Group Think.

Group think: according to Irving Jarvis, "a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action."

Symptoms of this apparently include an illusion of invulnerability (where you feel like together, anything is possible), you have shared stereotypes (possibly those types of people you categorize together and collectively make fun of), illusion of unanimity... The list goes on.

In search of a relevant article, I came across this article by accident: click here :)
Written by a tattoo expert, Ashley M Ford. It's not a long read, do check it out before continuing on this post.

Personally, I've never heard of tattoo parties. Drinking parties, yes. This though, was really beyond my imagination at least. I've heard of a group of people going for a tattoo together, but hosting a tattoo party in your own home? Highly problematic I believe. For one, who’s to guarantee the safety of those getting tattoos?

I don’t have a problem with people with tattoos. In fact, I do have friends that have them. Rather, it’s the specific concept of tattoo parties that I question. What a person does with his or her body is a result of their individual decision, I believe, and it often says something about how they think and what they feel. With tattoo parties, however, I can just imagine the atmosphere and peer pressure that would probably be going on. Individual decision? Probably not so much. Especially not for those individuals who simply care more about other people’s opinions of them.

Though some may argue that peer pressure to get a tattoo can work outside of such an environment – a point which I would concede – I think the actual participation or simply, attendance of such an event would definitely be far more concentrated in terms of the whole vibe and for example, having a crowd egg someone on. Sure, some of us would have no problem saying “no” to getting a tattoo; but to be honest, haven’t you ever had a crazy moment where you had done something that you would not have usually done simply because your friends dared or pushed you to do? And for a moment, you might have felt on top of the world when you had “accomplished” it.

I think everyone probably has a certain level you would or would not cross when it comes to the whole idea of “group think”. From individual to individual though, it differs in flexibility. And it would probably depend on what you’re all set out to do as well. Then again, what’s acceptable to one person would possibly be the opposite to another.