Going Beyond Glitter and Party Animals: Greek Life in Focus

Partying, sleeping around, “trying to get a line in the bathroom”, and the like: fraternity and sorority stereotypes. But wait. What about the philanthropy, awards in academics and sports, the bonding and connections, and the professional workshops? Of course media and people who only want to sensationalize and distort everything sweep all that under the rug. There will always be terrible incidents of hazing, drug use, abuse of alcohol, and great levels of partying going on in frats and sororities. Usually, people who join are, after all, at the age where they have just left their parents’ home and start acting stupid thinking that is a way to be free and grow up. That happens in any case, though, if one does not take personal responsibility for themselves. Though a psychological lens, we will be able to use theories and concepts such as modeling (learning theory), foot-in-the-door phenomenon, mimicry/conformity, normative social influence, and prejudice roots and stereotyping in order to better understand what actually goes on in Greek life. Why do members act the way they do? Is Greek life really that bad or is it very beneficial as many members claim? To what degree is what media and stereotypes convey to us true or not? Understanding and observing is of utmost importance in psychology, a science that goes beyond the simple surface of things and the sensationalism and lack of critical thinking that we see in media and co. Let us dig deeper into one of the most talked about and controversial college subjects: Greek life.
To psychologically and critically explore Greek life, we will start off with one of the most fascinating and crucial tasks in a person’s life: learning. Remember the monkey see, monkey do expression? Well, in t...

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...in groups, in this case Greek life. Of course one will always find incredibly stupid women and men in these chapters that sleep around and cannot even see think straight from taking many drugs. However, there are many successful people who were Greek pledges, such as several U.S. Supreme Court Justices and Bill Clinton in Phi Alpha Delta, for example. There is always a balance of negatives and positives, and, as we have seen, it always depends on the chapter and university. Finding the right fit is key. Psychology helps us understand that, whereas Greek life membership may seem like an alien/negative experience at first, it actually has at its basis the most basic concepts of how we learn and behave. We need to find the right key towards unlocking the cluster of prejudices and stereotypes in our brain locker and let psychology and critical thinking come in instead…