Human Desire to "fit in"
Two common ways of handling a situation are either to do so
according to one¹s own personal needs and desires with no specific
regard to other people, or one can base a decision on how it will be
viewed by others. The vast majority of people fall on the side of
being worried about what others are saying and thinking. Both good and
bad can come from living this way, but it has seemed to remain
constant throughout history. People have a natural desire to belong,
and to fit in with a certain group. No matter what group an individual
chooses, that individual almost always is forced sacrifice a part of
them self in order to seem more a part of things. People in this world
seem to need companionship and are often too weak to stand alone. As a
result, they stand together in what ever group they are best suited
to.
It is a point of interest to many of the people who have stopped to
think about this fact. The idea that people live according to how
others will perceive then has been established as the rule, not the
exception. The real question now lies in the reasons for this way of
life. It was hypothesized by C.S. Lewis that this desire to belong
and to fit in is a natural human characteristic. He believed that
people have an instinctive drive to belong, in the same sort of way
species reproduce. It is possible that his theory of instinctive
necessity is accurate, and humans are as a whole are week and scared
when they are faced with solitude.
The old adage ³there is safety in numbers² is appropriate in this
topic. Often in this world terrible things happen because people group
up and commit unspeakable acts, then take shelter in the numbers of
those involved. The Annual Freaknik ³celebration² is the perfect
example. Thousands of individuals crowd the streets of Atlanta and
pillage the city for a weekend, all the while they show no respect
for the laws or the residents of the city. This can be directly
related to the issue of people doing things to be a part of the group.
If these people were asked individually why they did these terrible
things, for the most part they would respond by saying ³everyone else
The influence that the behaviors of groups have is one of the most important factors that help shape and contribute to a functional society. With their works, William Edward Burghardt
To remind people in an organization why they belong takes continued focus on a common goal or common belief. By having one main function, a group is generally more effective than if everyone has different ideas and outlooks on specific topics. However, to keep everyone on the same page, the members of a group need to accurately know where they stand in reference to their goal. One way to do this is through social facilitation. This is the concern of self image through the presence of other people. It's a concept that allows members to know the acceptable opinions of the group. Someone who agrees to the ideas set out from the organization. "Group polarization is the concept of changing personal opinions to extremities after a group discussion.(Johnson 13)" This concept eliminates members who aren't sure what they think of the group's purpose. They decide that either they agree completely or they disagree completely. Either way it means they decide if they are in or out after the group discussion. A common goal is one way to distinguish and separate the devoted members from the questionable individuals in a group.
Pursuing a personal desire and choosing to conform to societal expectations is a challenging decision to make. A person must decide if their personal desire is worth risking the shame and judgment of others or is conforming the route to take because it is easier. When pursuing a personal desire one must ask itself if it is worth the hardship to accomplish one's desire or if it is best left alone and repressed, in hopes of finding comfort in conformity. John Laroche from The Orchid Thief expresses his personal desire without a care for conformity or societal expectations. Nevertheless, Laroche never stopped being strange as he grew up with fascinations of many objects such as orchids, turtles, old mirrors and fish tanks.
social groups for the convenience of their owners, they are bored and restless, and they are forced
Elizabeth and her cousin Mary Queen of Scots often clashed, both personally and politically. Eventually, they wanted one another dead. Mary Queen of Scots wanted to be the queen of England and was ready to attack them. French forces increased their numbers, without planning to attack England. However, Elizabeth was worried and decided to attack. She sent her weak army up to Scotland and was easily defeated. Mary laughed in her face and sent back one of her men wearing the French colors. Later on Elizabeth sent an assassin to kill her and it was successful. Mary Queen of Scots was killed.
Groupthink was coined by Janis and is defined as “a psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group”(Cherry). So people will essentially forgo their beliefs to conform to the group to obtain harmony or if they don’t agree with a group idea they will simply keep quiet about it rather than challenge ideas. Janis classified eight different “symptoms” of groupthink. They are Illusions of invulnerability, which leads the members of the group to take part in risk-taking and become overly optimistic. Unquestioned beliefs, leads the members to ignore the possible aftermath that their decisions can make. Rationalizing, hinders members from recognizing warning signs and from reexamining their own beliefs. Stereotyping, leads the members of the group to criticize or write off any other group who may have differing opinions. Self-censorship, makes group members who may have differing opinions not disclose them to the group. "Mindguards",certain members of the group who are self-appointed censors that withhold information they find may disrupt group consensus. Illusions of unanimity, leads the members of the group to think that everyone believes the same things. Direct pressure, this is put on members to conform when they do end up expressing their own opinions or the rest of the group feels as if they are having differing opinions. Janis’s work was influential because it helped us examine the
A Catholic, Mary married the Hapsburg prince of Spain, the soon-to-be Philip II. Mary would come to be known as "Bloody Mary" for her harsh treatment of English Protestants in her attempt to restore Catholicism to England. When Sir Thomas Wyat the Younger's Rebellion threatened Mary's rule, she believed Elizabeth to have been involved in the plot and imprisoned her in the Tower of London. By a combination of luck and skillful persuasion on the part of her political allies, Elizabeth survived this ordeal and became queen when Mary died in 1558.
Mary Tudor became queen of England after she had Lady Jane Grey, known as the nine-day queen, executed (Lindbuchler). She came to the throne on July 19, 1553, and ruled for five dismal years (“Mary the Queen”). Because she was an advocate for the Roman Catholic Church, Mary never gained the support of her countrymen or nobles (Lindbuchler). At first, she seemed to be able to compromise and moved slowly toward religion; she even allowed her brother Edward to be buried with a Protestant service. But she despised the fact that her father broke away from the Church and always intended to return Catholicism to England (“Queen Bloody Mary”).
We, as humans, hold individualism in the highest regard, yet fail to realize that groups diminish our individuality. Lessing writes, “when we’re in a group, we tend to think as that group does. but we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group” (p. 334). Groups have the tendency to generate norms, or standards, for behavior in certain situations. Not following these norms can make you stand out and, therefore, groups have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions in ways that are consistent with the groups’ values.
Quen Mary Stuart was born to James V, son of Margaret Tudor, and Mary of Guise. The unfortunate death of he father when she was six days old left her to be Queen of Scotland. Since she was too young, however, Mary’s mother ruled Scotland as regent. Growing up, she was a devout Catholic, which unfortunately did not carry onto her reign when she travelled back to the Protestant Scotland. “Her claims to the throne of England were almost as strong as her claims to the Scottish throne” (“Mary, Queen of Scots (r. 1542-1567).”). Mary was, in fact, next in line to the English throne after Henry VII’s legitimate children. Though she was a Tudor, she did not rule over France.
Queen Mary, he became the heir to the Scottish throne. His godparents were Charles IX of
Conformity is the compliance with the norms of a culture and society, occurring when individuals wish to align holistically with surrounding groups. Throughout my Personal Interest Project, I shall investigate the cultural agents contributing to this trend. I hypothesise that an individual’s interaction with society influences their response to social pressures. Thus, culture, gender, perception and time affect conformity.
Groups can be made up of different individuals that are coming together to accomplish a specific
Group can be huge and small, in the group, people who prioritize group’s interest ahead of individual’s interest can be considered as collectivism. But collectivism does not mean power over individual and it is power as a group. The first group we encountered is family. However family differ from people, in most cases family formed by closely living relatives. In this kind of case family goal are more emphasized than individual goals. For example the family is founding the history book of the family which needs huge amount of money, at this time some short-term individual interests should be temporarily stopped to found the history book
give them a feeling of being accepted by the group. This phenomen has a negative