1. CH.1 UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN
NATURE
•Individual behaviour
•Concept of human behaviour
•Factors affecting individual behaviour
•The role of heredity
•The role of environment
by: Dr. Renu jain
2. (A)INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR
INTRODUCTION
Human skill is the ability to work well with other
people. A person with good human skills has a
high degree of self-awareness and a capacity for
understanding the feeling of others. People with
this skill are able to interact well with others,
engage in persuasive communications, deal
successfully with disagreements and conflicts,
and more.
3. CONCEPT OF HUMAN BEHVIOUR
Benjamin Lahey has listed 9 major psychological findings that best describe the nature of
human beings.
1. HUMAN BEINGS ARE BIOLOGICAL CREATURES: Our biological systems greatly
influence our behaviour. Hunger and thirst under the control of our body systems.
Emotions by the nervous system. Our biological puts limits on what we can do or
not. To overcome built planes to fly.
2. EVERY PERSON IS DIFERENT YET MUCH THE SAME: Every person is unique and
different due to hereditary factors as due to environmental ones. Despite these
similarities—our capacity to think, feel, remember and so on.
3. PEOPLE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD FULLY ONLY IN THE CONTEXT O THEIR CULTURE,
ETHNIC IDENTITY AND GENDER IDENTITY: Our beliefs, attitudes and behaviour are
shaped by the culture and ethnic group to which we are belong. Our behaviour is
influenced by awareness of the gender to which we belong.
4. HUMAN LIVES ARE IN A CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF CHANGE: Change continuously
from the time they are born till they die due to our biological nature, experiences in
life too contribute towards change.
5. BEHAVIOUR HAS MULTIPLE CAUSES: Due to many factors all influencing at the same
time. Behaviour may change from person to person and for the same person from
time to time.
4. 6. BEHAVIOUR IS MOTIVATED: not directionless empty boat in
an ocean. Most of our actions are intentional and
purposeful. For eg. We work to earn money for food,
clothing and shelter. The motives behind our actions may
vary from culture to culture and person to person.
7. HUMANS ARE SOCIAL ANIMAL: live in social groups—in the
company of others. work in groups for the mutual benefit
of all.
8. PEOPLE PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN CREATING THEIR
EXPERIENCES: Humans are active participants in
determining the direction of their lives. They seek
situations that will give them the kind of experiences. For
eg. Who like meetings new people go to parties and clubs.
9. BEHAVIOUR CAN BE ADAPTIVE OR MALADAPTIVE: We are
flexible creatures who discover ways and means of
adjusting to the demands of the situation.
Excessive aggression is harmful to others and us, due to
combination of biological and environmental factors. They
can , however be corrected.
5. • INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
• “Individual differences may be described as those differences that
distinguish one person from another person and makes that
person a unique individual in oneself.”
• Individual differences have been classified as primary and
secondary dimensions .
1. PRIMARY DIMENSION: Personal characteristics such as age,
gender, physical and mental ability have an important and
sustained impact throughout our lives. Some has powerful
influence like-cast. cast favouring attitude in org. It is more likely
to be associated with prejudices .it is important to other people.
They tend to be noticed.
2. SECONDARY DIMENSION: Characteristics that people acquire
throughout their lives. Like-family status, education, work
experience, organizational role, work style, communication style
and attitude.
6. FACTORS AFFECTING INDIVIDUAL
BEHVIOUR
According to John Ivancevich and Michael Mattson-
1.Abilities and skills: Ability is the physical capacity of an individual. Skill is the ability
to act in a way that allows a person to perform well.
It should be matched with the job requirement.
2.PERCEPTION: Every individual on the basis of his reference can organize and
interpret environment stimuli. Many factors that influence the perception. The study
of perception plays important role or the managers. It is important for managers to
create the favourable work environment so that employee perceive them in most
favourable way.
3.ATTITUDE: it can be defined as a tendency to respond favourably or unfavourably to
certain objects, persons or situations. Family, society, culture, peers and organizational
factors influence the formation of attitude.
Work environment should be favourable so employees form a positive attitude
towards their job.
4.PERSONALITY: Personality is the aggregate of a person’s feeling, thinking, behaviour
and response to different situations and people. heredity, environment, physical and
situational factors contribute to personality.
5. DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS: These are socio economic background, education,
nationality, race, age , sex etc. With good academic background, effective
communication skill, good socio-economic background and well educated, young etc.
as they are believed to be performing better than the others.
