Environments Affect People's Minds Positively and Negatively

Source: listgecko.com

The economic principle I’m exploring is people generally respond to incentives in predictable ways as well as Institutions are the "rules of the game" that influence choices. My research question to help me study the economic principle is “What kind of environments affect people’s minds positively and negatively?”

 The article/video/etc published in Mutual Responsibility titled “3 Ways The Environment Shapes Human Behavior” demonstrates this economic principle because it shows that neural activity, gender, and social interactions shape our behavior.

 First, the article explains that neural activity--which includes “electrical signals, that travel along the branches of neurons, and chemical signals, that jump across from branch to branch,”--encodes our “thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.” The article also claims that there is a plethora of evidence stating that “neural activity can cause your connections to change.” Therefore, everything you are and do “[is] a result of your environment.” Thus, your environment can positively or negatively impact your behavior, depending on your experiences.

 Second, society greatly impacts behavior, especially the behavior of males versus females. For example, studies have shown that “little boys who were told they’re not supposed to touch something[…]often will grab it and touch it, whereas a little girl can be given a verbal demand not to touch it.” Young boys are also “punished more frequently for transgressions” compared to young girls. They are told not to cry, but instead, “man-up.” The article states that “dads sometimes are very, very scared if their little boy is showing any version of effeminate behaviors.” These statistics only go to show that “There is no such thing as: bad, criminal, lazy, brilliant people, thieves or racists. Only people predisposed to such behavior. But if the environment doesn’t trigger them, the behavior never manifests.” In this case, people’s environments tend to have a negative effect on their behavior because it exposes them to behaviors such as racism and criminal activity. If people were never exposed to those things, they would never exist.

 Third, people who have lived their lives isolated from the rest of society and human contact are known as feral children. The article states that “feral children lack the basic social skills which are normally learned in the process of enculturation.” When humans are not socialized with the rest of society, they lack common, human behaviors. For example, “Oxana Malaya spent her life, living in a kennel, with dogs.” When she was discovered, she behaved like the animals. Therefore, when the environment around you behaves a certain way, that is how you will behave as well.

 In my next blog post I will research: To what extent is behavior controlled by the mind?