INTRODUCTION TO

SOCIAL SCIENCE
SSU1013

BLANCE ALBERT ANAK BAGOK

58510
Blance Albert Anak Bagok
58510
Lake View Food Court, University Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS)

Human Behavior and Food

Idealism and Theories on Human Behavior

The study of the role that social or external influences and social norms have on human

behavior is well-established in sociology and psychology, as evidenced in the assigned readings.

Real or false, they have a powerful influence on human behavior. Social influences create social

pressure, which arises from one's belief about what other people expect or want them to do. Social

norms are the perceived standards of acceptable attitudes and behaviors prevalent among the

members of a community. The community can be small (a family or workplace), or it can be large

(city, state, country). External influences can lead one to conform to the group norms or obey a

perceived authority figure. Conformity can be defined as changing one's behavior or beliefs to

match those of other individuals or group members due to unspoken pressure (social/external

influences), real or imagined. Requests, or demands, from a perceived authority figure can be

construed as orders and when followed can be called obedient behavior. In this paper I will explore

the role that external influences play on determining human behavior, how they relate to

conformity and obedience in our everyday lives, and how they can limit or expand our perceptions

that affect our choice of behavior.

Although most people think of themselves as individuals able to make their own choices

in respect to behavior, there is often a strong tendency to conform to group patterns and

expectations. We may seek out groups with interests similar to our own, or we may find ourselves

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in a group where we are made to feel that we are in the minority. External group influences, either

real or imagined, play a key role in determining behavior in these group situations.

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Explain and Analyse the Observation

The research about the peoples behavior took place at the Lake View Food Court. I visited

the food court on a Thursday at around 1 p.m. Lake View Food Court is located at the West

Campus, University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. The Lake View

Food Court is one of the famous lunch spot among the UNIMAS students and staffs as it provides

tons of variations of food and beverages including local cuisine, Indian cuisine, Chinese cuisine,

Western cuisine and many more other undeniable delicious foods. Plus, this food court is also

surrounded by classrooms and management offices, basically located at the center of the

university, thus, it is very convenient for the students and staffs have their lunch there. The price

of the foods selling over there are also very reasonable and this is crucial for the students as they

are always having problems in saving their money and are always broke. The Lake View Food

court can be said located at a very strategic location as it is located at the center of every important

building in UNIMAS. In addition, food and beverages selling there are also comes with a very

reasonable price so this will definitely attract more customers to go there.

The design of the Lake View Food Court is round in shape but only half of the building is

used as stalls to sell food and beverages while the other half of the building is purposely designed

to be widely open as it is facing the UNIMAS lake and this will give a vibrant and natural vibe to

the customer when having their lunch there. The food court is roofed with some kind of translucent

material so sunlight can come in and this can save the owner of the building from spending too

much on electricity bill as its no need for them to switch on the light during daytime. Plus, the

roof also can thwart the customers from rain when raining especially during the rainy season. In

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the round shape area, the stalls are to be found on the sides of the building, which facing the lake,

leaving a big space in the middle, where a large number of tables and chairs were placed, 10 sets

of couple tables and 17 sets of group tables which can occupy up to 6 persons to be exact.

The food court comprises of more than 8 individual stalls, from coffee shops to proper

cuisine, and a minimart which sells basic stuffs such as snakes, buns, caned beverages and much

more. This minimart is also open for 24 hours and its very convenient for the students to visit

during the late night if they need instant food to fill their empty stomach as there is no coffee shop

open at this hour. The shoppers at the food court have a wide range of food variety to choose and

its surely a pain in the neck for them for them to choose the food and beverages that they going

to have for lunch because all of the food and beverages selling there are delicious and marvelous

in sense of taste and appearance. All of the stalls there practice the self-service system. Self-service

system is a system where customers select goods for themselves and pay at the cashier. There was

a lot of running around and quick moves between the counter and the kitchen to take and send

orders to the chef. They seem to be very stressed when they need to handle the crowd and lots of

orders were coming in every few seconds. Most of the workers in the stalls appeared to be younger

than 30 years old except the stall owner. Most of the workers are also appeared to be a Muslim as

they need to convince the customers that the food they sold are halal as 50% of the of the UNIMAS

staffs and students are Muslim. Besides, they were people working in blue clothing, looked a little

elderly, and were cleaning tables with leftover food and the wrapping papers. Although they only

do the cleaning stuff, but their presence here is very crucial and important in order to keep the food

court neat and tidy all day long and also for the coming days. They also were very generous with

their sweet smiles, although they were working the since morning, tired and exhausted.

