negative influence essay

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Are You Being Influenced or Manipulated?

• Ruchi Sinha

There is a thin line separating influence from manipulation. And while the difference may be nuanced, it’s in your best interest to understand these subtleties from the early stages of your careers.

• Influence is a neutral term indicating a person’s capacity to have an effect on another person. Simply put, influence is what can move or sway someone to a desired action. Influence on its own is neither negative nor positive. It is not designed to force or obligate the other person to follow.
• Manipulation has many negative connotations, including carrying out devious behaviors designed to exploit and control others. Typically, it’s about using emotional and psychological tactics to change or alter someone’s perception or behavior in an underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive way.
• Manipulators use various tactics  to change your perceptions of them or to get you to do things that may not be in your best interest. They may overtly nag or criticize you in order to cast self doubt. They might use praise and compliments to get you to accept responsibilities beyond your role. Some may make you feel inadequate and push you to do things their way by constantly comparing you to an “ideal” type. 
• To protect yourself from manipulators, deliberately observe the behavioral patterns that make you uncomfortable. When you’re confused or annoyed by someone’s behavior, take it as an emotional cue that you need to stop, deliberate, and rethink your relationship with that person.

Learn what signs to look out for.

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• Ruchi Sinha , PhD is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour  at the University of South Australia Business School, Adelaide, Australia. Her research explores how voice, conflict, and power dynamics influence work relationships and performance outcomes.

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Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet]. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services; 2023.

Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet].

Social media has both positive and negative impacts on children and adolescents.

The influence of social media on youth mental health is shaped by many complex factors, including, but not limited to, the amount of time children and adolescents spend on platforms, the type of content they consume or are otherwise exposed to, the activities and interactions social media affords, and the degree to which it disrupts activities that are essential for health like sleep and physical activity. 6 Importantly, different children and adolescents are affected by social media in different ways, based on their individual strengths and vulnerabilities, and based on cultural, historical, and socio-economic factors. 7 , 8 There is broad agreement among the scientific community that social media has the potential to both benefit and harm children and adolescents. 6 , 9

Brain development is a critical factor to consider when assessing the risk for harm. Adolescents, ages 10 to 19, are undergoing a highly sensitive period of brain development. 10 , 11 This is a period when risk-taking behaviors reach their peak, when well-being experiences the greatest fluctuations, and when mental health challenges such as depression typically emerge. 12 , 13 , 14 Furthermore, in early adolescence, when identities and sense of self-worth are forming, brain development is especially susceptible to social pressures, peer opinions, and peer comparison. 11 , 13 Frequent social media use may be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain in the amygdala (important for emotional learning and behavior) and the prefrontal cortex (important for impulse control, emotional regulation, and moderating social behavior), and could increase sensitivity to social rewards and punishments. 15 , 16 As such, adolescents may experience heightened emotional sensitivity to the communicative and interactive nature of social media. 16 Adolescent social media use is predictive of a subsequent decrease in life satisfaction for certain developmental stages including for girls 11–13 years old and boys 14–15 years old. 17 Because adolescence is a vulnerable period of brain development, social media exposure during this period warrants additional scrutiny.

• The Potential Benefits of Social Media Use Among Children and Adolescents

Social media can provide benefits for some youth by providing positive community and connection with others who share identities, abilities, and interests. It can provide access to important information and create a space for self-expression. 9 The ability to form and maintain friendships online and develop social connections are among the positive effects of social media use for youth. 18 , 19 These relationships can afford opportunities to have positive interactions with more diverse peer groups than are available to them offline and can provide important social support to youth. 18 The buffering effects against stress that online social support from peers may provide can be especially important for youth who are often marginalized, including racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minorities. 20 , 21 , 22 For example, studies have shown that social media may support the mental health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other youths by enabling peer connection, identity development and management, and social support. 23 Seven out of ten adolescent girls of color report encountering positive or identity-affirming content related to race across social media platforms. 24 A majority of adolescents report that social media helps them feel more accepted (58%), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67%), like they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives (80%). 25 In addition, research suggests that social media-based and other digitally-based mental health interventions may also be helpful for some children and adolescents by promoting help-seeking behaviors and serving as a gateway to initiating mental health care. 8 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29

• The Potential Harms of Social Media Use Among Children and Adolescents

Over the last decade, evidence has emerged identifying reasons for concern about the potential negative impact of social media on children and adolescents.

