SERIES VS REALITY SHOWS

                                     SERIES VS REALITY SHOWS

                                                                      AS

                                                 "IN-GROUP AND OUT-GROUP"

   People like to define themselves as part of something and associate themselves with groups and those who share particular qualities and perspectives are regarded as “in-groups” and those who don’t are “out-groups” (Whitbourne, 2010). In-group is the group or category in which people feel they belong to and refer as “we” or “us”. In contrast to that, Out-group is the category in which people feel they don’t belong to and refer as “they” or them”. People may view themselves as superior as and better than other because they regard the group as their own and feel relatable. Personally, I regard the people who watch series as my in-group and in contrast to that people who watch reality shows as my out-group.

            It’s been four or five years since my first series and it was recommended to me by my friends. I must admit, it was very difficult to dedicate my time into watching these long shows which requires patience and concentration. Nevertheless, I got into watching them and it really changed my perspective of life and way of thinking. My in-group consisted of the friends who enjoyed watching them and the conversation about the characters and their roles in the series was worth the time and entertaining. Conversation about the climax and twist of the characters role helped me realize the way that they see the world which was very different from my personal experience and helped me appreciate their perspective. Similarly, it helped me to get better in concentrating and improve my listening skills, so that I could analyze our arguments about the series. In addition to that, my in-group friends helped me get through tough times in my life by motivating to pursue the bigger things in my life by giving the examples of the characters, their hard ships and the effort they had to put to achieve their goal which made me feel that my pain and suffering is nothing compared to those characters who had to give up everything they love to achieve their goals. It helped to me to fight with pain and suffering and become a better person in life.

            In contrast to that, my out-group friends loved to watch reality shows which were a no-brainer and far from educational. They watched it only because it was entertaining and it felt like the whole show was only telecasted for people like them without any sense of logic and which didn’t require any concentration or effort to analyze the whole plot of the show. “Easy to watch for babies” that’s what I thought. I don’t know if it was a feeling of superiority or disagreement but it made me more attached and loyal towards my in-group (e-Notes, 2019). It influenced me positively to be even more concerned about managing my time and not to waste my time on watching shows like that. Similarly, My out-group  influenced me positively to develop a sense of competition and debating skills with the help of out-group friends who felt it unacceptable to prefer series rather than reality shows (Merton, 1972). Lastly, My out-group lead to negative influence of hating the reality shows even more than I used to and also made me aggressive towards other people in the out-group.

References

Merton, R. K. (1972). Insiders and Outsiders. A Chapter in the Sociology of Knowledge, Vol 78, 0-1.

Whitbourne, S. K. (2010, 12 07). In-groups, out-groups, and the psychology of crowds. Retrieved 01 23, 2019, from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201012/in-groups-out-groups-and-the-psychology-crowds

"Ingroups & Outgroups" Research Starters eNotes.com, Inc. eNotes.com 22 Jan, 2019 <http://www.enotes.com/research-starters/ingroups-outgroups#research-starter-research-starter>