The daily lives of common people are filled with exciting social tensions. Many of these people believe that they are immune to submission tactics. They have the courage to resist unjust compliance, and would never abandon their core beliefs and principles in the face of social and political pressures. In the past, Ethiopians had suffered severe political pressures which resulted in their imprisonment, humiliation, physical tortures and death.
They had been thrown into jails, the addresses of which were hidden from relatives of prisoners. These Ethiopians had never appeared before the court for a hearing. Some of them just disappeared for “resisting” evil political influences. It was believed that they did not see the light of day while in jail.
Studies show that unwanted and unjust influences can impact people’s daily lives. They need to be equipped to resist undeserved pressures. Understanding the contexts of social pressures and political influences will enable people to identify the agents of evil influences. Senior citizens in Ethiopia forewarn and caution young persons from jumping into dangers of social and political influences. But, most of the time their caution fell on deaf ears of the youth, who consider the elderly as senile, unaware of new developments. Knowing the elements of social influence may help the youth to identify negative influences of social and political changes.
There are hints that help resist unwanted influences. These follow from a deep understanding of what these varieties of influences are. These are derived from attempts to influence attitudes, values or actions of people. Persuasive communication skills are applied for influencing people. These skills are tested on a target group to observe the positive and negative effects of social and political influences. One effect of these influences is known as “conformity.” The objective of conformity is acceptance, which paves the way to economic benefits. This phenomenon is observed among weak, pathetic, fragile and unproductive persons in Ethiopia today. They try to climb the ladder of success until the rung is broken.
Weak persons tend to be opportunistic, depending on the influence and strength of others. They go along with a group seeking acceptance. If one refuses to act as the group does or rejects its values, or acts contrary to the group norm he/she is rejected, isolated, expelled, and ridiculed. The power of a group on individual life enormously influences the thoughts and actions of a person. In fact, much social influence comes from a single source. Compliance is a form of submission in which direct “pressure” is put on individuals to take some specific action. The influential agent of compliance affects the economic performance of individuals.
Credibility is one of the methods of persuasion. Communicators are most effective if they are perceived as credible persons. It means that they have expertise relevant to their message and are trustworthy, honest and unbiased. Ethiopian elders are creative communicators. They are rational, but also appeal to emotions, if contending parties are severely antagonistic.
They share their experiences on issues at hand and inform people on the effects thereof. Some of their messages are simple; they give advice only when requested to avoid suspicion of favoritism. The methods of persuasion used by Ethiopian elders are reliable, simple and open to all concerned persons. These win them reverence, veneration, respect, and admiration by all contending parties.
People need to process the methods of persuasion systematically. That means taking the time to figure out what is being requested, what evidence is being presented by contending persons, and how contrary views are dealt with. Most often people take short cuts and process information only “superficially.” Unlike the Ethiopian elderly, they focus on the “packaging” and not the product.
They may give excessive value to the good “appearance” of a person and little to what he is actually doing. Young persons have to be careful about intents and actions which are requested of them. Usually, power mongering and opportunist persons tend to confirm with the messages of the powerful groups thereby experiencing “conformity.”
There are two types of conformity and these are informative and normative. “Informative conformity” often occurs in “unfamiliar” situations when people are likely to shape behavior to “match” that of others. In Ethiopia, when persons move from their residence to another they study and adopt the norms of the new place. Workers may face unfamiliar situations when they are transferred from their original post to another, which is located in the Regional, Zonal or Woreda administrations. They are, of course, materially compensated for dislocation. But, social and psychological displacement, interruption and disruption which are painfully unfamiliar for the worker are difficult to compensate or reimburse.
In the case of “normative conformity,” people want to be liked by others. This is the dominant form of social conformity in Ethiopia. Though some opportunist Ethiopians may “secretly” disagree with the group opinion, they may openly adopt the group stance. They seem to appear like a team player rather than a deviant.
These are colorless and, therefore, difficult to identify either as supporters or opponents. But, this is a sensitive act that is difficult to maintain in all situations at all times. Things change dynamically for an opportunist to stay on the same level as before. But, such characteristics do not apply to all, as there are determined and principled people around.
