The Jewish Religious Service: Group Influence on an Individual

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Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of group influence on the self by using an experience at the Jewish religious service. Social psychologists have focused on how social influences affect and determine behaviors of others by focusing group conformity and norms (Barnum and Markovsky, 2007; Sloan, Berman, Zeigler-Hill and Bullock, 2009). Individuals tend to conform to behaviors of those around them in a new environment based on the need to act appropriately. This is the accuracy goal. People may also seek to conform to a group based on their affiliation needs to become a part of the group. Self-concept may also drive an individual to seek for conformity for self-enhancement.

The experience

The experience had a mix of feelings, nervousness, curiosity, excitement, eagerness, and the desire to learn ways of the Jewish religious services. All these are good emotions. The experience was all about seeing new practices and different norms.

It is imperative to be fully observant in order to understand the experience of Jewish religious services. However, this experience is not simple to grasp for a new and unfamiliar person because of the desire to learn and identify with the behaviors of the congregation. It was simple to notice that men and women had separate seats to avoid distraction during the service. Men should focus on their prayers rather than on women or girls. It felt strange. It was almost like discriminatory practice against women, especially if one did not understand the reason. A person needs to keep an open mind in such situations because Judaism is different from other Christian practices.

Another striking experience is the level of hospitality at the Jewish religious service. The congregation values guests at the service. Although a newcomer would feel shy because of the attention and a service that is unfamiliar, there is a general sense of excitement during the service. There are shared values during the service, which an individual strives to imitate or follow in order to feel as a part of the service or congregation. It leads to a sense of loss of the self and individuality.

A person experiences a feeling of anonymity while in a large congregation. The experience leads to the loss of self-awareness and self-restrain as one aims to respond to the immediate activities during the service. The congregation responds to prayers, and all activities that require their attention. For instance, all members stand when the Ark is open as a form of religious honor, and new members follow the group behavior.

Preconceived notions about the experience and the effect by the by group influence

People have diverse opinions, beliefs, and preconceived notions about groups that fall outside their own groups. Hence, the tendency to discount an outside group is common. A visit to a Jewish religious service provides the normal practical experience of a religious life. However, this is not the case for a newcomer who has a preconceived notion that the religion has twisted Biblical facts to support its moral beliefs and contemporary practices. From the preconceived notion found in written materials, there is a notion that many Jews are conservatives, who alter religious facts to support their religious beliefs.

One can observe that after interacting with the group, a group influence affects a preconceived notion about twisting religious facts. In fact, it is detrimental to take such notions to a group, its beliefs, and practices. There is a need from the self to conform to such beliefs and practices in a Jewish religious service in order to feel as an affiliated member. All believers assume that all practices and beliefs are credible and supported by the Bible. One tends to believe that the person reading the Bible has his own interpretation. This happens because of preconceived notions. However, a person can realize that Biblical verses express the same ideas to the congregation.

After interacting with the group, a person changes the preconceived notion about reading the Bible and interpreting verses to serve specific beliefs. Self-interest changes to conform to the group’s interest because of the desire to act appropriately. This is an accuracy goal due to the group influence. As a result, it is fundamental for an individual to attend a different religion without any preconceived notions about beliefs and practices.

The reactions of individuals

As one enters the synagogue, the congregation notes that there is a new member in the service. It is important for the person to remain normal and assume that all other members are the same as the self. At this point, a feeling of self-consciousness takes over due to the group influence. However, one must assume that this is a normal reaction from fellow humans, who are equally curious.

It is not simple to recognize any signs of intentional rejection from the congregation. However, members of the congregation look at the new member curiously. This implies that the congregation may wonder why a stranger has decided to attend the service. It is difficult to discern reactions of a group, but different thoughts of assisting and knowing the stranger’s identity are common in such situations.

The congregation does not meet to make a stranger to feel as unwanted because any member of the congregation who may attempt such a reaction could be referred to as ‘lost’ or the meshugenah of the synagogue.

However, as the group gets to interact with the newcomer, they change gradually, but it remains apparent that a newcomer is different or a stranger to their religious practices and beliefs. Without a question, one remains an outsider to the congregation. Members of the group experience the need to connect with the newcomer. This reaction from the group leads to confusion and self-conciseness from the visitor.

The group influence determines how the group would react to the stranger, mainly through informal ways, as well as through formal introduction. This allows the group to gather information about the stranger and treat the person as one of their own. The group influence depends on the social psychology of the congregation, which may strive to foster interpersonal relations, conformity, and obedience.

The effect group reactions on behaviors of the self

The group reactions affect behaviors of the self. A person would tend to conform to norms and beliefs of the congregation in order to get benefits of social approval. Concepts of self-categorization and social identity demonstrate that a person may conform in order to lessen uncertainty in the group. Hence, it is normal to see an individual reacting in the same manner as the rest of the congregation when the Ark is open, or when they pray or sing.

A newcomer will never dominate the group. As a result, a person tends to be obedient because of the social power that the group has (Bleske-Rechek, 2001). Under this situation, one can only seek for identification, recognition, trust, and understanding, but these can only happen when an individual complies with norms, beliefs, and practices of the congregation.

Social psychology assumes that the person would gain some benefits by conforming to practices and beliefs of the group (Barnum and Markovsky, 2007). In fact, people may conform to a group even if the practices are against their belief systems or detrimental to their well-being.

The group reaction leads an individual to increase self-enhancement. This motivates a person to conform to group norms and beliefs because they affect self-concept. In turn, this influences a person’s perception about the self with regard to how the group perceives him or her (Cremer, 2004). Moreover, the person may conform to such religious norms and practices because acceptance would translate to adherence to the established practices and beliefs of the group. Hence, individuals have to react in a way that favors the group’s belief systems.

Conclusion

This paper has analyzed the effect of group influence on the self by using an experience at the Jewish religious service. It concludes that an individual would tend to conform to the group’s beliefs, norms, and practices for self-concept. Hence, preconceived notions of an individual may not affect the group beliefs and norms. Although an individual’s presence may make the group curious, he or she cannot rise beyond the group and its belief systems. As a result, he or she must conform to the group through obedience in order to enhance self-categorization, self-concept, and identity. The need to gain recognition and affiliation makes people to act appropriately and accurately in a group setting.

References

Barnum, C., and Markovsky, B. (2007). Group Membership and Social Influence. Current Research in Social Psychology, 13(3), 1-18.

Bleske-Rechek, A. L. (2001). Obedience, Conformity, and Social Roles: Active Learning in a Large Introductory Psychology Class. Teaching Of Psychology, 28(4), 260-262.

Cremer, D. (2004). The Closer We Are, The More We Are Alike: The Effect of Self-Other Merging on Depersonalized Self-Perception. Current Psychology, 22(4), 316-325.

Sloan, P., Berman, M., Zeigler-Hill, V., Bullock, J. (2009). Group Influences on Self-Aggression: Conformity and Dissenter Effects. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28(5), 535-553.

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