Answer question to according to the text.
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 has merit - at other times, it is simply
peer pressure blinding us.
The phenomenon of looking to others 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 god 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 around. In actuality, however, the light never
moved at all – but the way our perception works in that
situation gives the possible illusion 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 what 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 group
approval, then you might want to make up your own
mind. If you are personally unsure, or you need the
[90] support of others to make something happen, then
taking the opinion of others 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 in
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)
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