A longitudinal cohort study of U.S. adolescents aged 12–15 (n=6,595) that adjusted for baseline mental health status found that adolescents who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes including symptoms of depression and anxiety. 30

As of 2021, 8th and 10th graders now spend an average of 3.5 hours per day on social media. 31 In a unique natural experiment that leveraged the staggered introduction of a social media platform across U.S. colleges, the roll-out of the platform was associated with an increase in depression (9% over baseline) and anxiety (12% over baseline) among college-aged youth (n = 359,827 observations). 32 The study’s co-author also noted that when applied across the entirety of the U.S. college population, the introduction of the social media platform may have contributed to more than 300,000 new cases of depression. 32 , 33 If such sizable effects occurred in college-aged youth, these findings raise serious concerns about the risk of harm from social media exposure for children and adolescents who are at a more vulnerable stage of brain development.

Limits on the use of social media have resulted in mental health benefits for young adults and adults. A small, randomized controlled trial in college-aged youth found that limiting social media use to 30 minutes daily over three weeks led to significant improvements in depression severity. 34 This effect was particularly large for those with high baseline levels of depression who saw an improvement in depression scores by more than 35%. 35 Another randomized controlled trial among young adults and adults found that deactivation of a social media platform for four weeks improved subjective well-being (i.e., self-reported happiness, life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety) by about 25–40% of the effect of psychological interventions like self-help therapy, group training, and individual therapy. 36

In addition to these recent studies, correlational research on associations between social media use and mental health has indicated reason for concern and further investigation. These studies point to a higher relative concern of harm in adolescent girls and those already experiencing poor mental health, 37 , 38 , 39 as well as for particular health outcomes like cyberbullying-related depression, 40 body image and disordered eating behaviors, 41 and poor sleep quality linked to social media use. 42 For example, a study conducted among 14-year-olds (n = 10,904) found that greater social media use predicted poor sleep, online harassment, poor body image, low self-esteem, and higher depressive symptom scores with a larger association for girls than boys. 43 A majority of parents of adolescents say they are somewhat, very, or extremely worried that their child’s use of social media could lead to problems with anxiety or depression (53%), lower self-esteem (54%), being harassed or bullied by others (54%), feeling pressured to act a certain way (59%), and exposure to explicit content (71%). 44

Unless otherwise noted in the text, all material appearing in this work is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Citation of the source is appreciated.

• Cite this Page Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet]. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services; 2023. Social Media Has Both Positive and Negative Impacts on Children and Adolescents.
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Teens and social media use: What's the impact?

Social media is a term for internet sites and apps that you can use to share content you've created. Social media also lets you respond to content that others post. That can include pictures, text, reactions or comments on posts by others, and links to information.

Online sharing within social media sites helps many people stay in touch with friends or connect with new ones. And that may be more important for teenagers than other age groups. Friendships help teens feel supported and play a role in forming their identities. So, it's only natural to wonder how social media use might affect teens.

Social media is a big part of daily life for lots of teenagers.

How big? A 2022 survey of 13- to 17-year-olds offers a clue. Based on about 1,300 responses, the survey found that 35% of teens use at least one of five social media platforms more than several times a day. The five social media platforms are: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Social media doesn't affect all teens the same way. Use of social media is linked with healthy and unhealthy effects on mental health. These effects vary from one teenager to another. Social media effects on mental health depend on things such as:

• What a teen sees and does online.
• The amount of time spent online.
• Psychological factors, such as maturity level and any preexisting mental health conditions.
• Personal life circumstances, including cultural, social and economic factors.

Here are the general pros and cons of teen social media use, along with tips for parents.

Healthy social media

Social media lets teens create online identities, chat with others and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with support from other people who have hobbies or experiences in common. This type of support especially may help teens who:

• Lack social support offline or are lonely.
• Are going through a stressful time.
• Belong to groups that often get marginalized, such as racial minorities, the LGBTQ community and those who are differently abled.
• Have long-term medical conditions.

Sometimes, social media platforms help teens:

• Express themselves.
• Connect with other teens locally and across long distances.
• Learn how other teens cope with challenging life situations and mental health conditions.
• View or take part in moderated chat forums that encourage talking openly about topics such as mental health.
• Ask for help or seek healthcare for symptoms of mental health conditions.

