Preference of groups (beliefs, choices, choice, philosophy, religion)

[Green Gaia]

We are all members of many groups based our race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, occupation, education level, socio-economic status, etc.

I was bored last night at work and starting wondering which of these groups, all else being equal, do we feel most comfortable with? If given a group of strangers, who would we seek out first and why?

The purpose here is to, 1) find what we presume to know about others in a particular group that we are in, and 2) which of those groups are we most comfortable with. I've been very interested in this idea of what groups we are in because they bring us together and divide us. I want to know why and which are we most loyal to.

So here's the scenario:

You're asked to choose a person to share a house with. They will have their own room, and you will have yours. You only know one thing about each of these people, everything else about them is unknown. Who do you choose and why? What presumptions and stereotypes do you have about the person you chose that made you choose that person. What presumptions and stereotypes do you have about the others you didn't choose that may have caused you not to choose them? I really don't care who you would or would not want as a roomie, that question is just a way to get at the deeper issue.

Person: What you know about them:
Person A: They are the same race as you.
Person B: They are the same gender as you.
Person C: They have the same religion/beliefs as you.
Person D: They are the same nationality as you.
Person E: They have the same sexual orientation as you.
Person F: They have the same occupation as you.
Person G: They have the same socio-economic status as you.
Person H: They have the same education level as you.
Person I: They have the same political philosophy as you.
Person J: They are the same age as you.

[jamaesi]

Person I: They have the same political philosophy as you.

I went with this one... out of all the choices I would rather live with a someone who was liberal because I tend to think that liberals accept and celebrate differences more than others, and let me tell you, have a lot of differences, haha!

[Engyo]

Whuuf - I wouldn't make such a decision based on that limited a bit of knowledge.........in a real-world situation of course. I would like to meet all of them and decide based on first impressions rather than picking from a list, but that's me now. 20 years ago, I would probably have answered very differently, but not sure now what that answer might have been.........

[standing_alone]

It's kind of close between sexual orientation (you know, heck, try to start up a romance of course assuming this person is female...), socio-economic status, education level, and political philosophy. Political philosophy wins out, but it's not so much political philosophy that matters, but someone capable of having decent political discussions (yes) but also what I would deem philosophical discussions. It's not so much sharing similarities that matters so much as being able to get along and share deep discussions, though of course somewhat similar views would be nice. I guess above all I'd want the person to be interesting and respectful. If there's respect above all else, I could care less what everything else is.

EDIT: Of course, ideally I'd rather just live alone.

[dawny0826]

I truly wouldn't have a preference.

But if I were to choose one, I'd say, I'd probably feel more comfortable living with someone who grew up with a similar socio-economic background. I've noticed over the course of my life, that my closest friends have been people who grew up in similar circumstances that I did.

Again, this doesn't mean much but since, I've been asked...this is my answer.

[Djamila]

I'd choose Person J or Person D, but I wouldn't cry if any of them were chosen for me.

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by Engyo

Whuuf - I wouldn't make such a decision based on that limited a bit of knowledge.........in a real-world situation of course. I would like to meet all of them and decide based on first impressions rather than picking from a list

Of course. I wasn't sure how else to ask the question to find out what, 1) what we presume to know about others in a particular group that we are in, and 2) which of those groups are we most comfortable with.

[jacquie4000]

I really would not care. Firstly I would have to meet that person. Actually I would want them to be them to be totally different then me. To learn from someone else is always nice.