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Chapter 3
Human Relations
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HUMAN RELATION
Common goals
Group cohesiveness
Inter-relatedness of personality
Caring organizational policy
An effective communication system
Mutual trust and understanding in organizational culture
Motivation and greater human understanding
3. UNDERSTANDING SELF
We are not born with the understandings. At birth, we have no idea that we
are a separate being. Sociologists emphasize that we become aware of
ourselves as individuals through our participation in the social environment.
George Herbert Head (1964): The self represents the sum total of people's
conscious perception of their own identity as distinct from others. It is not a
static phenomenon, but continues to develop and change throughout our
lives.
Lewis (1993) described five aspects of the self that are the physical self, the
private self, the social self, the spiritual self, and the self-as defined-by others.
The physical self is composed of biographic details and the image of oneself,
the private self is the self that is not shown to others, the social self is that part
of the self that is shown to others, and the spiritual self is the aspect of the self
that searches for personal meaning and tries to make sense of what is
happening. The self-as-defined-by others is the way in which others see us.
4. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
The way men behave is largely determined by their relation to each other and
by their membership in groups. Culture also plays a central role in the
development of social behavior of an individual by determining the rituals,
traditions and values, way of talking or greeting to other, clothing, and many
more to add in the list. These rules and regulations that differ from one culture
to other explain why social behavior of a particular group of persons is distinct
from others.
4.2. Drives
Primary drives are related with biological system of our body such as hunger,
thirst, escape from pain, and sex. The biological drives are unlearned in
nature and rise from biological needs as a result of a biological mechanism
called homeostasis.
Secondary drives are psychosocial in nature such as anxiety, fear, desire for
approval, struggle for achievement, aggression, etc. These drives are not
related to physiological needs of a person and therefore do not arise from
imbalances in the harmony of internal functioning of the body. Rather, they
arise from sociopsychological needs and are acquired through social learning
as a result of one's interaction with the sociocultural environment. These
drives move an individual to act for the satisfaction of social and psychological
needs and to reinforce the behavior to be maintained and continued.
4.3. Incentives
4.3.1. Motivation
Motivation is derived from the Latin word “movere,” which means to “move” or
“to energize,” or “to activate.” It is a process that arouses energy or drive in
the individual to engage in an activity. The activity is aroused, fulfills the need,
and reduces the drive of tension.
Motivation is often used to refer to an individual's goals, needs, and intentions.
For example, when one is hungry, the need is food, and it induces drive.
When the food is searched and consumed, the hunger drive is reduced.
Concept of Motivation
The four components of motivation are need, drive, response, and goal. For
example, when you feel thirst, there is a need for water because your earlier
intake of water is consumed up. Thirst, a drive, will motivate you to search for
water. This drive caused you to respond with some action that, in this case,
will be looking for water and the actual drinking of water will become your
goal. Once you had reached your goal by drinking enough water, your
motivation to rummage around for water will vanish and your need for water
will be satisfied for the time being. When you become thirsty again, you will go
through the same motivation cycle again.
Virtually today, all scholars have their own concept of motivation and include
terms like motives, needs, wants, drives, wishes, etc. in defining motivation. In
order to understand the concept of motivation, we need to understand the
following terms:
Motives: Motive has been defined as “An inner state that energizes, activates
or moves a person and directs his behaviour towards goals achievement.”
According to Rosen Fox and Gregory, “motive is a readiness or disposition to
respond in some ways to a variety of situations.” It is restlessness, a lack, and
a force, which energizes the organism to do something to reduce restlessness
and to mitigate the force (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Concept of Motivation
Motivating: It is a term which implies that one person in the social context
induces another to engage in action by ensuring that a channel to satisfy the
motive becomes available and accessible to the individual. For example, in
school/college, a teacher stimulates and channelizes the student-nurse to
reach academic goal (Table 3.1).
Definition of Motivation
Motivation refers to the driving and pulling forces that result in persistent
behavior directed toward particular goals.
5. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
William James for the first time brought out the concept of instinct to explain
behavior and how and why we behave in a specific manner in a specific
situation, but the credit for developing it into a full- fledged theory goes to
William McDougall.
The theory proposes that all human behavior can be explained on the basis of
some instinct or may be accompanied by a specific emotional disposition. For
example, the instinct of escape is accompanied by the emotion of fear;
similarly, the instinct of combat is accompanied by anger, the instinct of
repulsion by the emotion of disgust, and so on. The theory further claims that
all behavioral acts that are essentially instinctive has three aspects: (a)
cognition (knowing), (b) affection (feeling or experiencing an emotion), and (c)
conation (doing or striving). For example, when a person sees a lion coming
toward him/her, he/she recognizes the danger (cognitive), experiences an
emotion of fear, and tries to run away (conation).
