Psychology Analysis of the Breakfast Club

Psychology Analysis of the Breakfast Club

Oh what can you really learn in Saturday detention. The Breakfast Club film contained a wide variety of behavior and stereotypes. Each person had there on personality and taste at the beginning of the film. I believe that communication played the biggest part in the movie. It shows the way that people from totally different backgrounds can communicate and even agree on issues. The various types of communication and behaviors within the film will be discussed.

To begin with the film started out with a communication climate that was both tense and without verbal communication. This was mainly due to the variance in membership constructs of the characters involved. The characters included the brain Brian, Andrew the athlete, the criminal Bender, the princess Claire, and the basket case Allison. There was a great deal of interesting nonverbal communication taking place between these people. Their reactions and responses to each other demonstrated perceptual errors, which would be shown as the story progressed.

The gender conflict styles also played a role. The girls both tended to listen, rather than hold the attention of the others. This was especially true in Allison's case, whom never spoke. Allison was introduced in the movie as the basket case. Allison showed that she was obviously insecure, seating herself facing away from the rest of the room. She would not speak out. She was non-assertive, when asked what she wanted she would not respond. She would only sit and smile to her self. She didn't like herself, or others. She was both unsuccessful and helpless. The only way she displayed her anger was by giving a whimper. She obviously had a lot of pent up feeling, for she reveals a lot later in the movie through self-disclosure. Allison obviously lacked the respect of others, for she had no friends whatsoever earlier to her time spent in this detention. She also was nervous and showed this by chewing her nails and playing with her hair.

Brian was another case of insecurity. The influence of self-concept was strong with Brian Johnson for he had no sense of self. He could not meet the standards of his desired self and was therefore unhappy with himself as a person. Any suggestion Brian made throughout the movie was met by resistant responses, or interruptions.

Claire was the "Prom Princess", she had a high self esteem, and was assertive. As well she was highly emotional throughout the film. An example of her emotional language was her straightforward statement to Bender "I hate you" This was after he had broken a promise not to laugh at her. She made up for her lack of general skills and abilities by turning the discussion to how popular and rich she was.

Andrew was the jock. He was an athlete who was assertive, confident, and had high self-esteem. His problem was that he couldn't think for himself. He showed aggressive behavior when Bender acted as if he was going to urinate on the floor. Andrew turned and said "you whip it out your dead before the first drop hits, the floor. Two hits, me hitting you, you hitting the floor." He again demonstrated direct aggression later on in the movie during another conflict with Bender. He said, "If we weren't in school I'd waste you." Andrew had made a perception error. He saw Bender as a "bum". He said to Bender "Only weed burners smoke dope", which classified Bender as a drug-using bum. Andrew was ignorant to the fact that Bender had any feelings, as if drug users didn't have any. Later on Andrew revealed his ability to be compassionate. He showed compassion