Numerous concerns about religiosity, political orientation, age, gender, and other coverable were investigated in these experiments. Researchers concluded that individuals would adopt the feelings of a group to strengthen their sense of belonging to that unit.
Individuals are said to be conforming when they alter their behavioral responses to be more in line with an anticipated pattern. In a social group, a majority of individuals are likely to conform to the point of view that they do not necessarily find true personally, but they find appealing to the majority in the group. Either a need for social acceptability or a need for correctness can serve as a driver of conformity. Individuals may search for the opinions of other individuals in their preferred grouping in order to collect and acknowledge reliable news and ideas around them. One is more likely to give a general opinion based on information they have collected prior about a subject or situation, which could be valid according to previous experiences but not necessarily accurate at the moment.
A bigger group size, consensus, strong collective efficacy, and the perception of the collective having a superior status are all associated with enhanced conformity. A person's prior awareness of popular sentiments can cause them to conform to the norms of society even when they are not directly linked with the group. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group that generally opposes the ruling government may find cause to dispute the regulations put in place to control the spread of the virus. This group may try to find fault in the ruling side and question the authenticity of the threat posed by the pandemic. Other individuals who identify with the opposition side are more likely to be inclined to this notion so that they may fulfill their need to belong to their chosen group.
The limbic system is the region of the brain that's able to account for both emotional and behavioral reactions. The limbic system assigns positive or negative labels to the range of feelings that humans go through, classifying them as either desirable or undesirable subjective experiences. The limbic system relies heavily on neurochemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline to function correctly. The hypothalamus is associated mainly with hormone secretion, sexual reaction, and thermoregulation control. It is also responsible for monitoring emotional responses. The amygdala is essential in coordinating the response to environmental factors that trigger emotional responses such as anger and fear. The amygdala is responsible for the associative links to situations that evoke feelings of fear. The pandemic brought about a lot of anguish and suffering to people all over the world. The presence of social media allows one to fully access all types of feed from people reacting to the pandemic worldwide. This double the fact that the pandemic impacted every corner of the world makes it ideal for the spread of mass hysteria. Because the epidemic is too closely associated with terror for some people, many people followed the rules enforced with remarkable thoroughness.
The research findings in the article are helpful in further study of motivated emotion regulation. This research proves that an individual need to belong in a group plays a role in shaping their emotional response to events and situations. (Porat et al., 2016) These findings are instrumental in the study of group-based emotions. Prior research in group thinking shows that similar emotions can be felt by a group of people which thus strengthens their bond. However, this research shows that these group emotions may be, in turn, motivated by the individual necessity to fit in the group. This sheds light on the processes that are involved in the rather complex study of group-based emotions.
Different people responded to the regulatory orders differently according to various factors, including their insecurities and biases and the more significant influence of the particular social groups they associate with. While others feared for their wellbeing, others took it as an opportunity to bond with their social-political grouping and create conflict with the ruling groups. However different the reactions were, each individual responded in a way that they assumed was ideal to fit their situations.
Reference
Porat, R., Halperin, E., Mannheim, I., & Tamir, M. (2016). Together we cry: Social motives and preferences for group-based sadness. Cognition and Emotion, 30(1), 66-79.
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