Group Personalities

Before I forget this, have you ever thought why a story written in Russia a hundred years ago resounds with us? Or why Shakespeare is still alive? You would say, these writings are timeless. But what makes them timeless?

Let me give you an example. Often there are stories and plots that when we see them, we grab them immediately, and are able to predict what is about to happen. An ambitious teacher trying hard to correct her rogue class, while her students are talented but are falling behind because of poverty? Sounds familiar? Immediately, you think of that one special student, thats the toughest to penetrate among the rest, but eventually the teacher will win her heart over?

I bet it sounds familiar. And there are hundreds of other examples. These patterns of social behavior are found not only in literature but also in our daily lives. For example, we all remember the top student in our class. We all remember the hip squad in our class, the ones who were aware of the fashion and knew how to mingle with the opposite sex so well so ahead of time. And then there is always a group of people thats totally clueless. Any bells ringing?

Just like individual personality types, where a person tends to behave in a certain way under given conditions, there exist group personality types. These group personality types exhibit similar patterns of behavior. For example, the eldest child in a family takes charge. He knows he is the leader. The youngest takes life a bit easily. Of course, these are coarse generalizations, and there are always exceptions. But we will see majority of the cases in this way.

My point is, often we get caught up in our 'perceived' role in a group. If we are the eldest, we would keep behaving like that. We would never try to be frivolous like our younger siblings. If we are the mod-squad type, we would always think that thinking and reflection is for the valedictorian type. If we are the valedictorian, we would always think that athletics are for the jocks.

For a day, break away from your 'group personality'. Experience a different life.