Social psychology is illustrated in the film Mean Girls. Social psychology can be defined as the branch of psychology that deals with social interactions and how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of other people. Many people who have experienced this same behavior presented in Mean Girls, have experienced being in one of the two, “in-group” or “out-group” of people at some point in their lives. “People easily divide the social world into us (the in-group) versus them (the out-group)”. (Stein 2019). “People considered part of the ‘us’ category…thought to be more favorable than those in the ‘them’ category” (Stein 2019). Not only can this type of behavior lead to people being discriminated against, stereotyped, and prejudiced against but it also, causes them to conform to societal norms. Stereotyping involves the oversimplifying image or idea of a particular group or thing and the “beliefs about social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics they are believed to share” (Stein 2019). Prejudice or “negative attitudes toward members of a specific social group” (Stein 2019) is also shown throughout the film as well as discrimination towards different groups of people. Because some of us do not want to feel left out or looked at as “different” we, oftentimes, conform to social groups. We start to accept the opinions of others and admire the feeling of being accepted by other people. It is “the influence of other people that leads us to conform to be liked and accepted by them” (Stein 2019). These are all social psychology concepts examined in the movie Mean Girls.
Bullying is also portrayed throughout the film. It is “a subset of aggressive behavior in which verbal or physical violence is used over time in a relationship characterized by an imbalance of strength and power” (2010). One way it is seen in the film is when the girls present the burn- a book that contains mean things about several of the people in the school (00:20:40) Bullying affects people’s self-esteem, and “children who are victimized have significantly lower self-esteem than those who are not victimized” (2010). When they find out that almost every girl has been a victim, the “teacher responds….have them write apologies and play trust games” (Stein 2019). This is not successful because the “mean girls” have to want to stop the behavior and are the only ones who can fix or stop the behavior of hurting other people for their satisfaction.
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In Mean Girls, the plastics are the in-group with Regina George being the leader. The girls within her group believe they rule the school and are superior to everyone. “Popular kids…queen bees.. are more controlling than other members of the group” (Stein 2019).“these kids have social skills that draw others to them and are considered leaders of a group (Stein 2019)”. Cady Heron, who is attending public school for the first time since moving from South Africa, is a perfect target for the plastics to try to rule and control. They invite Cady to sit with them so they can summon her into their group to control her later on. Gretchen and Karen are just followers in the group and are not mean girls. They do everything the leader asks of them and are oblivious to the fact they are being manipulated and controlled. Janis and Damian, who were rejected by the plastics and are members of the “out-group”, underestimate Cady’s ability to make good judgments but know that she is a threat to the plastics.
Stereotyping takes place throughout Mean Girls. When Cady sits down with the Plastics at lunch, Karen asks, “So if you’re from Africa, then why are you white,” which feeds the stereotype that Karen is a dumb blonde (00:09:30). The stereotype with Regina George is that she’s the typical “Queen Bee.” She’s popular and beautiful, and everyone wants to be her. Another example displayed is when Janice gives Cady a map of the cafeteria room. The “sexually active band geeks” is one of them. Not all band geeks are sexually active. The map also includes “Asian nerds,” “cool Asians,” and “wannabes.” Prejudice and discrimination are also shown in the movie. The 'plastics' demonstrate prejudice through their aggressive isolation from girls who they deem unattractive or 'uncool'. They manipulate their popularity in the school to turn other groups of students against each other. Much of this prejudice is seen through the hostility expressed between the different cliques in the school. To reference discrimination in the movie, Cady blames her teacher, Ms. Norbury, for her bad grades. Ms. Norbury is being blamed for Cady's bad grade in math because Cady is failing on purpose and figures she has to explain to the Plastics why she is failing since she is smart at math. Cady blames Ms. Norbury for claiming that she sells drugs to other students.
Conformity, which is a principle that requires people to adjust their behavior and thinking to match a group standard is seen in Mean Girls. The most popular group of students known as 'The Plastics', find an interest in Cady and invite her to join their clique. Unaware of how a popular girl acts, the plastics influence Cady and she starts to desire their approval (the normative approach in social psychology) and she soon becomes one of the most popular girls in their high school (00:015:00). “This type of conformity results in public compliance with the group’s beliefs and behaviors….” (Stein 2019) Cady is an example of how easily and unconsciously conformity may happen. Her intentions to conform with the group began with a hidden agenda. It was originally supposed to be a performance for her friends, Janis and Damien. However, as time progressed, she began to enjoy the plastic’s attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs. Soon after, she lost herself and changed her private beliefs to be the same as the plastics. It was not until she lost all her friends that she realized she also lost herself.
Overall, the Mean Girls movie was strong in its’ points illustrating stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and conformity. However, there were a few inaccuracies noted within the movie. It is not at all realistic for Cady Heron to go from being a 'home-schooled jungle freak' to climbing the social ladder into popularity so fast, to being hated by everyone, only to end up being crowned Spring Fling queen. In real life, no one probably would have noticed her. Social climbing is just not that easy and normally does not happen as fast no matter how attractive you are. Also, “normal” high school girls do not feel the need to be glamorous going to 5 to 8 classes a day. Most high schools have dress codes that would have prevented this, but even in the ones that do not, this does not happen. Lastly, cliques will exist and drama is bound to happen, but it's high school and it is a learning experience for everyone. As long as you try to grow and learn you will be okay. Even if you are not a member of “The Plastics”.
Reference page
- Alisha R.Pollastri, Esteban V. Cardemil, and Ellen H. O’Donnell Journal of Interpersonal Violence (2010) 25: 1489 originally published online 29 December 2009
- Mean Girls. Dir. Mark Waters. Perf. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chaburt. Paramount, 2004. Film.
- Stein, L. (2019). Social Psychology: Mean Girls. [Powerpoint Slides]
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