Mean Girls Developmental Psychology

Mean Girls (2004), is a humourist teen film that is well known throughout the younger generations and is often quoted in the media. This film captures the lives of four teenage girls throughout their junior year of high school, targeting younger viewers who are in high school or soon to be in high school, who might look up to these girls as a role models or use this film for advice however, Mean Girls displays a lot of stereotypical and feminist behaviours about social class and social status, power and control and body image of high school teenagers which sets a poor example for young teens.

This paper will provide a sociological analysis of Mean Girls broken down into two sections. Section one will explain why a sociologist would find the movie interesting, examining the movie from a functionalist perspective, providing an example of private troubles and public issues, and comparing the movie to North American culture. Section two will discuss the themes of socialization and culture by explaining terms related to each section and applying them to the movie.

Mean Girls is a film about a homeschooled girl, Cady Heron, who has moved to Evanston from Africa and has been enrolled at a public school, called North Shore High School. She gets to experience what a public school is like and how there are different cliques that exist in society. Unexpectedly, Cady is invited to join the clique, called “The Plastics,” which consists of Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, and she quickly acquires how a girl should behave and appear. Later on, Cady understands how they received this name based on the girls’ behaviors and status in society. The movie centers on the social divisions between the high school students, and the labels that are given to students. The girls at North Shore High School are deviant in their

The film that I chose to do was the movie Mean Girls. This movie is filled with many funny characters and an amusing plot, but even though this movie has earned the crown of being the official “chick flick” it has a lot of psychological concepts that people really do not realize. However, when you really think about it, the movie has a lot to relate with when it comes to teenagers going into a new school because every teen that enters high school goes though the emotional and social stages of development. In this paper we will be looking at parts of the movie that focus on Cady and her stages of development as she goes through high school and deals with the Plastics, and then the Plastics themselves as well as certain aspects and things that revolve around them throughout the movie.

The main focus of this paper is to show the connections between aggression and peer rejection and the effects it has on an adolescent whether it be directly or indirectly. One of the most influential aspects for self-esteem in adolescence is social acceptance from peers which helps to endorse a positive sense of self-worth which is linked to effective coping (McMahan, 2009). When an adolescent is rejected by his or her peers, aggression is probable to occur. The most frequent type of aggression, especially in girls, is relational aggression. Relational aggression is trying to hurt someone by verbally attacking them or their social relations through gossip or exclusion (McMahan, 2009).

The Exploration of Social Psychological Concepts Within The Film “Mean Girls” Oliwia Parafinska Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey PSY 215-02: Social Psychology Professor Megan Crofford-Hotz February 29, 2024 The Exploration of Social Psychological Concepts Within The Film “Mean Girls” Introduction Social psychological concepts are integrated within all aspects of society, shaping group dynamics, feelings, and exerting influence on individuals’ behaviors and thoughts. Mark Waters' film, “Mean Girls” (2004), offers a compelling portrayal of various social psychological concepts woven into its narrative. Set within the turbulent environment of high school, viewers are immersed in a world where social dynamics are

Adolescence describes the transitional stage in a teenager’s life, from childhood to adulthood, where an individual evolves physically, psychologically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. It is a defined social category that is expressed through immaturity and unpredictability and allows an individual to learn and discover their sense of self and identity. The idea of adolescence came into perspective after children were expected to take on adult roles as soon as they were mature enough to, going straight from puberty to adulthood. As society changed and moulded, so did the ideas about life stages, which is evident in Erikson’s theory.

