HOW HARDWIRED IS HUMAN BEHAVIOR?

Presentation By Divya Agarwal Shreya Raj Simanta Bharali Sourav Mandal Tirthankar Shom

HARDWIRED??
Is

there a certain pattern of behavior which all or most humans follow? Can we predict how people will react to various situations?

The answer is - Yes!

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
Evolution

- any change across successive generations in the inherited characteristics of living things Psychology - the study of the mind, occurring partly via the study of behavior Evolutionary psychology - study of human behavior as the output of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.

NATURAL SELECTION
Key

mechanism of evolution by which gradually the desirable biological traits are passed on to coming generations while nondesirable traits are removed 2 types Environmental selection species having faulty genes do not survive long enough to reproduce Sexual selection faulty or weak species are unattractive, hence less likely to reproduce

EVOLUTION OF HUMAN MIND

The

first two-legged hominids emerged approximately 4 million years ago Of the various species, only Homo Sapiens survived Homo Sapiens had larger brain size as compared to other species which helped them survive the unpredictable environment of Africas vast Savanna Plains

 Gradually,

more traits developed which helped human beings survive as clan living hunterforagers. Invention of agriculture around 10000 years ago. This allowed people to accumulate wealth, live in large numbers and in greater concentrations Since then, not much psychological evolution has happened

HOW CAN MANAGERS USE KNOWLEDGE OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

behavior is still driven by the circuits laid down during Stone Age Certain inborn traits are relevant to people trying to manage companies Evolutionary psychology sheds light on how human beings think and feel and how they relate to one another
Our

THINKING AND FEELING

EMOTIONS BEFORE REASONS

- PEOPLE USE EMOTIONS AS THE FIRST
SCREEN

FOR ALL INFORMATION RECEIVED

Lesson

for managers: recognize that people hear bad news first and loudest, even when the majority of the news is good. be careful of who is in charge of the organizations performance appraisal system.

LOSS AVERSION EXCEPT WHEN THREATENED

- AVOID RISKY SITUATIONS WHEN
FEELING RELATIVELY SECURE AND
TO FIGHT FRANTICALLY WHEN FEELING THREATENED
Lesson

for managers: understand that people will resist change except when they are dissatisfied. realize that people will act and think creatively when given space, safety, and support.

CONFIDENCE BEFORE REALISM

- FEEL MORE SELF-CONFIDENT THAN
REALITY JUSTIFIES

Lesson

for Managers: routinely question whether they or their employees are understating the difficulty of work-related challenges.

CLASSIFICATION BEFORE CALCULUS

-QUICKLY CLASSIFY PEOPLE, SITUATIONS, AND
EXPERIENCES INTO CATEGORIES GOOD OR BAD, IN OR OUTRATHER THAN ENGAGE IN TIME-CONSUMING AND NUANCED ANALYSIS

Lesson

for Managers: be careful that the interview process has controls for objective judgment. realize that mixing disparate functions or teams means having to overcome a deep-rooted human propensity to stereotype strangers.

GOSSIP

Lesson

for Managers: not waste time trying to eradicate rumors. Plug into the grapevine and make sure it stays healthy, not malicious.

EMPATHY AND MIND READING

-KEY SKILLS FOR GOSSIP

-PEOPLE ARE PROGRAMMED FOR

FRIENDLINESS

Lesson for Managers: Empathy and friendliness creates positive work atmosphere These traits can impair our judgement of other people, hence employees (especially interviewers) should be trained heavily to avoid judgements based on their sympathies.