Abstract
Human interaction is subject to several variables that directly or indirectly affect the quality of human relations. However, such variables don’t uniformly affect all individuals in the same setting. Family relationships have been identified to be the primary influence of human interaction. Most individuals act out the quality of human interactions depicted in their families. This, therefore, means most people would interact with their external environment the same way they do with their families. Nevertheless, a few exceptions are to be considered. The environment to which people are exposed is a secondary influencer of human interactions. People observed to interact in non-inhibitive environments have been noted to enjoy better human interactions as opposed to those in inhibitive environments. This directly creates a psychological barrier to the expectations of most individuals in this type of environment. Such analysis is done concerning different demographical patterns existing in society. Human interaction is therefore noted to be subject to environmental expectations. The media is of great influence on the quality of human intimate interactions and verbal exchange. This has majorly been observed to have a great influence on young people as opposed to older people. Many teenagers have been observed to interact within the frameworks of human interaction depicted in social media. Social media however never had a great impact now as compared to previous decades. The invention of the television and popularity of magazines and graphic articles has been the greatest facilitator of media influence on human interactions. Social media, therefore, redefines the context in which humans interact within social settings. This study seeks to explore these factors in-depth.
Introduction
Common societal perspectives analyze people as a result of who they think they are and who others perceive them to be. Most people have been noted to live up to the beliefs of what people think about them or how society makes them think they should behave (Andreassi, 2007). Human interaction is a basic concept in human nature and the factors that define it are as important as a human character.
The factors known to affect human interaction haven’t always been consistent. Different individuals have therefore been noted to be affected by a varied number of factors. The factors that used to influence human behavior in the past are also not the same as those that affect people in recent decades. Factors like the media have been noted to have a great influence on human interaction as opposed to past decades. However, there have been traditional factors that have been proved universally to affect human interaction at almost all levels of society; for instance, the influence of family. However, most of these factors vary from individual to individual. Another determinant influencing the level of human interaction is age group and demographics. For example, children have been noted to interact differently from the way adults do. However, these influences are subject to a person’s environment. For example, individuals who have been put in different social settings have always been noted to interact differently across these environments. This can also be analyzed in terms of culture.
Some environments limit human interaction to some extent; for instance, conservative societies have been noted to have such kinds of attributes. This on occasion casts a dark shadow on research studies because some aspects of human interaction in such kinds of environments are considered taboo. Nonetheless, interactions in liberal environments provide a good basis for analysis of the factors that affect human interaction. Generally, human interaction is subject to several variables. This study will seek to identify the main variables and determine their extent in influencing human interaction.
Family Interaction
In all human interaction and behavioral tendencies, the family is considered the primary determinant, individuals are exposed to. The influences of family on human interaction stretch extensively on a person’s life. This practically means that a person’s interaction is defined from the time he/she is a child to adult life. However, different types of family settings provide different frameworks of human interaction. The quality of relationships among family members has also been noted to affect the way a person is to interact in the future.
Research studies have affirmed that most people replicate the quality of human interactions in their families to the environment they are exposed to. For example, individuals from families that have a good quality of human interaction say between the parents; children nurtured from this type of environment are bound to enjoy quality human interactions in the future. The opposite is however true because studies done on children from divorced families have depicted opposite results. Divorced families for example are likely to expose an individual right from childhood to detrimental human interaction behaviors, especially between the parents, which such children pick in the course of their childhood development. Such individuals have been noted to have poor quality relationships with other people and peers too. For example, children brought up in divorced families have been noted to be twice as agitated as children brought up in families that enjoy good parental interactions (Ronald, 1960).
It is therefore important to note that people are fine-tuned by the quality of family member interactions to reflect on their future human interactions. However, this is always not the case for all individuals. Just like most research studies, the analysis has been noted to be twofold. Some children who hail from families with poor interaction have been noted to develop the best human interactions in the future. This is because such people try to be as different as possible from their parents. Such individuals rebel from their families and are primarily motivated to act differently from their families (Ronald, 1960).
Environment
The environment to which a person is exposed is a secondary influence on human interaction. This is usually analyzed in terms of human demographics like educational strata, gender variables, and the likes. For example, people from different social settings are known to interact differently. In India, people from high castes are known to have a different human interaction as opposed to people from lower castes. This is primarily defined by the environment to which they are exposed (Ronald, 1960).
Most people have therefore been noted to adjust their interactions to the way their environment expects them to. In schools, for example, human interactions are observed to be much free and non-inhibited as opposed to workplaces where colleagues interact at different departmental levels or any other measure of segregation that exists in the workplace. The human interactions in a school setting are noted to be improved because people are exposed to a uniform environment where most inhabitants are the same. This uniformity, therefore, facilitates human interaction to non-inhibited levels because the inhabitants feel equal to each other. The opposite would however be true when compared to a workplace environment. For instance, the sweepers or storekeepers would not be expected to interact the same way as the company directors. This is primarily caused by the environment in which they operate and the societal expectation between the two groups. Most often, lower-level employees are expected to interact within a given sphere of interactions and higher-ranking employees are also expected to interact in their distinct way. This kind of environment is not uniform when compared to a school setting where students interact freely. However, this analysis is limited to interactions in the environment only as a variable for human interaction (Urdang, 2002).
Media
Up until the 21st century, the media never had much influence on human interaction, however, with the invention of television and celebrity-hood, human interaction has been greatly affected. Most people especially teenagers interact according to the way the media portrays human interactions. This can be analyzed in terms of intimate human relationships or languages. People have been noted to adapt to languages that are normally used in movies or lyrics.
This comes out of the fact that frequent exposure to such media content either from magazines, movies, songs, or any other media forum influences the subconscious minds at cognitive levels such that human interactions are a replica of what is portrayed in the media. Teenage interactions are especially greatly built along with human interactions in popular television shows. The frequent attribution of casual intimate relationships and use of derogatory language have been observed in most teens as a direct result of media portrayal. Orientation to these media material, therefore, redefines human interactions to the extent portrayed on mainstream media.
Conclusion
Human interaction is subject to variable elements that primarily affect the level at which humans interact in day-to-day life. The family is at the very bedrock from which the quality of human interactions is built from. People have been noted to replicate the quality of human interactions from their families or act to the contrary. However, the media has been noted to be a redefining zone of human interactions especially among the young with a focus on language and intimate relationships. Nonetheless, the environment also plays a big role in defining human interactions because most people adjust to their primary or secondary environments. However, such influences are not static and change depending on the environment a person is exposed to. The study of human interaction is therefore an important factor in understanding human relationships.
References
- Andreassi, J. (2007). Psychophysiology: Human Behavior and Physiological Response. California: Routledge.
- Ronald, K. (1960). Social Influences on Human Behavior. South African: South African Broadcasting Corp.
- Urdang, E. (2002). Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Interweaving the Inner and Outer Worlds. California: Routledge.