The theory of instinct has been a subject of great controversy and criticism by
sociologists and anthropologists who have emphasized that human is not
purely instinctive and his/her basic nature is not an animal nature. Therefore,
human behavior is not an instinctive behavior but is definitely shaped by the
forces of his/her social and cultural environment, which further explains why
behavior of two individuals is not the same at a given time for the same
instinct.
Researches done in the field of cognitive ability have clearly revealed that
behavior in which the higher intellectual faculties (thinking, reasoning, and
problem-solving behavior) are involved cannot be explained in terms of
instinctive behavior.
In spite of all the criticism leveled against it, the instinctive theory as a theory
of motivation has not altogether lost ground and is still regarded as an
important theory to explain the why-and-how of human behavior.
This theory is also supported by other psychologists, and its sphere was
broadened by including the psychological drives in it. However, the theory
failed to explain human behavior especially at the higher cognitive level, which
reduced its importance as a major motivational theory.
Besides the life and death instincts and the sexual urge, the unconscious is
also a great determinant and activating force for the cause and operation of
one's behavior. Man, as Freud maintains, is a puppet in the hands of the
mighty unconscious dictates. Therefore, the key to the why-and-how of
behavior lies in the choices made by one's unconscious, which are usually the
gratification of sex or the seeking of pleasure.
Alfred Adler, a student of Freud, advocated that human beings are motivated
primarily by social urges not by sex urges only as advocated by Freud. For
maintaining one's social self, one requires a margin of safety besides simple
security in terms of protection from danger. This safety margin is achieved
through domination and superiority. In order not to feel inferior or small, one
strives or struggles for superiority. Therefore, the struggle for power,
achievement, and status or the will to dominate are really an outgrowth of the
fundamental need for security. Thus, the motivation of human behavior may
be endorsed through a single basic motive known as the security motive to
maintain one's social cell.
Pavlov, Watson, and B.F. Skinner were the great advocate of behaviorist
theory of motivation. They emphasized that many times our behavior is guided
through a simple stimulus response mechanism or operated through the
mechanism of classical or operant conditioning. Skinner's theory of operant
conditioning emphasized the role of reinforcement as a prime factor for the
motivation of behavior.
The physiological needs necessary for survival are at the bottom of the
structure, whereas distinctly psychological needs are at the top. Starting from
the satisfaction of the physiological needs, every individual strives for the
satisfaction of the other needs of a higher order. This striving for one or the
other level of needs provides the motivation for his/her behavior. A need that
has been satisfied can no longer act as motivating force. It ceases to be a
motivating force, and therefore the satisfaction of one need leads the
individual to try for the satisfaction of other needs. In other words, the
motivational behavior of a person is always dominated by his/her unsatisfied
wants, desires, and needs.
6. SOCIAL ATTITUDE
Beliefs are usually integrated with social attitudes (Rokeach, 1973) because
beliefs whether religious, economic, and political are strongly knotted with an
individual's opinions. For example, attitude toward AIDS is related with beliefs
about this disease. Thus, social attitudes create individual differences in
ideology within a society.
Nurses conduct health education and public awareness campaign and use
mass media so that the attitude of the society can be changed toward some
issues concerned with their health-related practices. For example, attitude of
the society can be changed toward female feticide, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
and leprosy. In a society, our social relationship involves an adjustment of
attitudes with each other. A person changes his/her attitudes to adjust
himself/herself with other individuals. Similarly, a person at a given time may
be a friend of the other while after some time he/she may turn into his/her
enemy.
Social attitudes reflect how a group of people or society reacts toward some
objects, situations, other social groups, and person. For example, the social
attitude of the typical Indian society is that nonvegetarian foods should not be
eaten by human beings, girls should not be sent to school for education, and
early marriage should be encouraged to prevent promiscuous sexual behavior
by the teenagers and adult.
Social attitude of a person is influenced by a number of factors (e.g., parents,
social groups, work group, peers, culture, ethnicity, IQ level, etc.). It begins to
develop in early childhood and that is why it is emphasized for the parents and
school teachers that they should “teach attitude first” to their children. Parents
are advised to be role model of the child because attitude is communicable
and contagious and the child develops attitudes toward a number of things by
observing the behavior of their parents. Similarly, health care professionals
and nurses should act as role model to develop the desired health care
attitude among the society or patients. For example, when the nurse show
caring attitude toward HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis patients, it changes the
attitude of other patients and family members toward these illnesses.
