So How DOES The Environment Affect Our Behavior?

Source:mostlyfalse

I researched the economic principles that people generally respond to incentives in predictable ways and that institutions are the "rules of the game" that influence choices. 

Overall, research shows that a more structured environment encourages us to be more efficient, being in an impoverished area causes us to act more cautiously, gender roles affect how males and females act and how they respond to different types of situations , and finally that being exposed to a certain type of behavior affects how people will behave themselves.

First, I researched how the environment that surrounds a person affects their behavior. I found that a cleaner, more put-together environment motivates a person to be “efficient and hard-working” (Blog Post 2). Yet when a person from a more privileged area enters a less privileged area, they tend to feel “a bit apprehensive and fearful” (Blog Post 2). These emotional responses affect their behaviors in different environments. Therefore proving the economic principle that people generally respond to incentives in predictable ways because when people enter an environment they are not used to or comfortable in, they respond with different behaviors.

Next, I researched how environments affect people positively and negatively. I found that “neural activity, gender, and social interactions shape our behavior” (Blog Post 3). Different environments can affect a person’s behavior positively or negatively based on their personal experiences. Nonetheless, society greatly impacts behavior, especially when comparing males and females. For example, when young boys are told not to do something, they do it. However, when little girls are told not to do something, they do not do it. In addition, the fathers of young boys are often “very, very scared if their little boy is showing any version of effeminate behaviors” (Blog Post 3). This proves that there is no such thing as “bad, criminal, lazy, brilliant people, thieves or racists,” (Blog Post 3) only people who are exposed to this kind of behavior. This demonstrates the economic principle that institutions are the “rules of the game” that influence choices because societal norms are the institutions that cause people to act or react a certain way, such as when a boy cries, reprimanding him.