[lemur]

One might think of bullying and shunning as opposing forces. Stereotypically, you might picture boys as bullying and girls as shunning, with the girls shunning boys who bully causing them to control their aggression. But maybe shunning and bullying have the same ultimate purpose and effect as social control. When a bully makes a show of force, the result will be that others will fall in line to avoid becoming the next target of bullying.

Now consider shunning: when people are afraid of losing friendship and being ignored socially, don't they also fall in line and cater to those who are socially popular? So when popular people shun, others will follow suit to avoid being associated with unpopular people. Just like bullying, the goal and effect is to make examples of a few unlucky victims to impel others to fall in line within a domination-hierarchy.

Finally, is there anything authorities can do to interrupt such social processes from taking place? Or are humans simply perpetually doomed to an existence of relative domination and subjugation with the safest position being below the top to avoid leadership-conflicts yet as far as possible away from the vulnerability of being bullied and/or shunned? I.e. in the survival of the socially fittest, are the kiss-ups the strongest species?

[Realitycheck]

Too many unknown variables for me to consider. Humans aren't robots with simplistic, easily defined programming code. Just my insight.

[lemur]

Realitycheck, on 17 May 2011 - 10:10 PM, said:

Too many unknown variables for me to consider. Humans aren't robots with simplistic, easily defined programming code. Just my insight.

No, of course not, but they use a certain degree of rationality in calculating how to deal with threats and potential rewards. Many perceive either consciously or subconsciously potential profit in aligning themselves with bullies, or at least avoiding drawing the bully's teeth. Likewise, people figure out ways to talk and act that win them friends and reduce the chance they will be shunned. The part that interested me enough to post was the idea that bullying and shunning are practically the same in their effects, even though you would probably think of them as being very different, even opposite, social actions in practice.