What drives people towards certain groups/subcultures?

[Shemsu Hov]

You often hear it said metal heads love Stephen King novels, Neckbeard = Brony, teenage white girls are tumblr's only audience, white girls love Starbucks. Do you think these group characteristics are inherently part of the group? Are people that fall into little subculture groups attracted to them by their personality, or do you believe it to be the culture/subculture that causes people to adopt these things?

People love to generalize. It is easy to because with a fair amount of groups you find very like minded individuals with similar traits. Take note, I am not saying everyone in WoW is liberal, or the ever common "everyone on these boards are European." So in short, is it a person's personality that drives them towards a group, or the culture that surrounds them. I will elaborate further if I have to as I am having difficulty myself explaining my question, lol.

Also, none of the generalizations I pointed out are my view, just statements I see quite often.

Edit: Forgot to add. Or do you think there is any truth to these statements/observations? Or just people trying to group others up.

[Deleted]

Certain truth, if not pretty exaggerated.

[Mormolyce]

Confluence of interests?

[Deleted]

People love to generalize. It is easy to because with a fair amount of groups you find very like minded individuals with similar traits.

Actually, its easy because most people are completely ignorant of their own confirmation bias and selective memory. Plus information is highly incomplete in such mediums so most people fill in the blanks with their own biases. Such generalisations are almost always wrong when actually faced with objective evidence.

[-Zait-]

I'd say that people tend to clump up though, people like like-minded people that reflect their own views and they know they can have a fun time with, that's what I tend to do.

Stereotypes and generalizations aren't always true, but they're there for a reason.

[Chingylol]

White college girls love Ugz.

Black people like colorful sneakers

Asian people like rice

inb4 infraction

[LaplaceNoMa]

Because it's the easy shortcut way to feel meaningful. You don't have to evolve or contribute as a human being, you feel like you matter simply for being in some special group.

There's no other thing in this world that's so mainstream as people's desire to not be mainstream.

[derpkitteh]

i think there's some truth too it. but from everything i've seen, the skinny bronies outnumber the fat ones. i am a fan of metal and i do like this one stephen king novel, and a couple stephen king movies... i'm a white girl but i don't like ugz or starbucks or whatever that spread stuff is, you like put it on bread i think? i think it's called nuttella, whatever it is it looks gross.

like, i just think those stephen king stories are good stories. i haven't noticed a connection between it and metal, and i honestly had never even heard of that until now O.o

[Shemsu Hov]

i think there's some truth too it. but from everything i've seen, the skinny bronies outnumber the fat ones. i am a fan of metal and i do like this one stephen king novel, and a couple stephen king movies... i'm a white girl but i don't like ugz or starbucks or whatever that spread stuff is, you like put it on bread i think? i think it's called nuttella, whatever it is it looks gross.

like, i just think those stephen king stories are good stories. i haven't noticed a connection between it and metal, and i honestly had never even heard of that until now O.o

I've seen it said a few times during discussion of metal, as well, I've been told I'm not a true metal head until I read all Stephen King novels, lol. Also, fedoras and bhudism has some how been linked with bronies. As well as the metal head thing of tieing your hair into a pony tail, now called a brony tail. Come to think of it, according to the internet anything you do makes you a brony, lol. The white girl thing: it honestly seems like a cultural thing. What age group and "popularity class" do you think of when people bring up 'white girls?' Young, impressional girls, usually all about social media as much as their male counter parts. The teenage culture goes on until about early 20s. Any observation can nearly prove that. So what you have is a bunch of chatty young girls saying whats good, then our old monkey nature kicks in there. Stay popular by doing what popular people do. These are strictly observations and I very highly doubt the group this applies to is as large as people make it out to be. Simply a case of conformity.

- - - Updated - - -

Because it's the easy shortcut way to feel meaningful. You don't have to evolve or contribute as a human being, you feel like you matter simply for being in some special group.

There's no other thing in this world that's so mainstream as people's desire to not be mainstream.

Both a good thing and a bad thing I suppose.

[Akraen]

Wish I had a subculture or group. Nothing in America that fits me.

