Collective self esteem

My Family

When I was trying to decide what group to categorize my self in I had a really hard time doing this.. Until I realized my most important group is my family group.. This group is not only my actual family but also very close people who I consider my family. These people have positive and sometimes negative effects on my self esteem and who I am. These people make me who I am.. I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, as well as many other side of myself. Of course there are definitions of who are members of this group and who are not. I see my self as the matriarch of my family group, because my family is who I want it to include. I am in charge of who I decide is in my family.. Even though there are those who I was born related to that does not make them in my family group.There are several people whom I am related to that I could never see being in my family group and then there are people that are not even blood that I consider my family.  My very close friend is a major member of my family group. She is like another mother to my kids and is always there like a sister. She knows she is one of us. She tells people all the time that we are her other family. There are those relatives of my long time boyfriend who I call my family even though technically they are not related to me. They all treat my kids and me like we are part of their family group. As that is how we treat them.  With all the members of my group that are not related it was a journey to get to know them all before they were silently accepted into my family group. This is even true with my boyfriend whom I can not imagine having my family group without. My personal connection to this group is strong, sometimes there is a little weakness but we always come back. I feel a great sense of pride in my family group, I think I did well in creating this little group of people. When I think about my group I feel a sense of accomplishment and joy to know that I have such wonderful supportive people who are there to take care of me. Outsiders tend to view my family group as good people. Most all think that this group of  people who take care of each other and that are always there for each other is a positive thing. There is some negativity but it never outweighs the positive. Being a member of this group is  a large part of my identity and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

Groups

We are all part of a group. This is one thing all of us have in common, we are part of the group the human race.  This is close to where our similarities end. Many of us branch from this group and join many others, such as social groups, school groups, and other various groups. 

What happens to us as an individual when we become part of these groups. In the extreme cases some of us forget that we are individuals and tend to frame their lives around what their group would think. Those people are usually just limited to a main group and have no place in any others. 

For those of us who seek out several groups to throw ourselves into are usually happier for it. Putting ourselves out there to meet other people and expand our social horizons excites us. 

When we are part of group we usually tend to mesh with people with similar interests and people who we share common goals with. 

I do believe the older we get the less social groups matter to us. From my personal experience I have my few friends I sit with in the mornings waiting for class to start and visit with. But I really only have one of those that I spend time with outside the school setting. This is mainly because I have known her for a long time. I also really only have one other close friend that I spend time with because i have no need for a large group of friends. My family is the most important group I belong to, but remembering back to my late teens and early twenties socializing with my group of friends was an important part of my life.

Conformity

1. Conformity is defined as the tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, and behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms.
Compliance is defined as the changes in behavior that are elicited by direct requests.
Obediance is defined as the behavior change produced by the commands of authority.
(All definitions courtesy of our textbook, Social Psychology)
Conformity is a change on how we view things and our opinion on those things and how we modify our behavior to be consistant with our new views. Complience is when we change our behavior as a responses to some one directly saying we need to change it. Usually we change our behavior because its just not worth it to fight authority over it. Obedience is the change in the behavior because of the authority that requests us to.
2. The factors of conformity:
     Group Size: The larger the group the harder it is to have a different opinion. If the majority of the group believe than more often than not a person will conform to their beliefs.
     Awareness of the Norms: Conformity usually only happens when a person knows about and focuses on the social norm. Often they mispercieve what is the norm.
     Having an Ally: Having an ally reduces the need to conform. When you are not alone in your beliefs it is easier to stand up for them. The pressure is less when you aren't the only one being urged to conform.
    Age/ Gender: According to our book women conform more than men. Also though gender may not be the reason for the conformity, that it may be due to the subject matter. Publicly women tend to conform more than men, this may be due to not wanting a public confrontation.
Conformity is different in different cultures. There are several variables of conformity in a society, these include the complexity of the society, the affluence of the society, and the heterogenity of the society.
3. The social impact theory  is the social influence depends on the strenght, immediacy, and number of source persons relative to target persons.  The credibility of  a source has a lot to determine a sources strength in their message to those not like them. The relavance of the cause determines the immediacy to make a decison to conform to the group. Also the larger the number of credible persons in a group the easier they can sway a person. This theory basically is the driving force behind many cult groups. They get strength in numbers and convince non group members that they are defying an almighty power if they do not coform.

When i think of conformity I do tend to think more towards negativity than toward any thing positive. Even though many do not like it everyone conforms in one way or another, just doing what your friends do is conforming to how they want to do things or what they think is right.

                                         THESE ARE THE FACES OF EXTREME CONFORMITY!!!!!!!!
                                           THEIR MESSAGE MUST HAVE BEEN POWERFUL!!!!
                                               WOULD YOU FOLLOW THEM!!!!!!!