Discussion»Questions»Life and Society» Do folks (you included) tend to affix labels more often when they feel friendly or un? Why? Is labeling others cathartic?
It certainly depends on a wide variety of factors as to when or why any person labels himself, herself or other selves. Additionally, not all labels are negative. As an example, I have a colleague who is extremely meticulous in his work ethic. He and I share perspectives on how our jobs are to be performed (we both have the same job position at our workplace). I also consider myself to be extremely meticulous. I assign this label with no malice intended at all.
Therein lies a label. It's not a negative one, at least not in my opinion. I leave it to you to determine how well it answers or how poorly it fails to answer your query.
Intelligent. Friendly. Approachable. Modest. Helpful. Thoughtful. Witty. Caring. Honest. Talented. Not a lemon among them. All labels. Cheater. Liar. Stupid. Thoughtless. Selfish. Boorish. Offensive. Undependable. More labels. It seems logical to me that one would feel friendly toward those who fit the first list and unfriendly toward those who fit the second list. The question is when would you choose to use them? When you're happy or angry? Why do we insult? Why do we compliment? What do we gain from doing so? I guess I shall ask that next. Thank you for your thoughtful reply RandyD.
Randy D 