A group is collection of two or more people who have a relationship with each
other, are interdependent, may have common norms/purposes, and work face
to face on a task that require cooperation. Given below are definitions of a
group proposed by sociologists.
Ogburn and Nimkoff: “Whenever two or more individuals come together and
influence one another they may be said to constitute a social group.”
Cooley classified the social groups into primary and secondary group on the
basis of the kind of contacts group members have with each other.
Gidding classified the social groups into two types: genetic and congregate
group.
He classified social groups into three types on the basis of group structure:
involuntary, voluntary, and delegate groups.
Involuntary group: It is based on kinship such as the family. A man has no
choice to what family he will belong.
Voluntary group: It is one in which a man joins of his own wish. He agrees to
be a member of it and is free to withdraw at any time from its membership.
George Hasen classified social groups into four types on the basis of their
relations to other groups. Accordingly, social groups are classified into
unsocial group, pseudosocial group, antisocial group, and prosocial group.
Unsocial group: It is a group which largely lives for itself. Group members do
not participate in the larger society of which the group is a part. It does not mix
up with other groups and remains isolated from them.
Pseudosocial group: It participates in the larger social life but mainly for its
own gain and not for the greater good.
Antisocial group: It is the one that, acts against the interest of society. Group
members of the antisocial group are usually engaged in destructive tasks and
harm the civilized society. For example, any terrorist organization will be
considered as an antisocial group or a trade union, which gives a call for
national strike is antisocial.
8. GROUP DYNAMICS
There are two type of termination: termination of the group as a whole and
termination of the individual group members. A close group usually terminates
as an entire group,; whereas in an open and large group, members are
terminated separately. Evaluation usually focuses on the amount of
achievement of the groups’ individual goals. If terminated successfully,
members may feel a sense of resolution about the group experience and use
these experiences in many other life situations (Table 3.3).
It is the degree to which the members are attracted to the group and wish to
retain its membership.
Small groups are thought to be more effective. Large groups may waste
more time in any decision making.
Increasing the size of the group results in decreased satisfaction among
the members.
Homogeneous groups tend to function more harmoniously.
Leaders: To lead the group and set directions for group work.
Encourager: To encourage the group members and have positive
influence on the group to achieve the desired goal.
Harmonizer: To harmonize the group work.
Conflict manager: To minimize or manage conflicts among the group
members.
Gatekeeper: To determine level of group acceptance of individual
members.
Rule maker: To set standards of group behaviors (such as time and
dress).
Problem solver: To solve problems to allow group to continue its work.
Facilitator: To keep group focused on the topic under discussion or on
the aims of the group.
Summarizer: To state current position of group and to make summary of
group work.
Evaluator: To assess performance of group
Initiator: To begin group discussion
Seducer: To maintain distance and gain personal attention
Complainer: To discourage positive work and vent anger
Moralist: To serve as judge of right and wrong
9. TEAMWORK
Team can be build from work groups to discuss and resolve work-related
issues. Teams should have common laid down objectives, team leaders with
carefully circumscribed authority, and the rules of procedure. Teams are
successful because they pool interpersonal skills, knowledge, and the
expertise needed to accomplish goals effectively and efficiently. Teamwork
achieves personal recognition, raises self-esteem, and increases motivation
and commitment toward work. It is stimulated by trust, support,
acknowledgement, communication, and agreement among team members.
The nurse works as a part of health team for the management of the patient;
therefore, she must be well acquainted with how to work in a team.
In order to be a successful health team member, the nurse has to initiate and
maintain social and professional relationship with the multiple health team
members. Everyone has interpersonal need for acceptance, inclusion,
identity, affection, and achievement. Communication in such relationships
should be geared toward team building, facilitating group process,
collaboration, consultant, delegation, supervision, leadership, and
management. A variety of communication skills are needed including
presentational speaking persuasion, group problem solving, providing
performance reviews, etc.
Both social and therapeutic interactions are needed between the nurse and
health team members to build morale and strengthen relationships within the
work setting. Nurses need friendship support, guidance, and encouragement
from one another to cope with many stressors imposed by the nursing role
and also to build positive relationships with colleagues and coworker.
EVALUATE YOURSELF
Q 7: Explain briefly the stages of group development and what are the
strategies of improving group functioning (BFUHS, 2008).
REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS
Don’t always find faults in others. No two individuals are alike. The other
person might not be as intelligent or as educated as you are, try your level
best to adjust with him. Adjustment does not mean accepting any wrong
things, rather it is compromising sometimes.
