Mean Girls Psychology

Case Study

The film Mean Girls tells the story of sixteen-year-old Cady Heron and her new life as a high school student in the United States. She had previously been homeschooled due to her parents work as zoologists in Africa. Since it’s her first exposure to public school, she is a bit naïve and unaware of all the rules and customs. On her first day, she befriends Janis and Damian, who give her the rundown of different groups and personalities at North Shore High. Of all the groups, they recommend she steer clear of most dangerous one, the “Plastics” and their leader Regina George.
An incident that occurs one day during lunch leads Cady to be invited to eat lunch with the “Plastics”. Upon hearing this, Janis convinces Cady to keep hanging

Cady displays a solid control over her emotions. There is a scene where Regina is kissing and flirting with Aaron in front of Cady to make her jealous. Instead of lunging across the table to attack Regina (“how we would solve it in the wild”, according to Cady), Cady stays calm and doesn’t let Regina get to her. Although adolescence can be a time of emotional turmoil, Cady does not let her emotions control her. The fourth developmental task is membership in the peer group. This particular task is the main focus of the entire film. When Cady first starts school, she isn’t a member of any particular group. This changes when she gets invited to start hanging out with the “Plastics”. Even though there are only three members in the “Plastics” (four when Cady joins), they would still be considered a clique. The three members, Regina, Gretchen, and Karen are extremely close and loyal to one another (more in the form of loyalty to Regina from Gretchen and Karen). Regina puts in place strict rules and those who don’t follow them will be kicked out. Another huge part of the “Plastics” are their group boundaries and norms. As far as selection, all three girls share similar interests and values including shopping and the importance of looking “good”. At first, Cady doesn’t have much in common with them, but she is soon socialized to fit right in. Throughout the movie, Cady begins dressing,

For early adolescence, it is group identity versus alienation. Adolescents either learn skills that allow them to be a part of and connected to the social world or they don’t, which causes them to withdraw from society and the support that comes with it. In the film, Cady experiences both group identity and alienation. The time spent as a member of the “Plastics” gave her a sense of group identity and provided her with the confidence she needed to be a part of a larger social world. One important aspect she experienced was group operations. Cady was able to distinguish herself and her group from others and form both ingroup and outgroup attitudes. She knew both her and everyone else’s role in the group and how to effectively coordinate within the group. Cady also becomes emotionally invested in the “Plastics”. She puts aside some of her own thoughts and feelings to benefit the group as a whole. There were many times when Regina placed peer pressure, the central process, upon her. Cady acted like a bully, went to parties, and pursued Aaron because she was pressured to. Although this was negative peer pressure, it still gave Cady the skills to resolve the psychosocial crisis. Although Cady did end up acquiring some of the necessary skills to resolve the crisis ( partially through peer pressure), there were still instances when she was all by herself with no real friends. At the start of the school year,