Living in a Social World
Psy 324: Advanced Social Psychology
Fall, 1996
Miami University

The Greek System

by: Kelly Underwood

Please Note: These materials may be used for research, study, and education, but please credit the authors and source.

         There are 2 main ways of viewing intergroup bias and its relevance to the Greek system. One way of looking at it is in the Greek vs. non-Greek aspect and the other is through inter-Greek relations (fraternity to fraternity or sorority to sorority). There were no particular studies done, that I could find, to measure the relationship of intergroup bias in the Greek system, or any information at all for that matter. This came as a surprise to me, but I was able to find an immense amount of information proving that it truly does exist and in high quantities. This is at least true of a campus with a high percentage of it’s students involved in Greek life, such as Miami University in Ohio. After reading this you may also agree.

         My first focus in this research was just on the relationship between the Greeks and the non-Greeks and the effect of intergroup bias, whether there was one or not. At Miami University, where the Greek population is ~35%, one of the higher percentages in the country, there was much evidence that intergroup bias is indeed in existence. The first of this evidence was in the "baby book", a book published for all incoming freshman at Miami. In this book, there is a page or two dedicated to Greek Life and why you, the new first year student should make Greek life your life. They promote how you and your school experience will be so much better if you are a part of the Greek system. They use key phrases such as: "they (freshman) can enrich their experience"; "strong tradition of exerting a positive effect" insinuating that you are a more worthy person to society if you join; "placing above all-women’s and all-men’s G.P.A." insinuating that those that belong are smarter than those not a part; "wealth of opportunities" insinuating if you don’t join you will go nowhere in life; and let’s not forget the most important ones, "masters at having fun," "help provide actual date," and "creates lifelong friends" all of these insinuating that you will be no one, have no friends, and have no fun unless you are a part of this system. I also chose to ask a friend if she ever experienced any part of this bias. She replied with " I was always asked ‘Why?’ (after making the statement of not belonging to a sorority) with that tone of sarcasm as if to say ‘you must be a real loser’, you know? And I often heard comments such as ‘She’s weird’ or ‘Does she have any friends?’ " This is not only a one-sided situation though. I also found bias pointing in the opposite direction. I guess you could say it’s some form of Greek "bashing." I’ve read articles referring to members of the Greek community as "anti-intellectual drinking societies" and other references of this sort. I have witnessed much of the categorization of the Greeks, a major component of intergroup bias, myself on Miami’s campus and know through friends that this exists on most other campuses with a Greek community also. This categorization lies on the same wavelength as out-group homogeneity effect that was discussed in our main page. Some of these categorizations go something like this: "DG’s(Delta Gamma) are stuck-up snobs, Kappa Kappa Gamma’s are sluts, Fuzzies are party girls(alcoholics)". The fraternities have them too: "Sigma Nu’s are assholes, Beta’s are druggies, Delt’s are meatheads, Sammy’s are racist pigs, Sigma Pi’s are geeks", Fiji’s are lazy slobs, etc. I could go on forever. I know that this effects the way the members of these fraternities are regarded. It is assumed that if they belong to a certain fraternity/sorority they automatically have these characteristics; they are all "similar and interchangeable" in this way. There were a few groups I was told to stay away from when I was an incoming freshman due to these stereotypes and I did. I, along with many other females on this campus, always took into account the stereotype associated with these fraternities every time we were asked to a Grab-a-date or Date party and I know the same was taken into consideration by the males on the campus when asked by a sorority. Any evidence of intergroup bias here? I don’t know. You decide.

         Within the Greek community itself there is also much intergroup bias. Besides the normal stereotypes mentioned above there is that extra factor of competition. Each fraternity/sorority wants to be the best. They can convince themselves and try to convince others of this also. One large promoter of this is Greek Week, a series of competitions held during a week of each semester, which "fosters divisions, increases tension, and creates rivalries" all because each fraternity/sorority thinks they are better than the rest and they want to prove it. I found this in a paper published at the school every few months designated specifically towards the Greek community. Also in this paper, each fraternity/sorority has a small section to publish something about their association almost every one of these sections mentions all the rewards they’ve received recently as if to say "Look. We are so much better than you.". This holds relevance to the Ultimate Attribution Error, which is the perception that the in-group is better than the out-group, and also a main component of intergroup bias. They then can use these excuses that they are better than another to cause fights, usually just by seeing another person’s Greek letters and calling them by a name associated to the stereotype designated by those letters. It’ is never taken into consideration that it is an individual person, not just an image. I’ve seen it happen more than once. Does intergroup bias have an effect on inter-Greek relations? I don’t know. You tell me

         In my own opinion, there is much evidence proving that intergroup bias exists in the Greek system. Many conflicts are created because of it and many could be resolved if it was not in existence. Like I said there no information available to me that this is a proven theory. I’m just going on evidence I could find that led me in this direction. So if anyone out there needs a study, I’ve got a great idea for you.

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