The Identity vs Role Confusion stage is represented in the years of adolescence and early adulthood. Erickson identifies this stage as a very important stage of an adolescence, because this stage is where the development of identity forms begin. If a strong sense of identity is not identified for an adolescences they will continue to experience confusion roles throughout their adulthood (Siegler et al., 2014, pp. 346-347). The film represents this Identity vs Role Confusion stage because some of the individuals in the film have experienced this stage in their lives. For example, Suzy in the film had experienced role confusion in her life. In 56 Up, Suzy, at 16 years old, during her adolescence age, she was uninterested in school, which she dropped out of and moved to Paris to create a new experience. Moving to Paris made her become more motivated, which she ended up getting a job and helping her shape her identity by experiencing new social and cultural changes. She was a nervous wreck and she was a heavy smoker, but when she was about 28, I examined that she had a better sense of identity because she was more mature, settled, and successful. From Suzy being a young child to a grown adult, she has changed drastically over her life span. She has matured and once she met her husband, her views changed, such as her not wanting children, but once she married her

Puberty is often a hard time for teenagers, for words and opinions of others can influence how a girl expresses herself. Nevertheless, this begins to have an impact on the young girl’s life because she tries to mold herself into the prototypical image created by society. The girl begins to do everything possible in order to feel that she is good enough to belong in the society around

In the field of psychology, the idea of social psychology is very prevalent. Social Psychology can be defined as the branch of psychology that deals with the social interactions, and how people are influenced by those who they surround themselves with. This type of psychology can be applied predominantly to the idea of high schools, especially high school cliques emphasized in movies. A movie that emphasizes the phenomenon of social psychology is Mean Girls that aired in 2004. The scene that embodies the idea of social psychology in Mean Girls is when Janice introduces Cady to the cliques in the cafeteria.

This paper will focus on the concentration area of adolescents, defined in this case as young people aged between eleven and twenty two years old, according to the Sellers (2016) class lecture on adolescence. According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development (1968), adolescence is a psychosocial stage that includes a crisis period of growth and vulnerability, where there is a shift in priorities to focus on exploring individual identity beyond one’s “categorical self”. This stage of development particularly intrigues me because my interests lie in helping young people define themselves and navigate their newly found agency. It is important to note that this period in an individual’s life is fluid, and can vary greatly depending upon the individual and their environment.

Adolescents are faced with many difficult life decisions which, when coupled with their lack of self-knowledge, cause identity crises. Not secure in themselves, teenagers must make decisions concerning how they will act, with who they will associate with, and what life decisions they will choose. Ultimately, the progression by which they determine their identity must inevitability be one of trial and error. In the book Reviving Ophelia, clinical psychologist Dr. Mary Pipher discusses the social and cultural pressures faced by today 's adolescent girls based on her individual clients’ stories. This paper will examine how gender role socialization effects girls more specifically, depending on the teenage girls’ developmental level. Another crucial theme to be analyzed is the idea coined as lookism and the American culture, which according to the book is a determination of a woman 's value based solely on appearance. Another common factor in each of the case studies presented by Pipher is the theme of resisting authority and shutting out parental guidance substituting help with media and peers. By analyzing these young girls’ stories, it is clear to understand why young girls find themselves going down the wrong path growing up.

The movie industry creates projects based on viewer demand. The more familiar a subject or situation feels to the audience, the more likely it will generate revenue and positive reviews. Therefore, popular films – especially the teen girl genre – are used to communicate present cultural issues in order to create a familiar atmosphere for their audience. For example, two distinct teen girl films – Pariah and Blue is the Warmest Color – incorporate similar coming of age stories in order to communicate and relate the complexity teenage girl development. Both films deal with queer adolescent females who explore their identity through different circumstances. Therefore, these films express female sexuality as a fluid experience by challenging

Furthermore, the study design and methods are very much appropriate for the purposes of the study. The study’s set-up and methods allows the authors to address the aims set in the introduction, and they do so in the discussion and conclusion. In addition, the procedures are thoroughly detailed and allow for reproduction from academic readers. The procedures are listed to such a level that gives the study a strong level of

Adolescence is the period of development from ages 10-21, it is the period between childhood and adulthood (McGraw Hill Education, 2015) It is a time of confusion and exploration. This stage continues until a person is holding a full time job, economic independence, and taking responsibility to oneself (Santrock, 2011, p. 344). As a 16 year old female I am in the midst of all these changes and can relate many themes to myself and my own experiences.