I recently watched my youngest son play with his friends.
He is a popular child and has many friends between the ages of six to twelve.
If you watch a group of young children interact, they always form a hierarchy among themselves.
You can usually separate the most popular children from the ones just trying to fit in.
It's widely known that people learn their social skills as children.
Children develop social patterns that eventually transcend into adulthood.
It's interesting to watch the hierarchy among my son and his friends.
You will see the following: o selfishness o liars o gossipers; and o whistleblowers/ tattletales It's not uncommon for a popular and outgoing child to become a strong, hard-working adult.
On the other side of the spectrum, loners may experience difficulties in forming relationships and friendships as adults.
You see this interaction among children and think they are just children.
But this isn't so...
the social hierarchy leads into teen years and then the adult world.
"But I am not a child or a teen anymore," you are probably saying to yourself.
Really? You probably have more in common with these youngsters than you think.
The best example can probably be found in your workplace.
It's easy to find the cliques at your job.
People are drawn to each other based on many different interests and dislikes...
similar to children and teens.
Compare your workplace to the typical group of children or teens.
You probably know co-workers who are selfish, gossip, lie, and will report you to your boss if you forget to restock the copier with paper.
As adults, we haven't evolved much.
We are the same child who will gossip about another child or tell on them for being selfish with their toys.
Although our bodies and minds have evolved-little else has.