preview

Does the Way We Act Affect How We Think or the Other Way Around?

Good Essays

There are billions of people on this earth with each person connected by the interconnected thread of thinking. Although, there are many different cultural and economic differences between each one of these individuals, not one person can deny that there are always similarities. These similarities connect humanity with the way that all of humanity is able think and have their actions influenced by said thinking. The question that arises from thinking is how exactly it is able to affect a person. Does the way we act affect how we think or is it the other way around? Through much research this question will be answered. The first part of this question asks if an individual’s thinking could affect his or her way of acting as a result. “Our …show more content…

Attitudes follow behavior and this can be shown in one experiment known as the Milgram Obedience Experiment. The experiment followed the behavior roles of “student” and “teacher” and the obedience that inevitably follows. Researchers enrolled the use of an actor to pretend to be shocked meanwhile the volunteer subject’s role was to ask these “students” a question and when, if the question was wrong, would flip a switch and volts of electricity would commence. The switches varied from “slight shock” to “moderate shock” to “danger: severe shock” to an ominous “XXX”. The experimenter would sit and look upon the volunteer and make sure they followed through. Some volunteers refused to go through with the experiment. However, many stayed through the experiment with the experimenter telling them over and over that they must continue to shock the ‘student’. Although this displayed evidence for obedience of individuals it also shows that individuals are able to follow through with small actions such as the “slight shock” or “moderate shock” and work their way up towards the larger actions of “danger: severe shock” to “XXX”. In addition, this role-play of teacher and student can affect how a person is able to think based on this action. An incredibly fascinating exemplar of such role-play is the Stanford Prison experiment conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Researches employed the use of volunteers and split some into the role of guards

Get Access