Optimal Distinctiveness Theory

Optimal Distinctiveness Theory is a social psychological theory which asserts that individuals desire to attain an optimal balance of assimilation and distinction within and between social groups and situations. In American words, that means that people want to be like other people, but also want to be uniquely special, and they have to balance those two desires. Here is a chart that takes this relatively simple idea and demonstrates it in both an insipidly rudimentary and highly incomprehensible way:



Tammy, Mandy, Courtney, and Misty all have their ways of fitting into their own culture, while at the same time defining themselves as distinct individuals. The easiest way to accomplish this is to engage in something that is socially expected, but do it to a distinctive extreme so that it seems to be the creation of oneself. You gotta go all out when you go out.

Tammy:
Tammys think they are inherently unique because they don't tend to believe they belong to any group or culture. But underlying all that is the understanding that there are others like her; so to maintain her distinctiveness, she will try to be the only one in the room who would actually cut you for ten dollars.


Mandy:
Mandy unconsciously attempts to distinguish herself as the most unique Mandy by her relentless participation in programs that have the word "angel" in their title that allow kids in Africa to have Christmas presents or fundraisers for breast cancer awareness that involve cookies or Oprah's Acai berry diet. The more after school coffee hour recycling initiatives, the more strong and unique the Mandy.


Courtney:
If Courtney can't stand out by having the most children in jail, she can always have some sort of plastic product collection ranging from McDonalds toys to garbage tags that outshines everyone else.


Misty:
The easiest, and perhaps most gratifying, way for Misty to be acceptably unique is to fuck up her daughter as much as possible. If her offspring is a ballerina housewife with a PhD in a hard science and has an eating disorder lasting more than 5 years, Misty has defined herself as the most successful Misty- and therefore unique.