than others. For instance, in many high schools, “jocks” and “preppies” are
the most prestigious crowds, whereas the “burnouts,” “goths,” and “drug-
gies” are among the least prestigious. In addition, self-esteem of members
often reflects the status of group. During adolescence, teens from high-
status crowds tend to have greater self-esteem than those from low-status
crowds. Adolescents from lower-status crowds may experience anxiety
and unhappiness as a result of belonging to a lower-status crowd. Some of
these adolescents may feel put down and may be picked on or even bullied
by some members of higher-status crowds. In general, adolescents are not
very tolerant of those who are different from themselves, which would
explain why this teasing and bullying occurs.
In 1963, a professor at Harvard University, Dexter Dunphy, researched
the structure and functions of groups of young people. Even though his
observations took place many years ago, they still hold true today.
According to Dunphy, there are five stages of group formation in adoles-
cence. Stage 1 occurs in early adolescence. Young people form cliques,
usually small groups of the same sex. Each clique is somewhat isolated from
one another. These cliques typically meet often to plan social activities,
engage in self-disclosure, and gossip about others. Membership requires
conformity (especially in terms of the way they dress), and there is often
a group membership (whether it is apparent or not). In order to have con-
tinued membership with the clique, it is essential that members form close
personal relationships with members of the opposite sex at the same time.
In Stage 2, before dating begins, male and female cliques come together
and interact with one another to form a crowd. Crowd activities are com-
monly seen together on weekends, at shopping malls, parties, and other
social activities. This allows adolescents to spend time with members of
opposite sex without responsibility of one-on-one interaction. The peer
group changes in response to changing needs and interests of adolescents,
which facilitates the development of relationships with other sex.
In Stage 3, there are changes in the structure of the crowd; the process of
dating begins. As a result, higher-status members form smaller cliques.
These leaders begin to date and form mixed-sex cliques. In Stage 4, there
is a fully developed crowd, composed of a number of couples in close asso-
ciation with one another. They come together for social activities, but
group membership tends to change over time. Some adolescents who do
not keep up with the changes in the group will be left behind. Stage 5
occurs during late adolescence. In this stage, we see a disintegration of
the crowd. Couples break off from the larger group, begin to go their sepa-
rate ways, and become less part of the crowd. During this final stage, cou-
ples may still associate with other couples, but the large crowd is no
What: The Many Forms of Socializing 7
