Social
comparison has existed among most everyone throughout college and lives.
It is essentially how we view ourselves based on the standards of the
people around us. Armstrong and Hamilton mention a term in Paying for
the Party called the “vampire effect” which essentially is when the more
socially ambitious people seem to shun out the more quiet and isolated people.
Because of this, the “dark side” and “social side” are created.
The “dark side” houses the ignored and isolated individuals who are not
able to confront or communicate with the members of the other side. The
“social side” consists of the affluent and outgoing people (partiers, in the
context of this book), who seem to not acknowledge the people of the other
side. Armstrong and Hamilton also mention how social and economic class
seem to be the determinants of these sides, and how people of the upper class
seem are more likely to be in the “social side.” Being a biology major, I
am very interested in the human mind and the psychological aspect behind
things. Because of this, I decided to research the root psychological
cause of the “vampire effect.”
Since social
comparison exists, individuals constantly evaluate themselves compared to other
people. It is something that can be done subconsciously or consciously,
and I think that it is the reason that the “vampire effect” exists. I
want to do more research on how social class plays a role in this, and talk
about how it is ignored. It seems that nobody ever seems to acknowledge that
economic class can socially segregate people, especially in a place like
college where everyone is told that people of all different background mingle.
Dracula can be
used to describe the relationship of the members of the “dark” and “social”
side. He is a monster that is known for sucking the blood of its victims.
Called “Count” Dracula, he is a nobleman who has a lot of money and lives
in Transylvania. He is symbolic of the people of the upper class, with
his victims symbolizing the members of the lower class. Just as Dracula
drains the life out of his victims, the more affluent students in college can
drain the ambition out of the isolates.
Another underlying
factor that may impact the “vampire effect” is debt and its portrayal.
Many students who are not of the upper class are required to take out
loans in order to go to college. There is a lot of research done which
shows how debt actually causes more stress and strain on a person’s brain and
how people who have it are more prone to getting depressed. Keeping this in
mind, it is interesting to consider that perhaps having this extra stress,
“isolates” feel even less worth for themselves subconsciously.
