Like many
people, I have been stunned by the recent disclosure of a range of
inappropriate behavior by some of our politicians in their youth. And probably like some of you, I have been
searching for reasons why.
Let's
start with the most obvious. It's all about
belonging to the tribe. For most of us
the need to belong is a driving force in our lives. We're hard wired that way. Here's a blog I wrote about it...
The
need to belong is so strong in fact, that in order to continue to belong to the
tribe, we are willing to engage in behavior that we would normally shun. Like lying.
Research shows that people will even go so far as to misidentify the
size of a line when there is peer pressure for them to do so. (Asch, 1955)
Check
out this segment of Brain Games to see it for yourself...
The
other part of the equation is age.
Research
shows that the human brain continues to mature during adolescence. Specifically
the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for things like
distinguishing good from bad and predicting the outcome of one's actions does
not fully develop until age 25.
(Arain,
M., Haque, M., Jonal, L., Mathur, P., Nel, W., Rais, A., Sandhu, R., Sharma,
S., 2013)
That
comes as no surprise to me based on my interactions with my students over the
past decade. But for people who don't
have much opportunity to interact with 20-something's this may be news.
I have
no reason to believe that politicians are any more likely to commit thoughtless
acts than are people who choose other professions, so I have to sadly conclude
that there are many people out there who fail to consider the feelings of
others when they act.
But
make no mistake about it. These are the
acts of children whose brains are not fully developed. So before we pass judgment on anyone, it
might be worth considering their subsequent actions as adults. We all grow up. And some of us change. So let's look a bit closer before we decide
how to react.
Asch,
S. (1955, October 19) Studies of
Independence and Conformity: I.A Minority of One Against a Unanimous
Majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied. Retrieved February 12, 2019, from http://psyc604.stasson.org/Asch1956.pdf
Arain,
M., Haque, M., Jonal, L., Mathur, P., Nel, W., Rais, A., Sandhu, R., Sharma, S.
(2013, April 3) Maturation of the
adolescent brain. nih.gov. Retrieved February
11, 2019, from
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