Do People who Belong to a Group Follow all the norms of the Group?
No is the short answer!
People who belong to a group and are accepted by a group, always want the group leadership and members to think they follow all the rules.
They will vehemently defend all the norms and traditions in group meetings. Privately when the members are not around they may belong to another group which believes in exactly the opposite of what their group believes.
“Why?” — you may ask.
The first group, which is very restrictive, may be a powerful group in society and belonging to it may increase your social status so people will make people believe they belong to that group even though they do not agree with their principles of operation.
They will satisfy their urges privately, unbeknown to the group. I said in one of my earlier posts, that surveys where you ask people to tell you what they like are sometimes very misleading. Especially, if you ask questions when the person is with someone who is important and the person wants to impress him or her.
People will do Whatever it Takes to Belong and be Accepted!
The more time a person has spent in a group, the less likely it is they would abandon the group to join another group. It does not mean that the “elders” of the group all believe in everything the group believes.
People will most likely never leave a group, until they are sure and convinced that they will be accepted in another group with similar benefits. They may shop around, however, they will think very hard before they sever relationships with their original group.
Controlling which group you belong to should start while you are a child. If you join the wrong group when you are young, it could be very difficult to break those ties.
People are sometimes forced to join groups and do things they do not want to do. In countries where they do not have freedom, they must do what they are told or else.
As you can see, groups are an essential part of all our lives and we will always belong to one or more groups in our life.
Mustafa N. Savliwala
http://www.websitecc.com