These healthy effects of social media can help teens in general. They also may help teens who are prone to depression stay connected to others. And social media that's humorous or distracting may help a struggling teen cope with a challenging day.

Unhealthy social media

Social media use may have negative effects on some teens. It might:

• Distract from homework, exercise and family activities.
• Disrupt sleep.
• Lead to information that is biased or not correct.
• Become a means to spread rumors or share too much personal information.
• Lead some teens to form views about other people's lives or bodies that aren't realistic.
• Expose some teens to online predators, who might try to exploit or extort them.
• Expose some teens to cyberbullying, which can raise the risk of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

What's more, certain content related to risk-taking, and negative posts or interactions on social media, have been linked with self-harm and rarely, death.

The risks of social media use are linked with various factors. One may be how much time teens spend on these platforms.

In a study focusing on 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, spending three hours a day using social media was linked to a higher risk of mental health concerns. That study was based on data collected in 2013 and 2014 from more than 6,500 participants.

Another study looked at data on more than 12,000 teens in England between the ages of 13 to 16. The researchers found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.

But not all research has found a link between time spent on social media and mental health risks in teens.

How teens use social media also might determine its impact. For instance, viewing certain types of content may raise some teens' mental health risks. This could include content that depicts:

• Illegal acts.
• Self-harm or harm to other people.
• Encouragement of habits tied to eating disorders, such as purging or restrictive eating.

These types of content may be even more risky for teens who already have a mental health condition. Being exposed to discrimination, hate or cyberbullying on social media also can raise the risk of anxiety or depression.

What teens share about themselves on social media also matters.

With the teenage brain, it's common to make a choice before thinking it through. So, teens might post something when they're angry or upset, and regret it later. That's known as stress posting.

Teens who post content also are at risk of sharing sexual photos or highly personal stories. This can lead to teens being bullied, harassed or even blackmailed.

Protecting your teen

You can take steps to help your teens use social media responsibly and limit some of the possible negative effects.

Use these tips:

Set rules and limits as needed. This helps prevent social media from getting in the way of activities, sleep, meals or homework.

For example, you could make a rule about not using social media until homework is done. Or you could set a daily time limit for social media use.

You also could choose to keep social media off-limits during certain times. These times might include during family meals and an hour before bed.

Set an example by following these rules yourself. And let your teen know what the consequences will be if your rules aren't followed.

• Manage any challenging behaviors. If your teen's social media use starts to challenge your rules or your sense of what's appropriate, talk with your teen about it. You also could connect with parents of your teen's friends or take a look at your teen's internet history.
• Turn on privacy settings. This can help keep your teen from sharing personal information or data that your teen didn't mean to share. Each of your teen's social media accounts likely has privacy setting that can be changed.

Monitor your teen's accounts. The American Psychological Association recommends you regularly review your child's social media use during the early teen years.

One way to monitor is to follow or "friend" your child's social accounts. As your teen gets older, you can choose to monitor your teen's social media less. Your teen's maturity level can help guide your decision.

Have regular talks with your teen about social media. These talks give you chances to ask how social media has been making your teen feel. Encourage your teen to let you know if something online worries or bothers your teen.

Regular talks offer you chances to give your child advice about social media too. For example, you can teach your teen to question whether content is accurate. You also can explain that social media is full of images about beauty and lifestyle that are not realistic.

• Be a role model for your teen. You might want to tell your child about your own social media habits. That can help you set a good example and keep your regular talks from being one-sided.

Explain what's not OK. Remind your teen that it's hurtful to gossip, spread rumors, bully or harm someone's reputation — online or otherwise.

Also remind your teen not to share personal information with strangers online. This includes people's addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, and bank or credit card numbers.

• Encourage face-to-face contact with friends. This is even more important for teens prone to social anxiety.

Talk to your child's healthcare professional if you think your teen has symptoms of anxiety, depression or other mental health concerns related to social media use. Also talk with your child's care professional if your teen has any of the following symptoms:

• Uses social media even when wanting to stop.
• Uses it so much that school, sleep, activities or relationships suffer.
• Often spends more time on social platforms than you intended.
• Lies in order to use social media.

Your teen might be referred to a mental healthcare professional who can help.

