Groupthink And Polarization In The Film

1. Groupthink and polarization impacted the kids throughout the film; the class decided that they should have a name, and a uniform to set them apart from the rest. The students then started hanging out with only other in the class, and created a handshake. Group thinking caused the class to join into as one, they all had each others’ backs; Tim was getting bullied by a few students, that weren’t in the cult, and a few of the members in the wave came to rescue and punk the other guys. Polarization occurred when more people started to conform; with more people supporting, the more powerful and daring people felt. Together the group was strong, but individually they were all weak, and won’t do half of the things they did.

2. Students were conforming the wave; they
either by normative social influences, occurs because of the desire to be liked or accepted, or from informational social influences, caused by the desire to be correct.In the beginning, Tim was the first to conform; Tim gave a few students some weed, they asked what was the cost of it all, and he tells them not to worry about because they were his buds.This was caused by normative social influences, all Tim ever wanted was to be liked. Lisa conforms to the wave due to normative social influences, she went against her best friend. The wave was against Lisa’s best friend because she was against everything they did. With the desire to be liked by everyone, and feeling more daring because she was in a cult, Lisa then tells her friend off. Another example of someone conforming would be when Marco hits his girlfriend. He was conformed due the normative social influences, everyone in the cult would bash his girlfriend since she wasn’t down with the wave. In their argument, his girlfriend told him that the wave grew into something bad, something went over him and did something he would of never he could do. He confessed to Mr. Rainer that the wave has been controlling him, he wasn't himself. In the end, Marco was disagreeing with the group, he wanted it all to end. A few of the guys pull Marco onto the stage to punish him, When Mr. Rainer asked everyone what should be the punishment, he then turned to Bomber and asked him what does he think they should do. Bomber is quite unsure, he said he pulled Marco on the stage because he was told to do so. That is an example of normative social influence, Bomber felt like he since he was apart of the wave, he had to help.

3.
The teacher asked the class if they thought another dictatorship would be impossible in Germany. The students were either not interested or did not believe it could happen. Mr. Rainer uses the foot-in-the-door technique to teach his class that a dictatorship in Germany can still arise. The foot-in-the-door effect occurs when you ask someone to do a small task, followed by another similar task, and by the end you’ll have that person doing most of your work. Mr. Rainer began by having the students rise from their seats, when they wanted to talk; then it was addressing him by Mr.Wenger. The foot-in-the-door effect influenced Tim’s actions heavily; after the class started wearing the white polos, he took all his shirts and burned them. Another incident where Tim was influenced by the foot-in-the-door effect, was when the guys were tagging and he decided to climb the building that was under construction to spray paint the wave logo. Tim then goes along and creates a website for the group. In the end, Mr. Wenger says it’s all over, but Tim doesn’t agree; being apart of the wave for him meant unity, family, and togetherness. He pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot someone, then shoots Bomber, and
himself.