(AFA - 2022 - Modelo A - Questo 4)TEXT When making

(AFA - 2022 - Modelo A - Questão 4)

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 had merit - at other times, it is simply
      peer pressure blinding us.

      The phenomenon of looking to other 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 good 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 at all - but the way our perception works in thar
      situation gives the possible ilusion 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 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 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. 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 that 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 the 
90  support of others to make something heppen, then 
      taking the opinion of other 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 on
      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 25th, 2021)

According to more recent research,