[Jackmoves]

I wouldnt call liking Stephen King or going to starbucks a subculture. ; )

For real subcultures that starts as small and obscure movements I think exposure is really important, different characteristics can drive a person to seek something out, curiosity or a person with a bit of a rebelious/wild stroke is probably more likely to part of a subculture.

Most subcultures are generally frawned upon before they break new ground and makes it into the mainstream. Lots of different types of music has over the years been treated by contempt from the establishment for example.

[Dhrizzle]

You often hear it said metal heads love Stephen King novels, Neckbeard = Brony, teenage white girls are tumblr's only audience, white girls love Starbucks. Do you think these group characteristics are inherently part of the group? Are people that fall into little subculture groups attracted to them by their personality, or do you believe it to be the culture/subculture that causes people to adopt these things?

People love to generalize. It is easy to because with a fair amount of groups you find very like minded individuals with similar traits. Take note, I am not saying everyone in WoW is liberal, or the ever common "everyone on these boards are European." So in short, is it a person's personality that drives them towards a group, or the culture that surrounds them. I will elaborate further if I have to as I am having difficulty myself explaining my question, lol.

Also, none of the generalizations I pointed out are my view, just statements I see quite often.

Edit: Forgot to add. Or do you think there is any truth to these statements/observations? Or just people trying to group others up.

I'm a metal-head (or mosher in the local vernacular). I was attracted to the group by my love of metal and rock and didn't know I was supposed to like Stephen King (I am a great fan of his Dark Tower series the rest of his work I can take it or leave it). There is a strong connection between metal and fantasy, and Warhammer/40k seems particularly popular amongst my friends. I don't know if that means liking metal music mean you're more likely to appreciate fantasy, or if it's a cultural preference passed on by other metal fans.

My clothing style is definitely influenced by the sub-culture I identify with. My liking MLP isn't, but as we already identify as fans of something "non-mainstream" my mosher-friends don't consider it something particularly weird, unlike my non-mosher-friends. I don't have a neck-beard unless I've been feeling lazy, in which case I'd have an everywhere-else-beard too. My neck-bearded friends tend to be hostile towards "cutesy" things like MLP and Babymetal. I do tie my hair back which, whilst related to liking metal, is more a practicality than anything else.

My liking of Starbucks (and other forms of over-priced coffee) is a personal preference and a fairly common one, if I'm in town with friends I may influence them to buy some coffee.

[Bigbamboozal]

Lol, ummmm....birds of a feather flock together. Ever heard that saying? Now you know what it means?

[Ebildays]

I cannot speak for other people but where I live there is very much a "This is what black people do" type thing. So there is a push for black people where I live to stay with in the norm of doing black people things. Going black people places. Listening to black people music. Sometimes it is not a choice but more what you are expected to do.

[Ebildays]

Why let expectations dictate your actions?

Personal I don't, but it is hard stance to have as a child. I was lucky because my parents where not into the whole "black people do this" but alot of people were. Even now I live outside of that normal "black" culture and it is hard because I don't relate to alot of things now. But because I am black I am still seen as "other" inside the different groups/subcultures so I don't fit in there well either.

For me I had to learn that part of living outside of expectations meaning learning to with a feeling of "otherness" or not fulling connecting with a group of people.

[Ebildays]

Oh, OK. I can totally dig that there might be added difficulties in doing so depending on individual situations. It just always seems odd to me when people treat these expectations as though they were literal barriers.

The closest comparison I can make to it is gender roles. There are not literal barriers that stop us from doing a lot of things we associate with the different genders. But we still don't do them because they are girl things or they are boy things, if that makes sense. It is like when people ask me what my friend concert was and depending on the group I may or may not answer. For the record it was a Sevendust/ Creed concert and my second was a John Meyer and the Mississppi Allstars so I cannot fall back on that one either.

It is not really on individual situations but cultures on a whole. White people are really lucky in that way because they have such a varied amount of groups/ subcultures they can be a part of before they become other.

[Akraen]

It is not really on individual situations but cultures on a whole. White people are really lucky in that way because they have such a varied amount of groups/ subcultures they can be a part of before they become other.

Not all of us