Lately, I’ve been thinking about what defines people. I am hesitant to say that behaviors completely define a person, yet they play a rather large part in it. I would be more than willing to say that our thoughts and attitudes define us, and then I remember some of my social psych classes and I rethink that idea.
One part attitude, one part thoughts, one part behaviors. That’s the best I could come up with. I don’t have anything particularly illuminating to add to this discussion. \
At least, not yet.
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March 3rd, 2010 at 11:45 am
What about how people react to things? That could partly define them…..your thoughts on that?
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I think that how we react to various events illustrates who we are. Our reactions show off how we really behave and can make us rethink our basic assumptions. For instance, I react to yelling in a variety of different ways. Sometimes I feel contrite, sometimes I’m pissed off. Sometimes–but very rarely–I let it roll off my back. Hell, sometimes I bust out laughing.
In short, I think our reactions can define us; however, I think they are more useful in getting us to think about ourselves.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 pm
I’m not being snide when I ask: What is attitude?
March 4th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Attitudes, if I remember right, are long held beliefs. It’s been a while since I looked up the definitions.
March 4th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Reactions are also key to other people’s understanding of us. They’re one of the more important ways we evaluate each other. The reaction is the external act, one which we may not always like or be able to control, but it is one of the most visible things about us.
March 4th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Oooh. That’s a brilliant observation.
March 6th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Well, my first response is still what I keep coming back to: if we’re talking about a means to define people in an objective sense, then aren’t we pretty much left with their actions? I realize this sounds behaviorist, but is there anything else we can really assess in order to evaluate them?