Week 4 Risky Behavior and Groups

After reading the Schwalbe text I began to think about high school and all the things that people would do using “group think”. There was countless times where I would witness people doing risky behavior because they were with a group of friends. I interviewed three of my friends from high school to describe a time when they participated in risky behavior because they were with a group of friends.

The first person was my friend Amber. She said that she once snuck out of her house because all of her friends were sneaking out that night. She said that she would have never snuck out of her house if all her friends were not doing it. She thinks knowing that friends would potentially be getting in trouble too made her feel more comfortable taking the risk because she would not be the only one.

The second friend I talked to was my friend Gabriel. He said once when he was seventeen he went to the snow with all this friends. While they were there they decided to throw snowballs at people coming down the slope. He said his friends said that everyone had to throw a snowball and he was really nervous because he did not want to throw one. He knew if he did they would most likely get in trouble. Therefore, he was the last person to throw a snowball. He thought that maybe he could get away without throwing one but they made him. He said right when he threw the snowball a security guy yelled at them and asked who threw it but luckily his friend knew he was scared and took the blame. He said if it were not for him being with this friends he would have never engaged in this behavior of throwing snowballs at people.

My friend Brigette said she once too participated in risky behavior with friends. During high school it was a popular thing to put toilet paper all over peoples’ houses. She said she once went out late at night with a group a friends and participated in this behavior. She said that he would never have done this unless she was out with her friends. By being with her friends she felt more comfortable taking part in this action.

I personally had an experience with “group think”. The summer of after I graduated high school one of my best friends was dating this guy who was a total jerk to her. So one late night when we were out we decided to egg his car. We went and bought eggs from a grocery store and drove down his street and when we saw his truck we threw a dozen eggs at it. I would have never done this if I was not with my best friend. I think what made me comfortable enough to take part in this was one, it made my best friend feel better, and second, my best friend and me rationalized in our head saying that he was a jerk and deserved it.

Being in a group definitely does influence people to take part in risky behavior. I doubt anyone would sneak out of a house, throw snowballs at strangers, put toilet paper on someone’s house, or throw eggs at someone’s car by themselves. These actions require mutual encouragement from friends to make you feel comfortable enough to take part in the activity. Therefore, when it comes to risky behavior two heard are probably not better than one.