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• Hagan JF, et al., eds. Promoting the healthy and safe use of social media. In: Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents. 4th ed. https://publications.aap.org/pediatriccare. American Academy of Pediatrics; 2017. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Social media can help connect: Research-based tips from pediatricians for families. Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/center-of-excellence-on-social-media-and-youth-mental-health/. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Health advisory on social media use in adolescence. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/social-media-internet/health-advisory-adolescent-social-media-use. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Social media and teens. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Social-Media-and-Teens-100.aspx. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Social media and youth mental health: The U.S. surgeon general's advisory. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Teens, social media and technology 2022. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Popat A, et al. Exploring adolescents' perspectives on social media and mental health and well-being — A qualitative literature review. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2023; doi:10.1177/13591045221092884.
• Valkenburg PM, et al. Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2022; doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.017.
• Berger MN, et al. Social media use and health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2022; doi:10.2196/38449.
• Self-Harm. Pediatric Patient Education. https://publications.aap.org/patiented. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Liu M, et al. Time spent on social media and risk of depression in adolescents: A dose-response meta-analysis. 2022; doi:10.3390/ijerph19095164.
• Coyne SM, et al. Does time spent using social media impact mental health? An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior. 2020; doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.106160.
• Viner RM, et al. Roles of cyberbullying, sleep, and physical activity in mediating the effects of social media use on mental health and wellbeing among young people in England: A secondary analysis of longitudinal data. The Lancet. Child & Adolescent Health. 2019; doi:10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30186-5.
• Riehm KE, et al. Associations between time spent using social media and internalizing and externalizing problems among US youth. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019; doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2325.
• Hoge E, et al. Digital media, anxiety, and depression in children. Pediatrics. 2017; doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1758G.
• How to help kids navigate friendships and peer relationships. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/parenting/navigating-friendships. Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Oct. 31, 2023.
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Human Behavioral Effects on Environment Essay

Introduction, how environmental cues shape behavior, how behavior can be modified to support sustainability, how social norms can influence environmental behaviors and beliefs, solutions that could change behavior and lessen negative environmental impact.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how human behavior can affect the environment negatively and positively. The natural environment is imperative for human life. In the past, individuals have interacted with nature, but with some disruptive consequences such as pollution, crowding in urban built environments, and noise, among others. At the same time, they have also enriched the quality of the environment by introducing elements of the artificial landscape, plantations, and soil improvement, among others.

Today, however, people have continued to exert greater pressure on the natural environment. As a result, there is massive disruption and fragmentation of nature settings and total destruction of fauna and flora.

Environmental cues shape human behaviors because they make people perceive a certain environment in a given way and behavior in a manner that fits that environment. For instance, an experiment with littering highlighted how individuals reacted.

A study with paper fliers placed on cars in a littered hospital car parking space revealed that drivers who found fliers on their cars removed them, but almost half of them dropped the fliers on the car parking lot (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990). On the other hand, when the car parking space was kept clean, few drivers dropped the fliers on the parking lot.

This experiment showed that the littered environment shaped how people reacted to it. In this regard, the car owners adopted behaviors that seemed most suitable, given their environmental conditions.

This study reveals that individuals may have specific personalities, but environmental contextual cues may change these personalities and make people behave in a way that matches a given situation. In addition, environmental cues may force people to change their behaviors from time to time, depending on that specific environment. That is, litterbugs may change their habits in clean environments.

Overall, environmental cues can change and reshape people’s behaviors based on specific situations.

It is possible to modify human behaviors to promote environmental sustainability. While many people recognize the need to conserve environments, their behaviors and actions do not support sustainability. As a result, there are negative impacts on the environment.

Several factors influence individuals’ behaviors, including psychological factors and external environmental cues. Therefore, motivation to support environmental sustainability behaviors may not be adequate.

The above experiment shows that sustainability behaviors could be situational. In other words, a person may decide to behave in a way that supports sustainability, but the situational circumstances may hinder such behaviors. Therefore, it is imperative to reinforce an individual’s behaviors that support sustainability in any given environment.

Specific actions may modify individuals’ behaviors to support sustainability. For instance, Cialdini noted that communications could be used to promote social norms and result in effective societal, beneficial conduct such as reducing littering (Cialdini, 2003). However, it is imperative to recognize specific situations that can make normative information to fail and result in unintended outcomes. According to Cialdini (2003), attempts to communicate messages that reinforce sustainability behaviors should not only have “descriptive norms (what people generally do) but also include injunctive norms (what people typically approve or disapprove) to optimize the power of normative appeals” (p. 105). The author points out that it is imperative to highlight descriptive norms (littering) to promote environmentally beneficial behaviors when communicating sustainability efforts. Communication, therefore, is a single way of modifying people’s behaviors to support sustainability, but communicators must understand how norms could affect the efforts to modify behaviors.

