So I have a problem that my girlfriend hates, I tend to, believe-it-or-not, follow stereotypes or what people generally consider a characteristic of a group. My brother quit the hockey team in high school because the team was a bunch of goons and arrogant rich kids. That is the sort of stereotype I sometimes use. Or things like a certain team always has good parties for the ladies on campus because it is a bunch of chiseled guys who have a tendency to wear very little clothing. Yes, I am wrong from time to time, but, what keeps me from breaking the habit, the idea behind such stereotypes is that they are usually true.
Where am I going with this? The Social Identity and Deindividuation Effects theory (or SIDE theory) says relationships are built between groups and within groups based off of certain tying or separating characteristics, or...stereotypes. What happens when people find out the truth or even just the other side of someone in another group, is that their opinion and not coincidentally, their relationship changes. They had an opinion based off of the characteristics of a group, when those characteristics are proved otherwise...the opinion and relationship changes.
My specific story is recent, in a group project I and a friend were assigned another person to work with. I emailed that person, asked them when they were normally free, what year they were, what they were studying, and how much experience they had in the project we were going to undertake. He is a senior, biology/pre-med major, and had little experience before the course started. I facebook stalked him, won't deny it, and made some other silly assumptions about him. In this case, I was not thrilled with what I had learned about him in the CMC environment, I doubted his ability to work in a group effectively. When we all finally got together for the first meeting, it turns out the TAs had done a very good job combining our group, and while he was what he was online, he was more, and that more played a good compliment to what my friend and I were, and our group is working really well. My girlfriend was right, but I will say that, still, usually, I am right.
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2 comments:
Peter:
I too think that sometimes a person won't work well in my group due to personal stereotypes and pre-made assumptions of the little information I know of the person. I agree that you had some experience of the SIDE effect, but I also think you could look at this from an angle of the Hyperpersonal Model. The questions you asked your partner, although very standard, may have led you to exaggerated beliefs of what he was like. Also, the student may selectively present himself on his Facebook, furthering the ability for the Hyperpersonal to take affect. Overall, nice post.
Peter,
I tend to go into most group projects that way too. I usually assume that the people I’m assigned to work with will suck – and let’s face it, they usually do. However, I did have a recent group work experience similar to yours. I expected “John” to be a slacker because he looked like a real slacker. Much to my surprise… he knew his stuff, worked hard, and blended well with the group. I like how you related everything to SIDE. It’s easy to categorize people or fit them to stereotypes – especially in the Facebook generation – and SIDE really applies to that. Nice post!
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