Many studies have put forward arguments that the state of mind of a normal person can be easily altered following the underlying scenario in which the individual is subjected (Dittmann 68). Human beings tend to behave differently to enable their survival within a group of people or in society. Flexibility and the need to convince oneself of the circumstances usually lure the most trusted and dignified people into carrying out unimaginable missions.
Situations at hand normally play a significant role in influencing the overall action and behavior of the people immersed in the given condition. According to the article, it is noted that experimentation on the students’ prison had to be terminated after few days following changes in the behavior of the self-volunteered student guards. Accumulated pressure from the experimental team to the prison guards may have caused the sudden change that made the students brutalize the jailed fellows assuming they were controlling their behavior, which is not the case.
Restrictive measures and lack of involvement in other activities in places of operation makes the individuals’ experience increased boredom and raising stress levels that counter their judgment ability. When people are confined in a place, it is possible for them to lose focus and start acting and treating one another inhumanly, especially the juniors. In most correctional facilities, cases of inmates’ sexual assaults by correctional officers have been reported. The change of behavior is brought about by limited freedom.
In workplaces, employees are always following the orders of the managers in charge. They portray obedience to the authority, and therefore, they tend to execute all the commands without questioning the authority. Being that workers are given directions on what to do, they feel less responsible for the actions they do and thus can transform from doing the good thing to bad without much concern. Complying with the power changes the criteria of human response.
Additionally, the society set up also promotes the possibility of people changing from doing good to bad things. There is always a winner when it comes to competition, and everyone would do all kinds of unethical conduct just to succeed and secure the prize (Arli and Leo 121). In athletics competitions, most competitors have been using drug boosters to add more energy to win the completion. The aspect of one-winner influences participants to engage in bad actions.
Furthermore, having a particular area of focus would also result in to change of behavior. As the guards in prison, their primary focus is to maintain law and order within the facility. This perspective makes them possessed with ensuring the order is preserved, and whoever goes against it can be dehumanized. Concentration lowers their human nature and can make them forget the good part of their inner being. Moreover, insecurity forces also influence the actions of people. For example, in industry, a departmental manager can ignore ethical behavior and make unrealistic arrangements like hiring unqualified close relatives to be their eyes and ears around the company to get information on what is trending on the ground about them.
Similarly, the group factor enhances the evil practices among the people. Based on the article, when soldiers are in large numbers and uniform, they intentionally act irrationally, knowing it will be difficult for the authority to pinpoint the exact officer involved in the gross misconduct. The current situation determines the behavior of people. How can human adapt and train their minds to do good deeds irrespective of the condition around?
Work Cited
Arli, Denni, and Cheryl Leo. “Why do good people do bad things? The effect of ethical ideology, guilt proneness, and self-control on consumer ethics.” Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 2017.
Dittmann, Melissa. “What makes good people do bad things.” Monitor on Psychology, vol. 35, no. 9, 2004, p. 68.