A study shows that descriptive norms (what people typically do) could be risky when environmentally harmful behavior is common (Cialdini, 2003). In other words, social practices (beliefs and behaviors) that reinforce environmental degradation may have negative impacts on the environment when communicated directly.

At the same time, behaviors, and beliefs that support environmentally friendly practices reinforce behaviors that support sustainability. People behave in specific ways because of their value and belief systems, as well as because of other factors that influence their behaviors, such as incentives. For example, people may support energy conservation and reduce littering because majorities of people believe that these efforts are the social norms and therefore approve them. In addition, if there were financial incentives to promote energy conservation and recycling, then many people would support such behaviors. This suggests that policies that influence beliefs and behaviors toward the environment could create social norms that promote environmental conservation. Hence, such activities become social norms when individuals interact with their environments.

Ann Kinzig argues that any approach to combat climate change should focus on public values and behavior because “pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., recycling and water conservation) can influence pro-environmental values, and that the interaction works in reverse” (Kinzig, 2013, para. 3).

According to Kinzig, policymakers should use laws and regulations to change individuals’ behaviors to promote environmental conservation efforts such as recycling and energy efficiency by focusing on social values and the associated behaviors (Kinzig, 2013). The researcher notes that pro-environmental behaviors, such as conservation and recycling, could result in pro-environmental values (Kinzig, 2013). In other words, public policies, laws and regulations, incentives, and information should aim to promote behaviors that reinforce environmental conservation and lessen negative environmental consequences (Vugt, 2009).

Individuals behave in certain manners because of their values and belief systems. Values, however, may change based on an individual’s behaviors. While people may engage in environmental conservation behaviors because of incentives, for instance, but over time, the repeated behaviors may indicate the actual outcomes of conservation and create value for it. Therefore, if policymakers formulate policies that promote pro-environmental behaviors, then the behavior may become the norm through repeated actions and an established value system.

Behavioral change supported by laws and incentives could be the starting point for reducing detrimental behaviors on the environment and lessening the impacts of such behaviors. This approach could lessen the negative impacts on the environment and ensure a sustainable future.

Communication strategies on social norms on the environment could also change behaviors and reduce negative environmental impacts (Cialdini, 2003). Campaign developers should include both descriptive norms and injunctive norms to ensure the most suitable norm-based persuasive model that can influence individuals’ behaviors toward environmental conservation. A communication strategy should provide information to reinforce a behavior if it is environmentally beneficial and approved by majorities (Vugt, 2009).

This essay has explored how human behavior can affect the environment negatively and positively. It shows that people have engaged in behaviors that are both detrimental and supportive of the environment. Nevertheless, detrimental individual behaviors have created far-reaching impacts on the natural environment. As a result, there is a need to promote behaviors that support environmental conservation.

Human behavior is situational and may be reinforced to provide the desired outcomes. Positive social norms can promote behaviors that facilitate environmental conservation. At the same time, communication strategies, policies, laws, and regulations alongside incentives may change behaviors and reduce negative impacts on the environment.

Cialdini, R. B. (2003). Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12 (4), 105-109. Web.

Cialdini, R.B, Reno, R.R., & Kallgren, C. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58 , 1015-1026.

Kinzig, A. (2013). Social Norms, Behavior Influence Environmental Policy . BioScience Magazine . Web.

Vugt, M. V. (2009). Averting the Tragedy of the Commons: Using Social Psychological Science to Protect the Environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18 (3), 169-173. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 21). Human Behavioral Effects on Environment. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-behavioral-effects-on-environment/

"Human Behavioral Effects on Environment." IvyPanda , 21 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/human-behavioral-effects-on-environment/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'Human Behavioral Effects on Environment'. 21 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "Human Behavioral Effects on Environment." March 21, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-behavioral-effects-on-environment/.

1. IvyPanda . "Human Behavioral Effects on Environment." March 21, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-behavioral-effects-on-environment/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Human Behavioral Effects on Environment." March 21, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-behavioral-effects-on-environment/.

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