An essential function of a society is that people follow “social norms” such as obeying laws, respecting property rights, and diffusing aggression in non-violent ways. However, conformity can have harmful effects if one conforms automatically “without” questioning the validity of social norms. In the Ethiopian society, where paternalism is dominant many ordinary people do not dissent to ongoing atrocities committed by male family heads. In modern Ethiopia, “traditional” behavior is rampant in the rural areas and to a lesser degree in the urban ones. In their daily decisions, business owners, bosses, managers, directors, superintendents, supervisors, controllers and overseers should also examine whether the reasons “justify” the actions.
In an unfamiliar situation, people should first ask themselves whether the actions performed by others are rational, warranted, and consistent with their own norms. Similarly, in a situation in which they want to impress and be accepted by others, people have to ask if their actions conflict with their moral codes. They should also consider whether they are willing to compromise their own opinion. In this respect, Ethiopians find it hard to change their opinion of others unless they proved that others, including relatives, friends and colleagues, are absolutely good beyond doubt. It takes time to overcome their suspicion of others.
Ultimately, people are the only ones who have to live with their own actions, reflecting on their beliefs and norms. In this situation, sociologists revealed the “strength” of social influence and human instincts can be exploited both intentionally and unintentionally. Influence “agents” sway public opinion. However, when these agents face resistant opinions, they are provoked to avoid them. Using the art of persuasion, they will be better able to recognize the situations they are in. This provides them with the tools to resist unwanted social influence.
The question is how to distinguish good influences from unwanted ones. A society may determine what type of behavior and action is proper for the people living within its confines and limits. In Ethiopia, people with unwanted behaviors and acts such as theft, lying, perjury, falsification, mendacity, deception and deceit are not acceptable, though some citizens are prone to commit them. People, particularly the young ones, are obliged to observe social
sanctions that shape their social behavior. Schools and society are also responsible for that. The rule of reciprocity requires that one person try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided. The provision of mutual support requires repayment from the recipient of favors. Future “obligation” makes it possible to develop continuing relationships and exchanges. Young persons are informed by elders of the benefit of abiding by the rule of reciprocity or suffer social disapproval. This social rule may not lead to equal exchanges of favors.
This depends on individual “honesty” and responsibility of avoiding an outrageous and extreme request. Honest persons request for a comparatively small favors that would likely be acceptable. Some Ethiopians may demand more with the objective of achieving “little” concession. They request for millions and settle for thousands of Birr!
Wise persons reject initial demands for favors or concessions and redefine them as tricks to extract favors. In Ethiopia, for example, parents are wise enough to reject initial demands of their children who seek exaggerated favors. These parents are consistent in their words and attitudes toward family members. Consistent conduct provides a beneficial approach to daily life and is highly valued by society. However, inducing people, or family heads, to make an initial false commitment is a misleading strategy. It may be rejected by those persons who are expected to meet such commitment. Commitments are most effective when they are internally motivated and consistent.
Responses to influences differ from one age group to the other as they are functions of time and place. Generally people do not want to be pressured into accepting requests they are not comfortable with, unless forced to do so. This is proved by the experience in rural areas of Ethiopia, where agricultural extension officers failed to convince
peasants of the values of applying modern agricultural inputs in farms. The farmers were suspicious of the value of applying fertilizers, improved seeds, pesticides, modern farm implements, tractors and combine harvesters. They were sensitive to situational variables operating on their “traditional” decision making processes. They comply with practical work rather than exaggerated ideas.
In Ethiopia, the secret of success in working with the people is to determine what other people think is “correct.” To induce the compliance of a person, it is useful to inform him that many other famous elders have been complying with an issue. Uncertainty in which a situation is ambiguous makes people more unlikely to accept the actions of others as correct. Also, similarity and familiarity induce people to positively respond to influences of others. Forcing people to accept advice, opinion or instruction with authoritative command wins nothing but “instant” compliance that withers away suddenly. This is what happened to orders imposed on Ethiopians by their dictatorial leaders in the past.
BY GETACHEW MINAS
The Ethiopian Herald May 6/2021
