behaviour

Psychology

2022

We explain what behavior is, its differences with behavior and the types that exist. Also, animal behavior.

The behavior is not always conscious and voluntary.

What is behavior?

Behavior is normally understood to be the way in which a living being It responds to stimuli from its environment, whether it does so consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, proportionate or not.

In everyday speech, this term usually implies a more or less permanent or defining condition, that is, an individual has a behavior or a certain way of behaving, and we usually expect that it will always be more or less the same way.

However, behavior is actually influenced by various mediate or immediate factors, of the genetic, social, cultural, psychological, economic and affective order.

Depending on the specific perspective from which behavior is studied or analyzed, we will have more or less specialized definitions of it, coming from the psychology, statistics, politics, the biology, etc.

In each case, an attempt is made to understand the set of evident patterns of the behavior of individuals, as a way of understanding their motivations, your wishes, your characteristics.

Behavior and conduct

Depending on the approach employed, the terms behavior and conduct may or may not be synonyms. In principle, the word "conduct" comes from Latin with- ("Next to") and ducere ("guide"). So in its original sense it implies that individuals act motivated or guided by something specific, internal or external, that takes place in the moment.

"Behavior" is a term used in biology, trying to understand how animals thought, and then borrowed from psychology.

On the other hand, when thinking about behavior, the total of the individual's behaviors is usually covered, that is, it is a much more general concept, which encompasses the observable aspects of the individual's mode of action (again, his behavior), and those unobservable aspects, such as mental or emotional ones.

In short: the behavior encompasses all the behaviors of an individual.

Behavior types

Compliant behavior involves great attention to detail.

According to certain theories of social psychology, there are four different types of behavior, whose initials make up the mnemonic word "disc" (in English). These are:

  • Dominant. Typical of people who often take the initiative, who know what they want and where they want to go. They assume active roles, sometimes even aggressive, oriented more towards results and towards the “what”, than towards the “how”.
  • Influential. Behavior very focused on relationships, so the concepts of empathy, openness and influence are central. Influencers build links easily and can demonstrate great capacity for success. leadershipSo they tend to surround themselves with people and be very “popular”.
  • Stable. A calm, gentle demeanor that places great importance on security own and therefore tends to play a passive role in most situations. They may appear shy, insecure, and focus much more on the "how" than the "what."
  • Compliant. Perfectionist behavior, with enormous capacity to contemplate details, typical of observant, methodical and analytical people, who can be perceived as "cold" by others, since they are not usually guided by their internal or emotional life.

Animal behavior

Ethology is the discipline that studies the behavior of animals. It is a branch of biology and experimental psychology, which tries to perceive the behavioral changes of living beings in their habitats or in different environments.

It focuses especially on concepts such as instinct, behavior, social life, mating, etc. Such an approach may or may not include Humans, considered for these purposes as an animal species.

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