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

out with them to get inside information on Regina. Cady continues to pretend to be friends with them, but soon realizes what a horrible person Regina truly is after she stole Cady’s crush, Aaron. To get revenge, Cady, Janis, and Damian devise a plan to destroy Regina. The plan includes breaking up her and Aaron, making her gain weight, and turning the other two “Plastics” against her. For a short while, Cady’s main focus is to follow out the plan, but that soon becomes less of a priority. Over time Cady starts becoming more like Regina and turns into a “mean girl” herself. Her grades drop, she fights with her parents, and she abandons Janis and Damian.
Regina then learns of Cady’s plan to sabotage and decides to get revenge of her own. She brings forth a book full of rumors called the “burn book” that she and the other “plastics” wrote. The entire school goes into disarray and everyone is upset and fighting with one another. To stop all the fighting, Cady confesses to writing the “burn book” even though it was not her doing. Cady then goes back to acting like her old self and makes amends with Janis, Damian, and others she had hurt. Eventually, the “Plastics” break apart up and everything seems to be at peace.
Throughout the film, we can see evidence of Cady’s development. She is in the life stage of early adolescence which takes place between the ages of twelve and eighteen. In each life stage, there are a set of different developmental tasks that are to be completed. The first of these tasks is physical maturation, which includes growth spurts, brain development, and the onset of puberty. The film did not portray any of Cady’s physical maturation perhaps due to the fact that she is in the later years of her life stage. Most likely she has already experienced a majority of these changes. The second task is the use of formal operations (a stage of cognitive development) which includes skills such as greater reasoning abilities, predicting consequences, abstract thinking, and focused planning. One example of this task is Cady’s ability, along with the help of Janis and Damian, to plan a strategy to “break” Regina George. Cady and her friends are able to recognize which aspects contribute to Regina’s popularity and then formulate a way to destroy them. Even though Cady had the capacity to devise this plan, she was not able to foresee the consequences that could arise. The fact that Regina could become aware of the plan or that Cady could start to be influenced by the “Plastics” didn’t cross her mind. As a result of not contemplating the possible consequences, Cady ended up losing her friends and getting in a lot of trouble.
The third task is emotional development which includes an increase in the complexity of emotions.

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,

talking, and acting just like the “Plastics” (especially Regina). The more absorbed Cady gets into the group, the farther apart she drifts from her parents. She starts hiding things from them, spending less time with them, and losing some of their shared values. At one point, the “Plastics” have more influence and authority over Cady than her parents do.
The fifth and last task is romantic and sexual relationships. Cady doesn’t have any real romantic or sexual relationships in the film. She does have a crush, Aaron, but it was nothing more than that. They did get together to study after school a few times and they did kiss, but that’s it. In the film, what Cady and Aaron had never developed into a relationship. Though towards the end of the film, they reconnected and those shared feelings seemed to still be there. A hint of them possibly starting to date was given, but no concrete evidence was shown.
Another important aspect of each life stage is the psychosocial crisis.

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,

she was eating lunch in a bathroom stall. She felt like an outsider who didn’t belong. She felt like this for a second time after her split from the “Plastics”.
Though her time with the “Plastics” was a somewhat negative experience, Cady still acquired the prime adaptive ego quality of fidelity to others. She learned how to be loyal and committed to a group. It was this skill that allowed her to prove her loyalty and make up with Janis and Damian. At the end of the movie, which takes place in the following school year, we see that all three are still friends and together as a group.
Overall, I believe that Cady Heron provides support for Erikson’s psychosocial theory. Throughout the film Mean Girls, we see Cady actively working through the various developmental tasks of her life stage and attempting to resolve the psychosocial crisis. She is placed in an entirely new environment, which she has very limited knowledge of, all while trying to fit it and be accepted by the other students. When she finally does gain membership in a group, the “Plastics”, she is bombarded with all of these rules that she must follow for her to stay a member. Cady experiences first hand just how much work goes into fulfilling the need for group identity. She has to endure peer pressure, learn to be loyal, place the group’s needs before her own, and much more. Being a part of the “Plastics” is a lot more difficult than being a part of other groups, but Cady stays committed. On the other hand, Cady learns what it feels like to be alienated from all of her peers. The loneliness and lack of social support can be debilitating to an individual's self-esteem. Not learning how to be part of a group can also cause problems later in life. Despite her alienation and membership in a toxic clique, she still acquired the ego quality, fidelity to others. With her newfound quality, she was able to fully invest in a friendship with Janis and Damian.
Since successfully gaining a sense of group identity and the skills needed to navigate the larger social world, I believe Cady could start working on her individual identity. Feeling confident in your ability to be accepted into and a loyal member of a peer group prompts you to start figuring out your own beliefs, values, and passions. Knowing that she has solid social support will allow Candy to go out a do a bit of self-discovery. In my opinion, she successfully worked through the tasks and crisis of early adolescence and is ready to move onto the next stage.