The Impact of Environment /// Emily Thullesen

 In Skinner’s essay on behaviorism, he covers heavily the idea of how environment plays the strongest role in affecting people’s behavior in any situation. As humans, we would most likely claim that our lives are run by circumstances, emotions, and our beliefs. While this is somewhat true, environment itself plays a much larger role than we might expect in how we react to certain situations. 

Environments affect people in a number of ways, including but not limited to our moods, how comfortable we are, and personal awareness. For example, our behavior might look much different in private than it would in a public place surrounded by people, not just from a standpoint of integrity but also small actions. Personally, if I find myself being overstimulated by my environment, if it is too hot or too cold or if my social battery is just simply drained, I am much more likely to behave in a more irritable and rash manor than I would if I was calm, comfortable, or even surrounded by different people. 

With this being said, Skinner’s claim of how impactful the environment is on behavior is absolutely true at least to a moderate extent for all people. People act on emotions, yes, but those emotions can be driven and swayed easily based on our circumstances. It is remarkable to remember this concept and learn to be more aware of reactions and take action to help lessen the stress of one’s environment. 

I commented on Emily Otts and Bug Olsen’s posts.