Questão 2497809

Directions: Answer questions 01 to 16 according to the text.

TEXT

When making a decision, it is a common impulse

to look and see what others are doing. Nevertheless, it is

often unclear whether the path that everyone else may

be following is good for us as well. After all, sometimes

5 following the crowd has merit - at other times, it is simply

peer pressure blinding us.

The phenomenon of looking to others and

following the crowd _______ by social science for a long

time. Nevertheless, those findings do not always make

10 their way to individual decision-makers. Therefore, let’s

review why people conform to the crowd – and under

what conditions it is a god idea to go your own way

instead.

To start, individuals tend to look to the opinions of

15 others, especially when they are unsure and lack

information from other sources. This dynamic was

supported by classic research from Sherif (1937), who

explored how a person’s perception of a very ambiguous

stimuli can be influenced by the opinion of others. Sherif

20 (1937) asked participants to watch a small light in a dark

and featureless room and evaluate how much that light

moved around. In actuality, however, the light never

moved at all – but the way our perception works in that

situation gives the possible illusion of movement (called

25 the Autokinetic Effect). In this uncertain and ambiguous

perceptual situation, Sherif (1937) found that individuals

were quite susceptible to the influence of the opinions of

others when trying to decide how much light was

“moving”.

30 ___ Unfortunately, this phenomenon also extends toUnfortunately, this phenomenon also extends to

individuals following the crowd, even when they can

clearly see that others are wrong. This was first

evaluated by Asch (1955), who asked participants to

pick a line from a few choices of varying lengths that

35 matched up with another example line given to them.

From a perceptual standpoint, the task was easy – as

the correct choice of which lines were actually similar to

one another was clear. Nevertheless, when participants

were surrounded by other individuals giving the wrong

40 answer, they often conformed and made the wrong

choice as well. Thus, even when the correct choice is

clear, and what others are doing is wrong, that peer

pressure can still cause us to doubt ourselves and follow

the crowd.

45 ___ Why is it that we are so compelled to follow theWhy is it that we are so compelled to follow the

crowd, even when it is objectively clear that they are

wrong? According to more recent research, we may

simply be wired that way. Specifically, these social

influences can actually change our perceptions and

50 memories (Edelson, Sharot, Dolan, & Dudai, 2011).

Therefore, rather than knowingly making the wrong

choice just to conform to peer pressure, the influence of

others may actually change what we see as the correct

choice in the moment and remember as the right thing

55 after the fact. Beyond that, we might just have “herding

brains” with built-in components that monitor our social

alignments and make us feel good when we follow the

crowd too (Shamay-Tsoory, Saporta, Marton-Alper, &

Gvirts, 2019).

60 ___ Fortunately, this effect has good points as well. InFortunately, this effect has good points as well. In

many cases, group decision-making can help individuals

look beyond their own private perspectives and make

more rational decisions (Fahr & Irlenbusch, 2011).

Furthermore, pro-social and altruistic behaviors can be

65 influenced and shared through such conformity as well

(Nook, Ong, Morelli, Mitchell, & Zaki, 2016). Therefore,

sometimes following the crowd helps people get along

and make better decisions too.

Given the above, when making a decision, it is

70 important to consider whether following others is a good

idea – or is leading you astray instead. Some simple

steps can help you figure it out.

Getting swept away by what everyone else is

doing is often an emotional and thoughtless process. We

75 are conforming simply because we have not given

sufficient attention and effort toward considering any

other options. Therefore, unless you are in an

emergency situation and need to immediately follow

everyone else toward the nearest exit, it might be a good

80 idea to switch to more deliberate thinking processes,

rather than just going with your initial reaction.

Some choices and decision-making situations

are more individual, while others are more social.

Therefore, it is important to consider the specific

85 situation. Is this an individual choice, or does it involve

others? If you have sufficient information to make a clear

choice on your own, and you do not need group

approval, then you might want to make up your own

mind. If you are personally unsure, or you need the

90 support of others to make something happen, then

taking the opinion of others into consideration might be a

good idea instead.

It is generally a good idea to evaluate your

choices and decisions from multiple perspectives. The

95 same is true for following the opinion of others too.

Although it might not feel that way at times, especially in

the modern day of media coverage and social

networking, everyone is not doing it – whatever “it” is

that you are considering. Given that, before you follow

100 the advice or choices of any particular group of people, it

might be a good idea to look at what other groups of

people are doing or choosing too. In addition, we can

learn a lot from people making choices contrary to

ourselves or our preferred group, particularly about

105 potential down-sides to choices we might not be seeing.

Therefore, if you do need to look to others to help

provide information regarding a particular choice or

decision, then it might help to seek out people with a few

different opinions, weigh your options among them, and

110 figure out what will work best for you.

(Adapted from https://www.psychologytoday.com. Access on March 25^th, 2021)

Mark the option that makes an appropriate title for the text.