I have decided to write about group behavior. I just finished taking a psychology class, and this is what I learned about group behavior. Groups are formed when two or more people come together with certain similar interests or obtain similar objectives. Groups tend to hang out with each other more often than anyone else, and people can be very exclusive to who they let in to their friend group. Group behavior is described as the attitude, feeling and thought of a collection of people that can be observed or noticed. Some people behave differently in groups and they change their behavior. The reason why people change their behavior when in groups is to fit in when they are around that particular group. Individual behavior and decision making can be influenced by the presence of others. However, the influence of groups on the individual can also generate negative behaviors.

In high school, things can get very cliquey. Every grade consists of groups, and some schools have more than others. Being part of a group can give an individual a sense of security, a boost to their self-esteem and a feeling of belonging. Being part of a group that is seen as being better than others (an ‘in-group’), can create a bond between the members. When a part of a group, knowing that you have somebody looking out for you can help you feel safer in a way when things go wrong. There are many negatives that come along with being a part of a group as well. One may feel peer pressured to do something everyone else in that group is doing even when they feel it is wrong. One may go along with the decisions and behavior that is going on in their group to try and fit in, or conform with the whole group.

My major theme is group behavior. I have decided to look at how certain people behave different ways while in groups. I have also realized that groups can have a negative and positive impact on individuals. I have decided to use the film “Mean Girls” to portray that topic.

Teenage Cady Heron was educated in Africa by her scientist parents. She was raised by zoologists, so when she starts school as a junior at public school, she realizes that things are a little different than life in Africa. When her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, Cady finally gets to experience public school and sees the cruel laws of popularity that divide the student body into tightly knit cliques. Cady walks into the cafeteria and the tables are all full of cliques with students that share similar interests. Janice Ian explains to Cady that where you sit in the cafeteria for lunch is crucial. Janice says, “You got your freshman, junior varsity jocks, preps, Asian nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don’t eat anything, desperate wannabes, sexually active band geeks, the burnouts, the greatest people you will ever meet, and the worst.”

On Cady’s second day of school, she gets invited to sit with the “Plastics” and immediately is given a bunch of rules to follow by them. The Plastics are its own four girl clique made up of Regina, Gretchen, Karen, and Cady, also known as the “in-group” at North Shore High School. For example, everyone in the group can only where sweatpants once a week, only wear their hair in a pony tail once a week, and on Wednesday the Plastics wear pink. Cady soon realizes how her shallow group of new friends earned this nickname.

In the movie Mean Girls, Regina George is the “queen bee” and Gretchen and Karen are her two followers. Cady is the new student to school and Regina invites her to sit with her and her two friends in the group at lunch. Cady's “weird friends”, Janice and Damien tell Cady to become fake friends with Regina so they could sabotage her as pay back for spreading the rumor that Janice was a lesbian. Cady ditches her “weird” friends for the “cool” ones and eventually becomes one of the plastics. Cliques have problems and people, especially girls, definitely have their own issues in the groups they are in. When in the gym, Cady says, “Ms. Norbury had us confront each other directly about the things that were bothering us. And it seemed like every clique had its own problems.”  When talking through their problems, Janice Ian tells the whole of the girls at North Shore their plan for Regina. Janice says in anger, “We faked her friends with Regina, gave her foot cream as face wash, gave her bars to make her gain weight instead of lose weight, got her boy friend to break up with her, turned her best friends behind her back.” Regina was very hurt by this, as I believe anyone would be, and ran off crying. In-groups represent the “us” part of “us” vs. “them” mentality where all members share a common interest or identity. At many points during the movie, other girls of the class are interviewed for their views on the Plastics, which really highlights them as the ideal in-group. One girl said, “One time Regina punched me in the face… It was awesome.” The views these girls have on the Plastics means they are looked up to as the most popular clique in school and all the girls (whether they admit or not) wish to be a part. The Plastics have a need for conformity. The rules stated earlier (such as sweatpants once a week), are laid out that are learned social rules that tell the other members what to do/what not to do. Regina gives specific information on how to act. The Plastics must follow these rules, and if one breaks them they cannot sit with the rest of the group at lunch.

I realized that every school, no matter where you go, has groups. I went to Marin Catholic High School my freshman and sophomore years of high school. The first week of freshman year, I had never seen so many groups and that had formed so quickly. Everyone had their tables they sat at lunch, and it seemed to be with the same people every single day. The group of people I hung out with changed pretty often at Marin Catholic, and I was getting pretty overwhelmed with all this social group tension. There definitely was an in-group, the girls and boys who had lots of money and had all the brand name clothes. They all played sports and pretty much everyone wanted to be in that group. I noticed that I behaved differently around the “in-group” and that I felt more nervous around them. I did not like to be around them and quite frankly got annoyed with them, but did wish I was in that group. They seemed to have everything. They all played varsity sports and had good grades. They did not really acknowledge the rest of us, though. This was not a good feeling for me and in fact, I felt like I was seen as lesser than them.

I did not like that there were so many groups at Marin Catholic and wished I could just be friends with whoever I wanted to be friends with. I did feel a sense of belonging when in a friend group here, but I also felt a sense of pressure. I didn’t like how tightly knit all the groups where are my group of friends seemed to be changing a lot. I transferred this year to Terra Linda High School and could not be more happy. There are so many less cliques at Terra Linda and everyone is sort of friends with everyone. Obviously, you have your closer friends, but I do not ever feel excluded the way I felt at Marin Catholic. I realized I do not like the sense of very tight cliques, where people in that clique/group are exclusive and I feel nervous to do one thing wrong and that group will stop hanging out with me. I really found like I found my friends at Terra Linda and there is so much less cliquish pressure. This is when I realized what I really wanted and really did not want in life. I want many friends of all different types of groups and all different types of people, not just small groups everywhere.