Behaviour can be defined as the way in which an individual behaves or

acts. It is the way an individual conducts herself/himself. Behaviour should

be viewed in reference to a phenomenon, an object or person. It can be
seen in reference to society norms, or the way in which one treats others or
handles objects. Behaviour, therefore, is the way an individual acts towards
people, society or objects. It can be either bad or good. It can be normal
or abnormal according to society norms. Society will always try to correct
bad behaviour and try to bring abnormal behaviour back to normal.

Root Causes of Behaviour Differences

The following are the root causes of behaviour differences:

1. Individual differences: Sex differences, Intellectual differences,

Physical differences, Personal and emotional differences.

2. Differences in family patterns: Parents have traditionally been held

responsible for their children’s behaviour or character, until they reach
adolescence. Maintenance of large families, Socio-economic status of the
family, Structure of the family.

3. impairment/disabilities: Genetic Accidents, Brain Damage or

Dysfunction, Nutritional Errors, Hyperactivity, Physical Illness or Disability.

4. Environmental factors: Physical Environment, Social Environment,

5. Psychological factors;

Motivation is channeling or directing behaviour towards satisfying a need or

needs. It is a drive or urge to do something. Every individual has motives,
driving forces behind his or her actions, needs or intentions. The needs
can take different forms. The satisfying of a need plays an important part in
behaviour. When the need is fulfilled the individual is satisfied, confident
and happy. When the need is not satisfied, the result is frustration. These
considerations determine the behaviour patterns of an individual. The
extent to which the individual is happy or frustrated will depend greatly on
personality. This may include timidity, shyness, fear, failure in class,
retardation, isolation, stature, speech handicaps, health hazards and
physical handicaps, suffering, worry, poor memory, and poor self-image.

Giving up your rights, honest feelings, thoughts and beliefs, feeling

helpless, anxious, resentful, dissappointed with yourself, trying to please
others. You feel being manipulated and pushed around all the time. You
tend to feel that outside forces are controlling you, and have no self-
esteem and negative image.

Overt Behaviour: Open behaviour that can be observed by others.

Covert Behaviour: Shy and introvert behaviour patterns that cannot

be visible to others. Covert means hidden. It's when someone's hiding
their true feelings (usually if someone has bad intentions) but pretends to
be nice.

The Aggressive behaviour:-

You feel angry, frustated, self-righteous, dominating, forcing others to

loose, showing strengths and achieve your ends at the cost of other’s
happiness. They have an attitude that “I have the rights and others
don’t. What you want is less important than what I want.”

The Assertive behaviour:-

Standing up for your personal rights and expressing your thoughts,

feelings, beliefs in direct and honest ways which do not violate the rights of
others. After the act, you feel much better and your self-esteem goes up.

Accusing, suspicion and paranoia: The person you are caring for may
sometimes become suspicious, believing that other people are taking
advantage or intending to harm him/her in some way. You may be accused
of stealing possessions or of being unfaithful

 Wandering, getting lost and pacing: One of the worries that families
and carers have when looking after a person with dementia is the
problem of wandering.
Incontinence: Incontinence is when a person does not go to the toilet but
wets (urinary incontinence) or dirties (faecal) his or her pants. If
incontinence occurs, it is important to check first with the doctor or clinic to
find out what the cause of the incontinence might be.

 Repetitive behaviour: People sometimes ask the same question over

and over again. They may not remember asking the question or the
answer you gave, because of short-term memory loss. They may also
be feeling insecure, and such repetitive behaviour may be
comforting. Do your best to find out what the person is feeling.

Problem Behaviour: “Problem behaviour” is any behaviour that is

socially unacceptable.

 Sight and hearing changes: If you suspect that you are not being
heard by the person you are caring for, make sure his or her hearing is
not impaired. You may need to arrange for a hearing test. If sight is
affected, you may have to explain to whom he or she is talking, possibly
more than once.
 Hallucinations: Some people have hallucinations: that is, they see or
hear things that are not actually there. These can be very frightening
and can cause great anxiety.
 Uninhibited behaviour: The person you are caring for may sometimes
behave in a way that you or other people find embarrassing. It may be
that the person’s forgotten the ‘rules’ our society has created about what
is and what isn’t ‘acceptable’ behaviour.
 Depression: The person you are caring for may feel sad and low at
times. Feeling sad is a normal human emotion. The person may be
anxious about what is happening to him or her.
Coupled behaviour: is maintained by its consequences. The
consequences that accelerate the behaviour are termed rein forcers where
as those that hinder the behaviour are termed punishers. There are two
types of reinforcements, negative and positive reinforcement. Positive
reinforcement occurs when behaviour is strengthened by a positive
reward. For example, a husband who, puts his dirty socks in a laundry
basket is rewarded by his wife with praise and recognition. This reinforces
his efforts to pick up his socks.

Negative reinforcement: occurs when behaviour is strengthened by the

removal of a negative stimulus. For example, wife insuring that dinner is
ready on time to reduce the likelihood of the husband getting angry and
abusive to her. This reinforces the wife’s behaviour of getting dinner ready
early so as to remove the negative stimuli of the husband’s anger. People
in relationships strive to maximize rewards and minimize costs. The cost/
benefit analysis helps clients determine how much effort they should put in
to meet their partner’s expectations. It is believed that through this,
individuals can have their expectations met.

Conscious behavior: largely includes cognitive processes of the ego,

such as thinking, perception, and planning, as well as some aspects of the
superego, such as moral conscience. Consciousness is variously defined
as subjective experience, awareness, the ability to experience
"feeling", wakefulness, or the executive control system of the mind
Unconscious : Our behaviour was dominated and determined by one or
several factors unknown to us and which, unless investigated
systematically, may remain unknown, puzzling, detrimental, if not
dangerous, and may at some future time be once more the cause of
irrational behaviour.

Rational: Think analyzes and acts

Irrational: Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking or acting without
inclusion of rationality. The term is used, usually to describe thinking and
actions that are, or appear to be, less useful or more illogical than other
more rational alternatives.
 Voluntary: it means that you have free will and are able to make a
conscious decision to take a specific action. The act of taking a walk down
the street is voluntary behavior.
. Involuntary: the opposite is involuntary, and that means you have no
conscious control of the action. An example could be the act of digestion is
involuntary

Work behavior is a term used to describe the behavior one uses in

employment and is normally more formal than other types of human
behavior. This varies from profession to profession. People are usually
more careful than outside of work in how they behave around their
colleagues, as many actions intended to be in jest can be perceived as
inappropriate or even harassment in the work environment.

Counterproductive work behavior

Counterproductive work behavior is also a type of work behavior. Most of

the people do not know what counterproductive work behavior is. Even
people do not recognize this behavior, it seems normal to them. Here are
some examples in order to understand what counterproductive behavior is:

1. When someone is ignoring people at work.

2. When people work slowly and the work needs to be done fast.
3. When people refuse to help their colleagues.
4. When people refuse to accept a task.
5. When people show less interest in their work.
6. When people show destructive behavior against their colleagues.
7. When people do not appreciate their colleague's success.