Girls

The Psychology of Mean Girls: Group Dynamics and Psychology

Everyone remembers the anxiety of high school. Group dynamics play a huge role in defining our selves and our behavior in those crucial developmental years. As we continue to gain autonomy and independence from our parents, peer groups become that much more influential, thus making social structures and relationships a crucial part to adolescence. The film Mean Girls takes this concept to an extreme, comically illustrating the complexity of group dynamics in American high schools, and how these intensely braided social structures affect self-worth and behavior in vulnerable adolescents.

Most of the psychology in the film is geared towards group dynamics and how those social structures impact the development of the teen characters. Essentially, "the protagonist is 16-year-old Cady, a newcomer to American high school after years of being taught by her parents in Africa -- i.e., a clean slate"...
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