7. THE ROLE OF HEREDITY
Heredity refers to our biologically inherited
characteristics:
In simple words, heredity refers to those characteristics
that we get from our parents. Our physical characteristics
such as colour of skin, shape of the nose, colour of the
eyes are inherited from our parents . Besides influencing
our physical characteristics, heredity also influences our
behaviour.
Maturation reflects the unfolding of genetically
prescribed or preprogrammed patterns of behaviour.
Such as: walking and talking.
Many typical changes like grasping, sitting, crawling,
standing , walking are tied to the maturation of the body
and brain. However differ with regard to the rate and
timing o development.
8. THE ROLE OF ENVIRONEMENT
Environment consists of the society in which we are born and brought up.
PRENATAL ENVIRONMENT
1) Prenatal nourishment: Well nourished mothers bear healthier babies. mother with
inadequate diets are more likely to bear premature or low birth weight infant, underdeveloped
brain.
2) MATERNAL DRUG INTAKE: No medicine prescribed unless absolutely essential. Drinking
alcohol affect the growth of baby, slowed prenatal and postnatal growth, facial and bodily
malformations and disorders of the central nervous system. Smoking cause of poor fetus
growth, poor attention span, hyperacitivity, learning problems and poor IQ scores. Drug
addicted mothers have premature babies, restless, irritable, less responsive, weigh less child.
3) MATERNAL ILLNESS: Like german measules-cause to deafness and heart defects in the baby.
4) MEDICAL X-RAYS: Radiation can cause gene mutations, alter a gene, produce a new and
often harmful characteristic.
5) MATERNAL AGE:OLDER PREGNANT WOMAN-MISCARRIAGE, PREMTURE DELIVERY,
RETARDED FETAL GROWTH, STILL BIRTH AND BIRTH DEFECTS OVER 35.
6) ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: Chemicals, radiation, extremes of heat and humidity can affect
prenatal development. Nuclear radiation dangerous –mental retardation
7) PATERNAL FACTORS: Exposure to lead, tobacco, smoke, alcohol may result in production of
abnormal genes.
Association between nervous system tumours in children and the occupations of their father
such as electrical, miner.
9. POSTNATAL ENVIRONMENT
The external environment or social environment
1) FAMILY: The first social environment, where he comes into
contact with the parents and other members of the
family. Childs learns culturally appropriate ways of
behaviour and social roles including gender roles. The
child also learn skills which will enable him to get along
with others.
a) PARENT-CHILD RELTIONSHIP: Acceptance of the child-
positive self concept. Rejection of the child- bedwetting,
slow intellectual development. Over protection-fearful,
dependence and submissive.
b) ORDINAL POSITION(BIRTH ORDER): Eldest-responsible,
second- popular, youngest- spoilt, only child-introvert.
c) FAMILY LIFE PATTERNS: Need both his parents.One parent
families cannot meet all the physical and psychological
needs of the child.They donot get proper model ,needed
love and security.2 type of families-- In democratic
families-fearless, full of plans, high in leadership and
curious, authoritarian family- fearful and lack initiative.
10. 2) SCHOOL: It plays an important role in the development of his personality.
Childs learns how to get along with his peers, first real lesson of discipline, has to obey
the rules. A child who is accepted and admired by the group feels secure and self
confident.
School gives opportunity to excel in various fields like sports, dramatics, debating etc.
Teachers attitude, values, and enthusiasm influence the child’s personality.
3)PEER GROUP: influence of peers is strong during the adolescence years, spent more
time with friends. Clothes, language, mannerisms and his values are determined by his
friends.
4)CULTURE: Customs and ways of behaviour that are common to a society. Our food
habits, dressing styles, values, morals and behaviour are all influenced by our culture.
That’s why Indian different from Japanese.
NATURE VERSUS NURTURE DEBATE:
In reality , both heredity and the environment interact with each other to influence the
development of the individuals.
Some physical characteristics like eye colour and blood type are clearly inherited. But
more complex traits such as intelligence and personality are influenced by both
hereditary and environmental factors.
For eg. Intelligence has a strong hereditary component but parental situation and
education, have a strong influence on its development.
Genes may set a limit on how tall a person may grow. Environmental factors such as diet
and exercise will determine whether this limit is achieved or not.
An enriched environment is one that is favourable to development and accelerates
development. An impoverished environment is one that is unfavourable to development
and slow development.
