The Only Way To Behave In A Group Analysis

The manner in which a person behaves in a group reveals a lot about who they are as a person. Do they lead? Do they follow? Are they the catalyst-type or the mediator? My friend circle is extremely diverse in culture, experiences, and beliefs. In fact, we're so different that the only thing that really connects us is Jrotc. Our thoughts are quite unique and personal to each individual, but for some reason, when we're all together, all our individuals thoughts seem to meld together.

I removed myself from my friend group but still stayed within ear shot of them. As I watched my friends huddle around each other, it's very clear who the dominate voice was. It was Eric. He determined what they talked about, what was funny, and ultimately what they thought about his topic. Among these topics, were videos making fun of Al Qaeda terrorists. Everyone knows that that is a serious issue with a lot of emotional baggage. Yet... they were laughing. A couple people acknowledged the crudeness of his sense of humor but they laughed anyway for the sake of being part of the group. I feel as teenagers, we try to stay away from awkward situation so we just go along with what everyone else is doing. It's "group-think." It only takes one dominant voice and people will follow suit like a badelynge following their mother in a straight line and never deviating from the rules set before them.
Armed with this new insight, I can now analyze myself in group setting versus when I'm alone with my own thoughts.
Personally, I do a lot of my thinking before hand. I develop a mindset before entering any group situation. I try to avoid groups most of the time but when I decide to jump in... I go all in. I think I do this because I have quite the dominant personality and love to be seen as an
"expert."

I go into group situation with a topic and a strong p.o.v. and there's nothing anyone else can really do about it. I change the subject at a moments notice and proceed to dominate the conversation and disband any rebuttal they can come up with. Just today, me and my Jrotc instructor got into a political debate. It didn't just "come up" casually. I saw him surrounded by a group of students and I knew exactly how I was going to enter that conversation. I turn the focus in on me and I got everyone to agree except my instructor.We battled it out until he accidentally contradicted himself and went for the kill. I had won.

I'm armed with an opinion and a winners attitude and this is how I survive group settings. My individual views outclass the "group-think" phenomena. I see this as a battle of conviction. My views are mine and I'm not going to change them because of what others think.