Although Sarah was usually a rule follower, the peer pressure and the excitement of starting a new school and making new friends was a huge factor in her decision to break the rules she’d always adhered to. The fact that she was so excited to make new friends and wanted them to see her as someone they had things in common with was a major factor in her decision to break the rules she’d always followed. She wanted to fit in with the crowd, and following the rules of her curfew would’ve prevented that from happening. Her decision to break curfew and go to the party was influenced by this need to be accepted by her peers.
Sarah displayed cognitive dissonance because she knew that she should be following the rules previously set by her parents to not break her curfew. She felt continuously worried about breaking these rules throughout the night, even though she made the decision to do so. Although during the night she gained memories and even a date with an older boy, she displayed discomfort throughout the time at the thought of breaking the rules. Even at the end of the night when she went home, she began evaluating herself and the night she spent with her friends to determine if the activities that happened were worth her decision to break the rules.
She began to conform to her new peers’ beliefs toward the beginning of the night, when she was out with them and they asked her if she wanted to go to the party. Even though she had never broken the rules before, which displayed that she knew the value of the rules and their reasons for being set, she allowed her peers to talk her into breaking them. The reason she did this is because she wanted to be accepted by them. They did not have the curfew she did or were not following theirs if they did, and she wanted them to think of her as one of them, so she acted as if she was comfortable doing the same. She also displayed the break down to peer pressure by attending the party in the first place although she’d never been to one before, and had misgivings about going.
During the party, Sarah met a boy named Jack. While she was talking with him, they realized that they had plenty in common. They liked the some of the same music and even some of the same activities and hobbies. One factor of attraction that brought them together was the physical attraction. Sarah thought Jack was cute, and Jack also thought Sarah was cute. This enabled them to opening a conversation between each other and allowed them to begin to get to know each other. They then build on the physical attraction by finding things in common with each other that they never would’ve known had they not had that original spark of physical attraction to bring the closer together.
The type of social interaction displayed in the fight at the party was conflict. While most people wanted to view the conflict, once it ended, the party fizzled out. Conflict is an explosive way to express oneself and when it is over, usually the activity surrounding the conflict ends as well. This is because most of the energy surrounding the conflict is expended during it. At the party, this conflict added excitement as people were watching it, but once it ended, the party pretty much ended too, and Sarah and her friends decided to leave.
Sarah’s behavior throughout the night was influenced in many ways. During the beginning of the night, she was influenced by her excitement at meeting and hanging out with new friends. Even though she is a very smart girl, from a well-off part of town, and she never broke the rules, she was influenced to do things she didn’t normally do because her new friends encouraged her. This encouragement was met by an influence to please the people around her. Another influencing factor of her decision was her inexperience with parties. She had never been to one before and her friends told her that it was going to be fun, so she decided create that experience for herself and find out. Another factor that influenced Sarah’s decision to remain at the party and have fun was her new friend’s popularity once they arrived to the party. She realized that she was now a part of the “in crowd” and that she was now one of the popular kids as well. This influenced her to remain at the party instead of going home and possibly lessening the chances of her getting caught breaking curfew. Another influence to her behavior was her physical attraction to the boy she met at the party, Jack. This attraction provided her with the necessary drive to talk to him and create the beginning of a new relationship with him. The final behavior influenced by the goings on during the party was her reaction to the fight. The fight finally influenced her and her friends to leave the party and head home. It also had the effect on Sarah of making her reevaluate her choices during the night to figure out if it what happened during the party was worth breaking the rules for the first time.