On why it is indispensable to differentiate subjective and objective behavior to study all aspects of human expression and interaction
The topic today is the central part of psychology - 'behavior'. psychology is very comfortable with the talk of behavior. In fact psychology is often defined as the 'science of behavior'. The main imagine for this dependence on behavior is that in order for any branch of knowledge to be determined scientific, we need 'proofs' and empirical or scientific evidence. The truth or reality is what you discover and considering this, behavior is the only 'observable' part of human activities so psychology, for a long time in order to be determined a science, has avoided discussions of the mind and focused on behavior. The mind is rather unknown and undefined and psychologists have opinion that it is safer to avoid the mind and focus only on behavior. However the significance of behavior was primarily highlighted by the behaviorists who recommend that psychology is nothing but the study of behavior.
Behaviorism in psychology became very beloved in the early 20th century and agreeing to the behaviorist, psychology is an objective branch of natural science with no role of the mind. agreeing to Behaviorists, all theories should necessarily have observational correlated processes, which indicate that all processes will have to be observed and that there is no divergence between secret and public observational processes which may be actions or feelings. This may sound a bit counterintuitive to all of us. We all consider psychology as the science of the mind rather than science of behavior However psychology has been largely influenced by behaviorism and definite scientific practices of observation, so the talk of mind has been avoided for a long time. It is only with Freud's analysis of human sexuality, and more recently with studies of consciousness, that psychology became more open about matters of the mind.
The study of behavior in psychology is thus intricately linked with the study of mind as well, as the behavior reflects anything goes on in the mind and behavior is plainly a manifestation of the mind. Let's say behavior can have an objective dimension of the personality and also a subjective dimension when linked with the mind as although our reasoning processes vary, our behaviors seem to have a inevitable acceptable 'core'. Thus one someone may get angry in a particular situation and another someone may not get angry agreeing to subjective differences, yet the behavior of an angry someone will be rather objective and acceptable as we all know that inevitable expressions represent anger. Thus there is objectivity in behavior which is why psychologists have tried to hold on to behavior for so long. We cry when we are sad, laugh when we are happy and thus there are acceptable behaviors or expressions of emotions which are universal across all humans and human societies. Yet the mind is complex and peculiarly individualistic and in order to communicate human behavior from a more specific individualistic viewpoint, we have to consider any other factors such as public influences, genetic variations, emotions, basic drives and urges, hormonal conditions, biological variations, personality and disorders.
Thus behavior can have two inevitable dimensions -
1. Objective Behavior - The more general behavior that can be universalized in the sense that inevitable behaviors and expressions are objective and tasteless across cultures and societies. So irrespective of our race or genes we all have tasteless behavioral manifestations and we all come to be irritated when things go wrong and feel happy when we win a game. We all cry or come to be distressed when we lose a loved one and express pleasure at something beautiful. There are inevitable expressions that are universal and tasteless and general across all human societies.
2. Subjective Behavior - Subjective Behavior is specific individualistic behavior and varies from one someone to another. This sort of behavior absolutely requires an comprehension of the role of the 'mind'. The mind is complex and largely specific and individualistic and no two minds are fully similar. Although our reactions and expressions to inevitable events and situations can be generalized and universalized, our thoughts and feelings are always unique and cannot be generalized in any way.
Considering these two divisions in behavior, the early behaviorists were indeed studying the science of objective behavior rather than subjective behavior. The psychoanalysts and all non-behaviorists for that matter are involved about subjective behavior or how subjective thoughts and feelings are manifested in behavior. Whereas objective behavior can be studied without considering the mind and by only considering inevitable established patterns of reactions and expressions, any analysis of subjective behavior will have to delve deeper into the mind and the wider complexities of thoughts and feelings. So let's say objective behavior is the tasteless or general factor 'g' in all humans and the subjective behavior is the specific or individualistic factor 's' that makes every human being so unique. The 'g' is stable or a constant and found in all humans but the 's' varies and shapes individuality or uniqueness.
Of course it is prominent to ask why the 's' factor varies between individuals and why is it that our specific or individual natures that finally shape our thoughts and our behaviors are so unique. The reasons are many and one of this is our biological variations, and differences in the brain. We have different cognitive abilities our brain and memory vary widely so a someone with very high brain will behave differently in a particular situation when compared with a someone having lower or median intelligence. Our subjective behavior is also guided or prompted by our past experiences and memory so if a someone had unpleasant experiences while traveling, he or she may show less enthusiasm for tour when compared with individuals who had great experiences. Similarly our studying and language abilities differ as also our genes and hormones so a someone with overactive hormonal changes may show more hyper-reactive or high strung behavior than inevitable others.
Our behavior is controlled by our brain and nervous system so if there are variations with drugs, hormonal changes or inevitable addictions there will be a lot of divergence in overt subjective behavior as well. An alcoholic or drug induced someone will take longer time to process data and this affects decision manufacture and subsequent behavior. public influences can also sway subjective behavior as you might get influenced by newspaper or media stories or even public interactions that tend to shape behavior in a inevitable way. For example, television programs and news stories as well as public interactions may make you feel overweight or underweight and resolve your food habits or public and personal behavior. finally psychological disorders and illnesses and changes in the brain can sway behavior significantly and for example an autistic individual or a psychotic would behave fully differently in a situation when compared with a general person.
The objective and subjective aspects of behavior are indeed understood when you correlate your own behavior with your partner's behavior. Both of you love each other and have a tasteless expression of love but agreeing to your subjective differences there will be differences in how you perceive your personal situation. finally each individual is socially, genetically, biologically, psychologically attuned to behave in a inevitable way to a inevitable situation, and genes vary and so do our public exposure and influences. On winning a lottery, you may feel highly elated like everyone else but you resolve not to show your happiness. Well, this is obviously subjective and here comes the trick in psychology that although we may feel the same, we plainly pick to behave differently just as we may behave in a same way although we can feel differently. This will obviously open up new debates on whether acceptable or general behavior, the 'g' factor is truly objective. considering the fact that humans have to understand each other's feelings and study these straight through behavior, the basic tasteless 'g' factor would be highly indispensable in decoding interpersonal behavior and this would be an indispensable component in prosperous communication and interaction across human societies. Thus in psychology it is indispensable to understand objective behavior as it helps to communicate and communicate with others and without an basic tasteless factor any human interaction is not possible. However it is also indispensable to understand human subjective behavior as it highlights all those peculiarities of thoughts and feelings which make every human being different and unique, a fact that is again considerably prominent in human society. We cannot do much without something in tasteless but will go nowhere if we have all in common.
The science of mind of Behavior
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