Sociology Now, Census Update

IN THE BEGINNINGof the last chapter, we saw how people feel both separate andcon-

nected, both different and the same. Sometimes, we want to “fit in,” be just like everyone

else—for example, when your professor scans the classroom looking for someone to call on

for a question, and you put your eyes down, hoping not to be seen, to disappear into the

class, to fit in without ever being noticed. Yet when you approach your professor at the end

of the semester and ask for a letter of

recommendation, you would feel a bit

uncomfortable if your professor were

to say, “You’re just like all the other

students.” At that moment, you are

likely to protest that you are a

“unique individual,” and that you

cannot be seen as just like everyone

else. You want to “stand out in the

crowd.” Or, when you create a page

for yourself on Facebook, you are

doing it because everybody is doing that these days, to fit in, to be in step with others, to

be one of the crowd. Yet when you design it, you also want to stand out, to grab people’s

attention, so you will be seen as a unique person.

Sociologists do not want you to have to choose between “fitting in” and “standing

out.” You couldn’t if you tried.

We spend our lives both trying

to fit in and trying to stand

out; sometimes we succeed,

and sometimes we fail. What’s

interesting to a sociologist is

the choices you make about

where to fit in or stand out,

how you decide to go about

fitting in or standing out, what

Society:

Interactions,

Groups, and

Organizations

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What’s interesting to a sociologist is

the choices you make about where to fit

in or stand out, what the formal and

informal criteria are for fitting in or

standing out, and who gets to decide if

you’ve been successful in the position

you want to take.