may be different. The conflicting parties may sit down at the negotiating table and come to an agreement , terms that are acceptable to both parties. If an agreement is reached through mutual concessions, then they talk about compromise. In cases where the parties do not want to make concessions and even start a negotiation process, not wanting to show their weakness, one can resort to mediation , i.e. participation in the resolution of the conflict of a third party not interested in the results and the object of the conflict. This method is often used in resolving political conflicts. Finally, the stronger side can use force to the weaker side and force it to admit its innocence.

There are many types of conflicts . So, depending on the number of subjects allocate intrapersonal, interpersonal and social conflicts. Intrapersonal conflicts occur in the mind of a person when he needs to make a decision. The choice can be very difficult in some cases. Often a person has to choose between what needs to be done and what one wants to do. Willpower plays an important role in decision making. Interpersonal conflicts - is a collision between two or more people. The objects of such conflict are very diverse. The peculiarity is that the people involved in the conflict directly interact with each other. Social conflicts occur between groups of people. This does not necessarily require direct personal contact between members of the opposing groups. Examples of social conflicts are uprisings and revolutions.

IN depending on the sphere, in which the conflict takes place, a distinction is made between political, economic, social, cultural, ethnic and religious conflicts. Political conflicts arise between powerful subjects. These may be states that have certain interests in the international arena. Within the country are various political forces e.g. parties, trade unions, government bodies and etc. Economic conflicts arise between subjects of economic activity regarding the distribution of resources and markets. social conflicts, as noted above, they arise between different social groups about the distribution of material and spiritual wealth and participation in the exercise of power. Cultural conflicts arise between adherents of different cultural values ​​(for example, about the direction in music, literature, art, which is unequally evaluated by the participants in the conflict). ethnic conflicts manifested in the confrontation between different ethnic groups. They can be political, economic, social, but in any case, the conflict is based on hostility towards representatives of another nation. In some cases, ethnic conflicts intersect with religious, representing a clash of different faiths over religious issues. These conflicts may be in the nature of a theological dispute, but history knows examples of forceful measures to plant the "true" faith among the "infidels".

These types of conflicts do not exhaust all approaches to their classification. We can distinguish such conflicts as war, confrontation, discussion, fight, etc. But experience convinces us that, whatever the conflict, there will always be civilized ways to resolve it peacefully.

Questions and tasks

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

2. Who is the subject of social command?

3. What kinds of social behavior exist?

4. What behavior is called deviant?

5. What types of behavior exist? Which of them are types of deviant behavior? Describe them.

6. What are the causes of deviant behavior?

7. What conditions contribute to the formation of social order in society? What role does social control play in this?

8. What is social conflict? What are its stages?

9. Give a classification of conflicts.

10. Read the statements below. Explain the authors' point of view on the mass and the crowd.

ON THE. Berdyaev; “The mass, the crowd is “it”, not “we”. "We" implies the existence of "I" and "you". In the mass, in the crowd, the "I" puts on the mask imposed on him by this mass and its unconscious instincts and emotions. The masses live primarily in the interests of the economy, and this has a fatal effect on the whole culture, which is becoming an unnecessary luxury.

German philosopher Karl Jaspers: “People in the mass can easily lose their heads, indulge in an intoxicating opportunity to become just different, follow the rat catcher who will plunge them into hellish abysses. Conditions may arise in which the reckless masses will interact with the tyrants who manipulate them.