In a very simple and easy term, behavior, in its style and manner, is a way of act. It can also mean way of building oneself in standing and walking and performing various actions related to what the person tries to accomplish. It is the same way of doing something in accordance with its acceptance by the society. Anything done contrary to the beliefs and the customs of the society is completely rejected and the responsible individual faces condemnation sometimes to the extent of being excommunicated as well. Therefore, it is applying the suggestions and advice of others in the way they win acceptance by the society. Furthermore, it is executing the order by putting the principles into practice and behaving in accordance with the general expectation.
‘Man is born free, but in chains everywhere’ goes the philosophical maxim. As the concept of freedom is relative and strictly tied and subject to societal dictates, one has to be cautious of his/her every act. Any person, be it a president or a beggar in the lowest social echelon of the society, is barred from acting the way he/she likes; there is always a limit and restraints to our acts and whatever we say.
The concept personality has much to do with behavior. Behavior is exhibited in different people in different ways. Psychology teaches that most individuals believe themselves to lack certain intangible qualities that make for social success. Among these desired qualities is one that is popularly known as personality. Traits of personality, they say, are abstracted from the person’s behavior. Some traits have to do with the manner of a person’s acts. Persistence and speed are typical traits of manner. Most people, out of pride, refuse to make any change in what they do or in their beliefs. The slightest shift from what they think is right, mean to them as if they are defeated and being looked down upon.
Such people are automatically branded as stubborn and unwilling to go along with the beliefs of the general society; and such views, standing out against the norm, make them misfits. Obviously, misfits are always at war with themselves and as well as all they come across. Wherever they are, peace is at its lowest ebb. As a result, people shun individuals with such disposition. At this point, one truth should be noted; because an individual’s belief and outlook does not coincide with that of the majority, it does not prove he is always wrong or anti-social element.
As much as the individual feels he is ostracized, he builds some kind of mechanism to hide his disgust against those who treat him like that; he manipulates sly expressions: they are
facial expressions that are not altogether reliable as indicators of true emotion. They can help the individual to get away with the scheme of cheating, pretending he is unaware of all the odds directed to his efforts to co-existence with others. Therefore, behavioral responses to such situation are also difficult to take them at face value, even though the most important results of emotions are the acts they cause. Emotional responses like crying, smiling, shaking the head from side to side, etc. can reveal the presence of particular feelings in the person. Obviously, there is truth to the popular belief that every emotion has its own particular facial expression.
However, the facial expressions are not altogether dependable as indicators of emotion as they can be easily suppressed or exaggerated. Another reason is that adult facial expressions are largely modified by learning. Thus, a person of one culture may express a particular emotion with a grimace that has different meaning in another culture. Still another reason for putting little reliance on facial expressions as clues to emotion is the resemblance of certain emotions, particularly in violent emotions. Such emotional expressions intended for the right cause can turn out to be offensive.
We cannot always be sure that similar acts have the same meaning. Thus, according to psychologists, emotional behavior has four categories according to the direction of activity. They are against, towards, away from people, or inwards against himself. The feelings usually associated with these four responses are rage, love, fear and depression. In rage, one moves against the source of one’s frustration. In fear, one moves away from it. In love, one moves towards the source of pleasure. In depression, one stops making overt responses and turns the emotion inwards against oneself. Fear, rage, and love are building blocks from which the many complex adult emotions are ultimately constructed. The development of these feelings must be given top priority during infancy. An utmost care should be given to the way infants react to certain stimuli. Pain, loud noises and lack of support have a lot to do with right development of infant’s emotional behavior. Patting makes them stop crying, smile, coo, and thus extend their arms.
The perspective views of different cultural behaviors must be considered before arriving at the conclusion about the implicated person. As much as cultural similarities are often seen, differences are also possible to occur. What is right and acceptable in one culture is wrong and unacceptable in other cultures. A person from a different culture, thus, should not be condemned for the way he acts, simply because he has acted in accordance with his cultural dictates. Great joy is hard to tell from great grief by facial expression alone. In fact, we speak of someone who ‘laughs so hard till the tears flow’. The flow of tears, in a happy occasion, for one culture, would be a great offense to the other and this might lead the situation to an unwanted direction. No culture should at all be despised or ridiculed simply because people are not familiar with it. It is believed that no culture is superior or inferior to the other. Each person behaves according to his culture in which he grew up. Every culture serves the interest of its own community. This is the problem of the inability to understand and tolerate the differences among cultures and to create a buffer zone where both cultures can mutually exchange their beliefs and customs for a common goal of viable co-existence.
As much as the individual is judged wrong and intolerable, the majority also could much be at fault in certain points; it is absolutely wrong to conclude that the majority is always right. That is entirely stereotype! When the majority takes the lead in certain ventures, the vitality of focus tends to lose the grasp of what should be accomplished. The enormity of the orations from every direction is accentuated by one person to outshine the rest.
Attitudinal traits like sociability and patriotism which tell us more about the styles of the person’s behavior than they do about its actual nature. Different political parties can all claim to be patriotic, but they disagree about what deeds and policies can best serve the interest of the country. In such circumstance, the inability to identify one’s shortcomings and the refusal to correct them, can results in political bankruptcy and the suffering from the vote of no confidence by the people. Here, we find ourselves at a loss as to which behavior is acceptable and which is not. The bearer or the claimant of the behavior argues that he is always right, while in actuality it may not be true. There is always a possibility of fallacy in what we do and say and thus may face a certain degree of opposition by others.
Whichever way our emotions are developed, our behavior makes us act the way we do and determine whether we are accepted or rejected by the people we happen to interact. Our present behavior is the result of the way we were treated while we were still very young. In our relationship with others depicts our behavior whether it was for good or bad. We cannot act better or more than our behavior at the present. Concepts, such as good behavior, misbehavior, and misconduct show up in our interaction with people. Whatever it may be, our behavior is measured by how we respond to the people’s act.
The Ethiopian Herald JUN 19, 2020
BY JOSEPH SOBOKA
