Monday, October 8, 2012

Drink and Bench...


Micah Hyde was arrested last Saturday for public intoxication.  He is the senior cornerback for the Iowa Hawkeyes.  The choice of his actions really makes you question what influences someone’s decision.  Was it a group influence?  Not much is totally know of his personal situation as the Hawkeyes like to keep details within the program.  Here is a look at a few reasons why a person might put their long term goals at risk for a short term “reward.”
The first concept is called deindividuation.  This is the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.  Micah Hyde was probably with friends when they started drinking.  He knew he should stop after one or two but the group influenced his decision to keep drinking.  Another example would be if a soccer team lost because a ref blew a call and the fans rioted.  The fans wouldn’t have rioted by themselves but because they were in a group they felt less responsibility and restraint.  This allowed their conscience to go out the window as they flipped cars.  How can you avoid deindividuation?  Don’t be affected by peer pressure.  If your morals are strong enough to resist doing the wrong thing, you should be able to say no and find an alternative solution.
The next concept that could have affected Micah Hyde’s decision to get drunk is normative social influence.  This is the influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.  Micah might have kept drinking to avoid disapproval from his friends.  He continued drinking until he was put in jail for public intoxication.  Another example of this term is when you are hazed to become part of a club or group.  You do something that you don’t want to do but you do it to gain acceptance for a group or club.  How can you avoid normative social influence?  It is very hard to avoid this influence.  As humans, we strive for acceptance within a group.  We often do undesirable tasks to gain acceptance.  Stand by your morals and don’t be afraid to say no to a group.  If they want you to do something that you are not comfortable with, you probably should not be associating with them.  
Another concept that could have altered Micah Hyde’s decision making is confirmation bias.  This theory states they you look for information to support your bias.  Micah was probably told that there would be no cops around.  They might have also said that he was a football player and that they don’t put the starters in jail.  Longing to believe it, Micah Hyde accepts their argument and continues to drink.  Another example to help define the term is happening right now with the political race.  People of a certain party will often watch new shows that support their beliefs and arguments to allow people to confirm these pre-existing beliefs.  How do you avoid confirmation bias?  Try and collect as much accurate information as possible before making a logical decision.  If you are hearing all of your information from one viewpoint, it is likely that your information will be bias.
Finally, Micah Hyde was probably affected most by the alcohol in his blood steam.  Alcohol is a depressant in both small and large amounts.  Micah became buzzed from his first two drinks and wanted to continue his feeling.  He felt that continuing his drinking would achieve this.  Micah’s frontal cortex was also malfunctioning due to the alcohol in his bloodstream.  Alcohol is a very powerful drug.  It can affect your decision making skills and make you a very different person.  How can you prevent this?  Always have a sober friend around.  He or she will prevent you from doing anything stupid that you shouldn’t be doing.
One or more of these reasons is why Micah Hyde was placed in jail for public intoxication on Saturday.  He made a poor choice with his friends and paid the price.  Perhaps Ferentz should start a sober buddy system so players refrain from stupid activities.  Until then, Iowa players will continue to shoot themselves in the foot as they get suspended for big football games.  Until next suspension bloggers.  

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