Children who have been adopted all over the world are witnesses to the fact that indeed social surroundings influence people. For curiosity’s sake, take a look at how one is influenced by their social surroundings.

It can easily be deduced that people are influenced by their social environment in much the same way that they learn. That is, the way the mind selects information and sifts through it to decide which facts or news it will keep and what the bits of information it maintains may be used for.

95 percent of learning is through the subconscious

The subconscious mind, as the word proclaims, is the silent partner (deep in silence) of the conscious mind. It does not say “do” it simply “is.” What you have learned effortlessly has come to be from the see, do and store mechanisms in the subconscious mind. In that same way, people are influenced whether it is that what they see or do and store, whatever they like or dislike.

Living in groups

Since the human being requires company to survive, the members of its group (family, friends and community) influence how one thinks and behaves. Initially, the individual has come of age by adapting and conforming to his/her surroundings as they are guided by parents or caretakers. It is only natural that this group be of similar thought and behavior. Should this not be the case, this same individual will either choose to stray away from this group or adapt to it.

This cannot be more evident than among immigrants. An immigrant either takes the decision to become a uniform part of their new society in every way or keeps the native traditions inside the home while complying with the new surroundings outside it.

In the first case, the immigrant is typically more assertive and is free of dilemmas. In the second case, however, when the immigrant is a child, it makes for obscure confusion. As the child slowly becomes an adult, it is more often than not the situation where this persona is torn within the mind and essentially cannot decide who they really are. Thus, being a part of two worlds, while it seems ideal in one sense, means that these social surroundings influence the person quite negatively.

Fear

Fear in a society perhaps has the strongest impact on people. As an emotion meant to uphold survival, today it has turned into a whip with which people are manipulated and harnessed. Fear of the future promotes anxiety and this in turn sparks certain behavior.

To start with, anxiety triggers certain reactions in the body such are a faster heart rate, weak muscles, lack of concentration (since the mind is overpowered by confusion as to how to act) and, among several other reactions, lack of appetite or binge eating.

These symptoms may even lead to depression or turn the mind against another group in the society labeled as the perpetrator for one’s state of illness. Such a situation is evident in Europe at present.

The German press rushed to point the finger at the “southern” countries of the European Union as the culprits of the economic crisis occurring for the past five years. In fact, it focused largely on Greece creating fear and anxiety in both the Germans and Greeks alike. Greek Germans experienced a great sense of uncertainty, embarrassment and some even became predisposed to hate their mother country and its people.

Of course, journalists of prestigious German magazines (such as German Focus) knew better than to “jump the gun” but it served a two-fold purpose. Initially, the articles sold and secondly a scapegoat was found. The entire world, especially the world market, was led to believe that Greece was responsible for the crisis instead of the actual reason which was capitalism.

In fact, it made it much easier to force the harshest of memorandums on the nation since the people themselves were made to feel guilty and fully responsible.

And perhaps it is time to take a better look at how governments are treating their citizens, thus influencing their behaviors. After all, a government to its nation is much like parents to their children. This is especially necessary in the United States since there is an unprecedented and largely unjustifiable rampage of children on the kill.

Peace of mind

It goes without saying that when those surroundings offer security and optimism, its citizens respond in a positive way. It helps those people to think productively for themselves and their society in general. 

Reflecting on how easily people are influenced, one can readily conclude that parents, teachers and generally the whole of society must be better aware of what is human nature and how it responds to various stimuli, especially the harmful kind.