Sunday, May 20, 2018

Programs To Overcome Arrogant Behavior

Arrogance is a trait often experienced, an offensive display of superiority or self-importance, and overbearing pride. In Korea, we have in recent memory seen displays of this which have made the  international news.

The Korean word 'Gap' used in contracts for the first party is a new word appearing often for the arrogance exhibited by authoritarian figures who have positions of power over others. A college professor who teaches in the humanities gives us insight into problems on how to work against this arrogance in society in her article in the Catholic Peace Weekly.

She gives us  an example  of a person who  famously showed her arrogance, that was bettered by the parent in a recent incident and goes on to show that we learn much from those with whom we spend most of our time. From whom do we learn our techniques for communicating? In the womb the fetus after just five or six weeks, the sense of touch is the first system to develop. The mother's emotional life and the enviroment will influence the fetus.

What we have picked up by our studies often disappears after a period of time; what we sense, even within the womb, remains with us a great deal longer. A baby in diapers wiill not be influenced by words but by the emotional activity of the caregiver and the way they solve their conflicts. When overcome by stress, unless we understand, we can emotionally revert to our animal nature.

The mental faculties of children and teenagers, compared to adults are less developed and without experience that comes with age, the ability to control and tune the senses has been reduced. Consequently, a person who has not grown from their experience may look like an adult but emotionally still a child. When such a person receives a position with authority how will he act? It's not difficult to guess what the results will be.

As we get older without some strong stimulus changes do not come easy. With experience we do have change. Even children with small stimuli are changed, that's why the caregiver's emotions, words and  behavior are so important. The 'Gap type of behavior' with experience and training can be prevented.

All of us get angry and irritable but we know that  we don't want to express this feeling with violence and  criminal activity. We acknowledge our anger and feelings and proceed to take control, tune down and regulate the feelings.

Being overcome with emotion is not unconditionally a bad thing. This is a part of being human. However, since we are members of communities we need to learn how to regulate the emotions. To repress the emotions we are possibly preparing for a time bomb to explode. We need to train ourselves, only knowledge of the situation will not do it, we need the techniques which come with training.

She concludes the article with examples of how this is done in certain big companies and in organizations in other countries for the members and recommends that programs be conducted in Korea.