Human behavior

Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with the surrounding environment. While sleep differs from wakefulness in terms of the ability to react to stimuli, it still involves active brain patterns, making it more reactive than a coma or disorders of consciousness.

thumb|Sixteen faces expressing the human passions – colored engraving by J. Pass, 1821, after [[Charles Le Brun|371x371px]]

thumb|The fictional character Pinocchio is a common depiction of a liar. A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the intention of deceiving or misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a liar. Lies can be interpreted as deliberately false statements or misleading statements, though not all statements that are literally false are considered lies – metaphors, hyperboles, and other figurative rhetoric are not intended to mislead, while lies are explicitly meant for literal interpretation by

Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation"; it recognizes the need to include violence not resulting in injury or death.

thumb|Scene in club lounge, by Thomas Rowlandson

thumb|right|A sign entreating "silence and respect" at Arlington National Cemetery Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of honoring someone by exhibiting care, concern, or consideration for their needs or feelings.

upright|thumb|Depiction of French President Armand Fallieres's assault by a waiter named Jean Mattis thumb|upright|Many mammals, such as the tiger, bare their teeth as a sign of aggression—a form of [[aposematism. ]]

thumb|right|300px|Competition in Sport|sports. One selection of images showing some of the sporting events that are classed as athletics competitions.

type of social influence

thumb|Engraving depicting the play Le Misanthrope by [[Molière]]

Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage.

Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of "social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure". Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which some authors define as behavior influenced by peers while others use it as a more general term for positive responses to another individual's request, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority. Depending on context, obedience can be seen as moral, immoral, or amoral. For example, in psychological research, individuals are usually confronted with immoral

fundamental characteristics of human beings

thumb|right|300px|Opportunity Seized, Opportunity Missed, engraving by Theodoor Galle, 1605

social phenomenon that responsabilizes the victim of the damage suffered

Assertiveness is the quality of being self-assured and confident without being aggressive to defend a right point of view or a relevant statement. In the field of psychology and psychotherapy, it is a skill that can be learned and a mode of communication. ''Dorland's Medical Dictionary'' defines assertiveness as:

form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma

array of physical actions and observable emotions associated with humans

type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed

In sociology, popularity is how much a person, idea, place, item or other concept is either liked or accorded status by other people. Liking can be due to reciprocal liking, interpersonal attraction, and similar factors. Social status can be due to dominance, superiority, and similar factors. For example, a kind person may be considered likable and therefore more popular than another person, and a wealthy person may be considered superior and therefore more popular than another person.

cognitive system with a limited capacity that is responsible for temporarily holding information available for processing

Coping refers to the application of coping mechanisms, conscious and unconscious cognitions that people use to manage unpleasant emotions, stress and anxiety. Coping mechanisms can be adaptive, meaning that they successfully improve the well-being of the person applying them, or maladaptive, meaning they may manage a specific unpleasant emotion, but at the expense of other aspects of one's mental and/or physical health. == Theories of coping == Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed to explain how people manage stress. However, no universal classification system has been agreed upon.

relative importance of an individual's innate qualities ("nature" in the sense of nativism or innatism) as compared to an individual's personal experiences ("nurture" in the sense of empiricism or behaviorism)

theory that shared understandings of the world create shared assumptions about reality

Distraction is the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from a desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information. Distraction is caused by: inability to pay attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; or the great intensity, novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention. Distractions come from both external and internal sources. External distractions include factors such as visual triggers, social interactions, music, text messages and phone calls. Internal distractions include hunger,

transition of human species to anthropologically modern behavior

indirect expression of hostility

unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual

Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest personal aspirational human need in the hierarchy. It represents where one's potential is fully realized after more basic needs, such as for the body and the ego, have been fulfilled, and is recognised in psychological teaching as the peak of human needs. Maslow later added the category self-transcendence (which, strictly speaking, extends beyond one's own "needs").

thumb|388px|Idle Woman, painting by [[Daniel Hernández Morillo ]] Idleness is a lack of motion or energy. In describing a person, idle suggests having no labor: "idly passing the day".

phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone

leaving school before completing one's degree/diploma

state of being "normal", as opposed to being deviant, eccentric or unusual. Behavior can be normal for an individual (intrapersonal normality) when it is consistent with the most common behaviour for that person

300px|thumb|upright=1.4|The Mockery of the Owl: a 17th-century painting by Jan van Kessel the Elder, loosely depicting a scene from the 13th-century poem, [[The Owl and the Nightingale, in which the owl is mocked for its characteristics by other birds.]] Mockery or mocking is the act of insulting or making light of a person or other thing, sometimes merely by taunting, but often by making a caricature, purporting to engage in imitation in a way that highlights unflattering characteristics. Mockery can be done in a lighthearted and gentle way, but can also be cruel and hateful, such that it "co

Hyperactivity is a psychological or physical state of abnormally high activity, a symptom of certain medical or psychiatric conditions, and a common psychological syndrome. As a behavioral descriptor, hyperactivity includes increased movement such as fidgeting or constant movement, talking too much, difficulty concentrating, and other manifestations.

thumb|A llama staring at the camera

thumb|Painting of a Swabian woman teasing a man by covering his eyes from behind (1890) Teasing has multiple meanings and uses. In human interactions, teasing exists in three major forms: playful, hurtful, and educative. Teasing can have a variety of effects, depending on how it is used and its intended effect. When teasing is unwelcome, it may be regarded as harassment or mobbing, especially in the workplace and school, or as a form of bullying or emotional abuse. If done in public, it may be regarded as humiliation.

Neophobia is the fear of anything new. In its milder form, it can manifest as the unwillingness to try new things or break from routine. In the context of human children, the term is generally used to indicate a tendency to reject unknown or novel foods. Food neophobia, as it may be referred to, is an important concern in pediatric psychology.

thumb|240px|The Pedant by caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson Pedantry ( ) is an excessive concern with formalism, minor details, and rules that are not important.

Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without rationality.

a phenomenon in which people, assuming that the surrounding people possess more knowledge about the current situation, copy the actions of others when they are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior

Obstructionism is the practice of deliberately delaying, preventing or abusing a process.

factors that influence human behavior

psychological phenomena

thumb|A "Lion's Mouth" postbox for anonymous denunciations at the Doge's Palace in [[Venice. Text translation: "Secret denunciations against anyone who will conceal favors and services or will collude to hide the true revenue from them".]]

tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick and verbally facile

behaviour that enables a person to get along in their environment with greatest success and least conflict with others

Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent usually is connoted), and is accomplished with circumlocution (talking around the subject), the use of jargon (technical language of a profession), and the use of an argot (ingroup language) of limited communicative value to outsiders.

behavior in which a service animal disobeys a disabled owner’s instructions if it judges this to be safer—e.g. when a blind owner wants to cross a street but it is dangerous

type of advertisement

A loner is a person described as not seeking out, actively avoiding, or failing to maintain interpersonal relationships.

how people find information

ability or capacity to perform a task effectively or successfully

act of attaining attention

thumb|Illustration by Peter Newell for the poem "The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven" in [[Fables for the Frivolous, by Guy Wetmore Carryl; in French, the fox says "I admire your beautiful plumage" to the raven]] In modern English, sycophant denotes an insincere flatterer and refers to someone practising sycophancy (i.e., insincere flattery to gain an advantage).

the effort to avoid dealing with a stressor

tendency of members of a society to observe a distinction between public and private matters as separate from the secrecy thereof

time of day when the devil, demons or ghosts are supposed to come out

Disinhibition, also referred to as behavioral disinhibition, is medically recognized as an orientation towards immediate gratification, leading to impulsive behaviour driven by current thoughts, feelings, and external stimuli, without regard for past learning or consideration for future consequences. It is one of five pathological personality trait domains in certain psychiatric disorders. In psychology, it is defined as a lack of restraint manifested in disregard of social conventions, impulsivity, and poor risk assessment. Hypersexuality, hyperphagia, substance abuse, money mismanagement, fr

behavior, emotions, or conditions spreading spontaneously through a group or network