Spring Break
Social butterflies stay caterpillars
by Margaret Goldberg
Op-Ed | 9/9/08
Posted online at 3:02 AM EST on 9/9/08
We're all aware of stereotypes. This is Brandeis, after all. We've all known about them since before middle school, but I think we can all agree that it's in high school that grouping people into superficial, loosely defined social categories is a priority for many. Why we still bother trying to figure out who should be president of the Harry Potter and the Lord of the Star Treks Club or who fits the cliché head cheerleader/prom queen/blond bimbo persona is beyond me.
We persist in this practice even now. We deny it because we're not in high school anymore. It doesn't apply to us since we're big, bad, oh-so-mature college students. But we just graduated from high school. Some of us enjoy the nostalgia, and some of us act like we never left. So please, don't pretend like you've forgotten social structure entirely.
The thing is, we're not the only ones who rank people in that hierarchy. In multiple studies, psychologists grouped together students who were considered popular, average, rejected and neglected. It's good to know that anyone in doubt of their social status can have it evaluated by a team of medical professionals.
The psychologists did, however, have a stroke of genius when they took a look at how various groups fared after the proms and pep rallies were over. According to a New York Times article, the social queens and those considered "socially dominant" with an "aggressive, selfish streak" didn't do so well.
Wow. Now there's a concept. People don't want to put up with peers who are rude, pushy and self-centered? Who would have thought?
This is not to say that everyone who is popular is going to be a failure in life or even that they are not nice people. This only applies to the stereotypical mean girls and guys.
Of course, that isn't to say that every mean girl is going to end up friendless. I mean, look at Regina George, the queen bee from 2004's Mean Girls. She turned out OK in the end. Then again, you'd have to wonder what would have become of her if the burn book didn't turn all the girls into crazed animals, resulting in an intervention, which then caused Regina to storm outside and get hit by a school bus.
We persist in this practice even now. We deny it because we're not in high school anymore. It doesn't apply to us since we're big, bad, oh-so-mature college students. But we just graduated from high school. Some of us enjoy the nostalgia, and some of us act like we never left. So please, don't pretend like you've forgotten social structure entirely.
The thing is, we're not the only ones who rank people in that hierarchy. In multiple studies, psychologists grouped together students who were considered popular, average, rejected and neglected. It's good to know that anyone in doubt of their social status can have it evaluated by a team of medical professionals.
The psychologists did, however, have a stroke of genius when they took a look at how various groups fared after the proms and pep rallies were over. According to a New York Times article, the social queens and those considered "socially dominant" with an "aggressive, selfish streak" didn't do so well.
Wow. Now there's a concept. People don't want to put up with peers who are rude, pushy and self-centered? Who would have thought?
This is not to say that everyone who is popular is going to be a failure in life or even that they are not nice people. This only applies to the stereotypical mean girls and guys.
Of course, that isn't to say that every mean girl is going to end up friendless. I mean, look at Regina George, the queen bee from 2004's Mean Girls. She turned out OK in the end. Then again, you'd have to wonder what would have become of her if the burn book didn't turn all the girls into crazed animals, resulting in an intervention, which then caused Regina to storm outside and get hit by a school bus.
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