Sam and Sara were team members and sat at adjacent workstations. Sam
had a habit of constantly chatting over the phone with his friends and family,
which sometimes irritated Sara.
Case - 1 Sara always thought that Sam did it intentionally to disturb her. She
fought with Sam terribly and now has strained relationship with her team
member.
Case - 2 Sara spoke to Sam about her displeasure, convinced him and
requested him to either speak a little low or go outside for attending calls. Now
a days Sara and Sam are best of friends and together they contribute
effectively to their team’s targets.
One should not be too rigid or adamant. Be a little more flexible. Don’t
always assume that the other person is wrong and only you are correct. You
may be wrong sometimes. Listen to what the other person has to say and
then only come to a conclusion. Don’t take any decisions with a blocked mind.
One should be forgiving. If your boss is angry with you over something, do
take the initiative and say a sorry to him. A simple “Sorry” can actually do
wonders. If you do not have the courage to talk to him, send him a sms.
Saying sorry will not lower your self-esteem, instead it would strengthen the
bond between you and your superior.
One should never backstab anyone just for the sake of a mere promotion or
some money. It is unethical. Human relationships are more important and
should be valued.
Don’t carry your ego to work. Everyone is equal at workplace. Respect one
and all as everyone is an employee just like you. Don’t treat anyone as
untouchables.
One should always keep his personal life separate from his professional
affairs. Don’t drag your personal tensions to work. Try to keep a balance
between the two. You cannot afford to ill-treat your colleague just because
you had a fight with your spouse the previous night. Your fellow team
members have nothing to do with it. Learn to enjoy life. One should always
look at the brighter side of life.
Treat your colleagues as your friends. Give them time and try to mingle
with them as much as you can. Go out together for shopping or for a movie
once in a while. You will feel attached to them. The trust factor and the
comfort level increases.
Remember there is always some light at the end of a dark tunnel. Never lose
hope in life. Stay positive, be good to others and enjoy a healthy relation with
one and all.
Personality also affects our ability to interact with others, which can impact our
career success. In a 2009 studyAngelina R. Sutin and Paul T. Costa,
“Personality and Career Success,” European Journal of Personality 23, no. 2
(March 2009): 71–84. by Angelina Sutin et al., it was found that the
personality characteristic of neuroticism (a tendency to experience negative
emotional states) had more effect than any personality characteristic on
determining future career success. In other words, those with positive and
hopeful personalities tend to be rewarded through career success later in life.
Figure 1.1
Our values help determine our personality. Our values are those things we
find most important to us. For example, if your value is calmness and peace,
your personality would show this in many possible ways. You might prefer to
have a few close friends and avoid going to a nightclub on Saturday nights.
You might choose a less stressful career path, and you might find it
challenging to work in a place where frequent conflict occurs.
We often find ourselves in situations where our values do not coincide with
someone we are working with. For example, if Alison’s main value is
connection, this may come out in a warm communication style with coworkers
and an interest in their personal lives. Imagine Alison works with Tyler, whose
core value is efficiency. Because of Tyler’s focus, he may find it a waste of
time to make small talk with colleagues. When Alison approaches Tyler and
asks about his weekend, she may feel offended or upset when he brushes her
off to ask about the project they are working on together. She feels like a
connection wasn’t made, and he feels like she isn’t efficient. Understanding
our own values as well as the values of others can greatly help us become
better communicators.
Examples of Values
What are your top five values? How do you think this affects your personality?
Accomplishment,
Ease of use Meaning Results-oriented
success
Accountability Efficiency Justice Rule of law
Accuracy Enjoyment Kindness Safety
Adventure Equality Knowledge Satisfying others
All for one & one for
Excellence Leadership Security
all
Beauty Fairness Love, romance Self-givingness
Calm, quietude, peace Faith Loyalty Self-reliance
Challenge Faithfulness Maximum utilization Self-thinking
Intensity (of time,
Change Family Sensitivity
resources)
Service (to others,
Charity Family feeling Merit
society)
Cleanliness,
Flair Money Simplicity
orderliness
Collaboration Freedom, liberty Oneness Skill
Commitment Friendship Openness Solving problems
Other’s point of view,
Communication Fun Speed
inputs
Spirit, spirituality in
Community Generosity Patriotism
life
Competence Gentleness Peace, nonviolence Stability
Competition Global view Perfection Standardization
Concern for others Goodwill Personal growth Status
Connection Goodness Perseverance Strength
Content over form Gratitude Pleasure A will to perform
Continuous
Hard work Power Success, achievement
improvement
Cooperation Happiness Practicality Systemization
Coordination Harmony Preservation Teamwork
Creativity Health Privacy Timeliness
Customer satisfaction Honor Progress Tolerance
Decisiveness Human-centered Prosperity, wealth Tradition
Determination Improvement Punctuality Tranquility
Delight of being, joy Independence Quality of work Trust
Democracy Individuality Regularity Truth
Inner peace, calm,
Discipline Reliability Unity
quietude
Discovery Innovation Resourcefulness Variety
Diversity Integrity Respect for others Well-being
Dynamism Intelligence Responsiveness Wisdom
Source: http://www.gurusoftware.com/GuruNet/Personal/Topics/Values.htm
The important thing to remember about attitudes is that they can change over
time, but usually some sort of positive experience needs to occur for our
attitudes to change dramatically for the better. We also have control of our
attitude in our thoughts. If we constantly stream negative thoughts, it is likely
we may become a negative person.
