Competition in the peer group.

Competition in the peer group.
Posted on 19-03-2022

Competition is very common in the social fabric in general and in the peer group in particular. Today's society finds us with great emptiness of meaning. When we are faced with that absence and the inability to find meaning in life itself or in what surrounds us, we are sometimes left in the middle of a power struggle.

Competition exists in nature, it is instinctive. The fight for territory, dominance, the supremacy of some over others. Competition and struggle arise when what is observed is the dichotomous rivalry between one and the other. The most primitive survival involves something like "it's him/her or me" and not both. In this strong bid for power, a struggle between egos is observed, the need to dominate the other, to be superior or inferior.

The context of struggle implies the conception of two opposing sides or two individuals who somehow face each other. The objective settles on surpassing the other, many times without registering the means and the reasons why it is done.

The peer group is, even more, a fruitful ground for competition, jealousy, rivalry, and envy. In pairs, we see a closer reflection of ourselves, similar ages and stages of life, and soon each other's achievements are balanced and put into play. What the other is and does can reflect back to us what we want, or what we couldn't, and immediately confront us with our own issues in relation to that. Just as the death of a person of close age generally mobilizes fears associated with one's own death, so also the achievements or situations in the lives of others in the peer group can mobilize insecurities or unresolved issues.

Competition is the domain of the ego, desire, and fear. From the need to surpass someone else or to feel, in another way, inferior. It is a feature, moreover, enhanced in today's consumption system and social networks. The networks show us masks, illusory, idealized realities that awaken the deepest miseries and frustrations. Consumption, in turn, asks us to have more and be "better" each time, putting models in front of us that they intend to copy or follow. In this panorama, it is difficult not to be captured in these fights.

Competition and comparison correspond to projection mechanisms. introjection and identification that come into play. The other reflects us, becomes a rival to be overcome, ceases at times to be seen as a friend or companion, someone who through his journey can enrich his own, and be perceived as threatening.

In these dynamics of opposites, the other is seen as the one who embodies all evil or as a perfect being whom one aspires to emulate. Much of what the individual cannot accept of himself is projected into it.

Competition with peers is transcended when one's own unconscious issues are worked on and one's own potentialities are accepted. This places us on a plane in which dualities are not exclusive, you can accept the achievements of others and also believe in your own, and understand that you are neither inferior nor superior to anyone, but that each path is unique and valuable.

 

Thank You