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 It was the middle of noon and the food court was packed with people of all ages, there were

couples, individuals, lectures, management staffs, construction workers, and most of them was

young adult groups which basically they are students. I could see different races of people over

there, such as Malays, Chinese, Indian, Bidayuh, Iban and many more native races. There were

also a number of international students and lectures wondering around the food court to find the

right food for their appetite. Its good to see people from different races and backgrounds can

gather around without any issues and can blend well in a community. There were also no double-

standard occurred there as all of the customers were served and treated equally. Apart from that, I

could see people of different race speaking their native language such as Iban, Chinese and the

most common language here in Sarawak, Bahasa Melayu Sarawak. There were a group of students

spoke a really interesting and unique language, which I guess, the Kadazan Dusun language. The

language caught my attention as the language itself is very unique and sounded harmony and calm

although I dont understand a thing. This group of students could be the students from Sabah and

have made Sarawak as their study destination. Its is very delightful to how good and delicious

food and beverages can gather people around although they are coming from different country and

state and with a very different background and races.

Out of the whole crowd, I noticed a group of students who were very loud in laughing and

cranking jokes. They were annoying, but maybe its the way they release their stress or pressure

on their studies. They got seated before they could order food; Im sure this was to ensure a seat

due to the increasing number of crowds coming for the food and beverages at the food court. They

were 5 people of them consisted 3 boys and 2 girls aged between 19 to 21 years old. I was seated

next to them, which made it very easy for me to hear their conversation from both ends. Out of

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which of them, one of the guys was loud and cranking jokes and the other two guys were listening

to the first guys commentary with a very exited faces, out of the girls, one was listening to the

jokes and one was meddling with her handbag and finally take out her smartphone and started to

swipe all over the smartphone screen, probably checking her WhatsApp she must receive on it.

After a few moments, the girl with the smartphone, put back her smartphone into her bag and

started to join her friends conversation. This is a difference I have noticed between the two sexes

everywhere. No matter how big or small the mobile phone is, men always carry it in their pockets

where women use always use handbags. The boys were dressed semi-formal. Two among the three

were wearing caps. The guy that didnt wear cap had a good hair-style and the color of his hair

was dark brown. Among the three, two were wearing white colored polo shirt while the other guy

was wearing black polo shirt. Among the two girls, both of them were wearing our international

cloth, which is Baju Kurung. They look very close to one another and I bet they have been friends

for years and had gone through hard times together. Its good to see this kind of people still exist

nowadays as they are always together in facing problems and always have their partners back when

needed. People tend to change over time and only a few will left by your side at the end of the day.

Fake personality is basically a routine for almost every person on earth on these days.

At one part of the food court which located slightly at the middle, there were a couple at

the table for couple seated few minutes ago. They drew my attention because they seem to be

having a fight between them. The girl face were seemed to be mad and she didnt entertain or talk

to her boyfriend, although they have seated there for about 10 minutes. There were foods on the

table where they were seated, but the food was not eaten by any of them. They seem to mind their

own business. The girl was swiping her smartphone screen ever since she seated there with a

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grumpy face. After a few moment, her boyfriend start to talk to her but she still didnt bother to

even see her boyfriend right in the face when he is talking. I guess they are having a really big

fight and I bet it is not good for their relationship. After around 20 minute at the food court, they

decided to left with no problem are solve and there were still no communication between them.

Its sad to see this kind of young adults acted this way. They should be tolerance with their partner

and can always solve a problem with a rational thinking in order to keep their relationship alive.

Out of nowhere, my friend, which is not really close to me and we barely talk, came to me

and seated with me at my table. I was shocked at how he acted. He should have asked for my

permission first before he does so, but Im still okay with it as there was no one sitting with me at

the moment. He started to talk and asked about my life and how am I doing here in UNIMAS. I

said it was okay and I asked about his life. After like five minutes of awkward moment with him,

suddenly two of his friends came and sit at the same table, which is my spot from the beginning. I

was really mad and got really annoyed by them because they talked really loud and laughing like

there is no tomorrow. I guess the reason my friend seated there with me from the beginning was

because there were no seat left on that time, students and staffs are having their lunch break. I

decided to back off and look for other spot where I can continue my observations. I was really mad

and really feel like punching him in the face because he had disturb me in making the observations.