Reams are written about improving your attitude; not so when it comes to
defining that thing you’re trying to improve. In this checklist, we’re going to fix
that.
Though there are many ways to define attitude, I find the three checkpoints
below to be the most helpful. They make it clear not only what your attitude is
made of but also how it affects what you do.
For me, I expected good things. Someone with a more negative bent—at least
in relation to traveling—would predict rough times ahead.
The second piece of your attitude is the way in which you gauge progress. Do
you notice what is going wrong? Going well? Somewhere in between?
I went to dinner the other night with a few friends. I’m always on the lookout
for stories to use on the site, so when they started to comment on the place, I
was drawn in. One friend noticed how noisy the restaurant was, how grumpy
the waiter seemed, and how bad the food tasted.
On the heels of this cheery testimonial, the friend sitting next to me said she
loved the atmosphere, the style of the tables, and her dinner. Two attitudes
looking for very different things.
The last role your attitude plays happens at the end of a situation or
experience. At this point, your attitude affects the way you sum things up.
I was watching a competition-based reality show the other night and, when
two people were sent home, they were given the chance to talk to the camera
one last time.
They were asked what they would take away from the experience. The first
reflected on the friendships he had made and the good times he had had. The
second was angry and vengeful. To her, the experience was a waste of time.
Attitude strikes again.
Reprinted with permission: Motivation123.com. Get hundreds of simple
motivation tips, along with your free Motivation123 Welcome Kit, at the
Motivation123.com website. Visit http://www.motivation123.com today.
As Note 1.19 "Changing Your Attitude" points out, our attitude is ultimately
about how we set our expectations; how we handle the situation when our
expectations are not met; and finally, how we sum up an experience, person,
or situation. When we focus on improving our attitude on a daily basis, we get
used to thinking positively and our entire personality can change. It goes
without saying that employers prefer to hire and promote someone with a
positive attitude as opposed to a negative one. Other tips for improving
attitude include the following:Richard Whitaker, “Improving Your Attitude,”
Biznick, September 2, 2008, accessed February 3,
2012, http://biznik.com/articles/improving-your-attitude
1. When you wake up in the morning, decide you are going to have an
excellent day. By having this attitude, it is less likely you may feel
disappointed when small things do not go your way.
2. Be conscious of your negative thoughts. Keep a journal of negative
thoughts. Upon reviewing them, analyze why you had a negative
thought about a specific situation.
3. Try to avoid negative thinking. Think of a stop sign in your mind that
stops you when you have negative thoughts. Try to turn those thoughts
into positive ones. For example, instead of saying, “I am terrible in
math,” say, “I didn’t do well on that test. It just means I will study harder
next time.”
4. Spend time with positive people. All of us likely have a friend who
always seems to be negative or a coworker who constantly complains.
People like this can negatively affect our attitude, too, so steering clear
when possible, or limiting the interaction time, is a great way to keep a
positive attitude intact.
5. Spend time in a comfortable physical environment. If your mattress isn’t
comfortable and you aren’t getting enough sleep, it is more difficult to
have a positive attitude! Or if the light in your office is too dark, it might
be more difficult to feel positive about the day. Look around and
examine your physical space. Does it match the mental frame of mind
you want to be in?
Now, count the number of true and false answers. The more false answers
you have, the better attitude you tend to have. If you have many true answers,
what are some ways to help you change to a more positive attitude?
When considering our personality, values, and attitudes, we can begin to get
the bigger picture of who we are and how our experiences affect how we
behave at work and in our personal lives. It is a good idea to reflect often on
what aspects of our personality are working well and which we might like to
change. With self-awareness (discussed further in Chapter 2 "Achieve
Personal Success"), we can make changes that eventually result in better
human relations.
Why Human Relations?