For the second reflective journal, I have decided to discuss on the topic of ingroupers and outgroupers. This subject matter caught my interest because I find it to be very accurate within our society. To begin with, people are generally more inclined to associate with a crowd that is very similar to them. These similarities can be associated with religion, ethnicity, economic status, sports, or movie interests. On the other hand, outgroupers can be viewed differently because they do not associate with the same things as you.
Because we seem to form more positive connections with ingroupers, the outgroupers can be viewed in a more negative way. Instinctively, we will trust our ingroupers more and may be rude and unfriendly to someone who we consider an outsider. You have to be careful before putting a label on someone when it is based solely on superficial evidence. Despite someone’s external appearance, they can believe in the same things as you but just dress differently. I believe that this type of labeling frequently occurs throughout the teenage years because everyone wants to feel like they belong to a group.
Throughout my high school years I remember being able to see the separation of groups. I was an athlete in high school so a lot of the time we didn’t ever speak with the “skater/punk” groups because their views were completely different than ours. There always seemed to be awkwardness between the two groups because we really had nothing in common (or so we thought). Due to the fact that we all thought each other was completely different, communication became uncomfortable. Teens are especially content with their circle of friends (ingroupers) and do not attempt to go outside the box.
I have definitely found myself in a position where I thought someone was initially an outgrouper but, then decided that were actually an ingrouper. In my high school it was thought that all athletes were very preppy but I came to know a lot of my teammates who dressed completely differently than I did. This kind of predicament suggests that it is easy for a person to make a judgment based on someone’s appearance. It is very easy to look at someone and make a judgment but, categorizing people in this way will only hinder your ability to discover new friendships.