I really dont understand this kind of people. I wonder what are they are thinking when doing such

thing to other people. This kind of behavior is really out of the world and should not be practice

over time as it can affect the people around you.

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 After I move out from the table, I went into a corner and started back my observations. I

was seated on a staircase which located next to a Muslim stall, selling local cuisine. After five

minutes seated there observing, suddenly I heard a very loud voice coming from the stall next to

me. I turned my head to the source of the loud voice. There were two big guys staring each other

with a very fierce face. Both of them were about the same size with around 176 cm in height. I

went there and asked around for an explanation on what had happened. One of the people in the

crowd told me that one of the guys that are still staring each other was cutting the queue to make

payment at the cashier. Both of them seemed to be very mad and fierce toward each other. Out of

the sudden, one of them started to push one another and talked loudly, cursing to be straight, to

each other. Then, the situation got real and chaos when one of them punch the other in the face.

They were a big fight going on and none of the people in the crowd dare to stop them. I guess its

because both of the guys that were involved in the fight were big and seem to be masculine. After

a few seconds, two guards came and settled the fight. Both of them were asked to follow the guards,

probably to the disciplinary officer, to settle the case with the disciplinary officer. Such action

must be avoided by us as its not good and very unprofessional. We as human being must can live

together happily and harmoniously in order to ensure the goodness in life. Fight or violent is not

the only and right way to solve a problem, plus, this only will not solve the problem but making

more problems. We as human being must have mutual respect towards each other so that the world

we live now can be peaceful and harmony. In additions, its not our norm to fight every time there

is misunderstanding occur.

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Conclusion

After an hour doing the observation, I decided to leave the food court as I got lecture to

attend. I had a mixed feelings about what had happen throughout my investigation process. A

people have different behavior and act differently on the daily basis, but I wonder why is that most

of the people nowadays are with a bad behavior. This is really make me worry as it can damage

the peacefulness of our world and can corrupt the good norms we are practicing today. Im really

sad when I saw and knew most of the bad behaviors were practice by the youngster. This is really

a big deal to our country and we must always look for solutions to prevent this thing from to

become worst in the future. The young generations in a country must be educate with a good deeds

and manners so that they grow up to be a good person and have a high mutual respect with others.

For the elderly or the leaders of the nations, they play a really important role in educate and become

a role model to the younger generations. They should always practice a good moral values in their

life and always think rationally when deciding on something or making a choice. This is to ensure

the younger generation can make the elderly with the good manners, attitudes and behaviors as

their idol or role model and grow up to be like them. Plus, the society must know how to live

peacefully and always help one another. Misunderstandings are undeniable hard to avoid between

us, human being, but we can always solve them with a proper and good way. Dont use violent or

the hard way to solve a problem as it will make it worsen. Try to talk to each other with a good

voice tone and do not shout or curse. Language wise and be professional. If u feel like u are the

one that started the problems, just give up and say sorry. Its not going to make u loss anything.

Thus, having a good behavior is very crucial when, especially when you are living in a big

community.

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 The difference between social behavior and culture is that social behavior is how people

react with each other, the values and traditions within a society, and these behaviors are learned

through observing and interacting with other people. Culture is a persons beliefs, habits, and

cultural traits. Culture is learned by observing other people. An example of social behavior would

be a family that has a certain way of doing things doing the holidays. In other words a tradition

that has been passed down from generation to generation. An example of culture would be if a

childs parents teach him/her to hate people from other races other than their own. They

learn this by observing how their parents treat other people from different cultures.

Culture influences human behavior by the way that you interact with other people. It also helps to

link many different people together. Culture will help you to decide what your benefits are, how

we deal with other people, and the shared ideas that we depend on. Another crucial aspect of

culture is that it is based on meaningful information. All cultures use language to encode and share

information. Basically, information that people get from culture will change their behavior. For

example, people from one culture (Australian) will only interact with other people from that

culture. Nature influences human behavior by nature and nurture working together. Nature is the

inherited genes that we got from our family through the generations. Nurture is the things that will

influence us. Basically, nature helps us to determine out potential and nurture is the way that we

are affected by the environment.

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