Peer Pressure amongst witnesses

by stuckinarut2 18 Replies latest jw experiences

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  stuckinarut2

  Have you noticed just how strong Peer Pressure is amongst witnesses?

  The desire to match or better one another's "spiritual accomplishments" or decisions in life?

  Pioneering - Because it is the "right" thing to do.

  Answering at meetings...perhaps multiple times - Because it is the "right" thing to do.

  Choice of Employment

  Choice of House, Car, other Items, Entertainment, Clothing etc.

  Home schooling, or amount of education...

  Moving to "serve where the need is greater"

  How much "time" you do

  Who you are seen to associate with, or be "friends" with...both IN and OUT of the congregation

  It is almost like they subconsciously compete to keep up with one another to prove how spiritual they are!

  And if others do not start on that same track to keep up with one another, they are judged or spoken of in negative terms for being "unspiritual" or "self centered" or "not theocratic"
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  DesirousOfChange

  It's all about appearance and usually in an effort to gain recognition in hopes of receiving added privileges.

  Doc
  
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  skin

  So true, but you are not allow to think of this as peer pressure. Its keeping up with jehovahs earthly organization.
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  stephanie61092

  Another example of how being brought up in the JW cult screws up your childhood!
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  stuckinarut2

  Great replies!

  It could be described as a toxic form of association in many ways....because no one can really learn to be themselves...rather, they must be a clone of what they are supposed to be!

  That does mess with a young one who is born in, as they can never truly develop their own personality.
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  Lostwun

  That does mess with a young one who is born in, as they can never truly develop their own personality.

  There's no doubt in my mind that i'm somewhat a perfectionist because of my JW upbringing. When your constantly told that what you give is never good enough and you could be giving more more more, it plays with your psyche. As DOC mentioned above everything is for Show. Nothing is truly authentic. Either measure up or be the next gossip talk for the weekly pioneer service crew.

  So glad to be out of that anxiety filled mess.

  OOPS! BORG YOU LOST-WUN
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  smiddy

  Peer pressure is also borne out how everybody is watching everybody else and can`t wait to dob in their bro. or sis. for the slightest infringement of the Society`s rules .

  smiddy
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  Vidiot

  Even as a child, I always got a weird feeling when they mentioned peer pressure from the platform... I couldn't help but feel like they were describing JW culture and lifestyle to a tee. :smirk:
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  Wild_Thing

  Witnesses are victims of Group Think. It is pretty fascinating to read about Group Think from a psychological perspective. It makes it easy to see why people have a hard time leaving. When it comes to Witnesses, it is even worse because it goes week beyond their belief system and controls their daily life choices.

  According to this website, http://www.psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/groupthink%20overview.htm, here are the symptoms of people trapped in Group Think:

  1. Illusion of invulnerability –Creates excessive optimism that encourages taking extreme risks.

  
  

  2. Collective rationalization – Members discount warnings and do not reconsider their assumptions.

  
  

  3. Belief in inherent morality – Members believe in the rightness of their cause and therefore ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions.

  
  

  4. Stereotyped views of out-groups – Negative views of “enemy” make effective responses to conflict seem unnecessary.

  
  

  5. Direct pressure on dissenters – Members are under pressure not to express arguments against any of the group’s views.

  6. Self-censorship – Doubts and deviations from the perceived group consensus are not expressed.

  Illusion of unanimity – The majority view and judgments are assumed to be unanimous.

  
  

  7. Self-appointed ‘mindguards’ – Members protect the group and the leader from information that is problematic or contradictory to the group’s cohesiveness, view, and/or decisions.
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  WTWizard

  And if anyone doesn't do it, the hounders keep supplying pressure. Throw away your music collection. Cut back on your job, and if it interferes with our ever-increasing demands, you have to quit. Throw away all your money, even that ice cream money, into the Worldwide Damnation Fund. Ditch that attractive accessory because it's not appropriate (even though it might be more visible to drivers in heavy rain or safer to those nearby because there are no points to poke an eye out). And so on.

  There is no such thing as "reasonable and prudent". Try doing that, and before long you will be hounded to do even more. You might be able to do 15 hours a month sustainably, and they will want 20 or more. You might be able to reasonably attend the Grand Boasting Session but only one that you are not assigned to, and they want you to quit your job to make the one you are assigned to. You might be able to donate 10 toilet papers a week to the Worldwide Damnation Fund (though I would rather you go out and buy several silver dimes instead and keep the dimes), they want 50 or more.

  And now, they aren't getting anything at all out of me. Zero field circus. Zero boasting sessions. Zero Worldwide Damnation Fund donations. Instead, I spend time decorating for the holidays, including Christmas. And instead of donating money to the washtowel, I simply spend it at APMEX on silver items of my choosing. Then, when the dollar does collapse, I will not have to rely on joke-hova to sustain me. And I will simply tell the hounders that they can follow their own advice and rely on joke-hova to sustain them when it happens if they are stupid enough to ask me for assistance.