Date of Award

6-2011

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Suzanne Benack

Language

English

Keywords

subculture, counter culture, hippies, hipsters, beat

Abstract

My thesis explores the psychology of hipsters, a modern American countercultural group. I explain the phenomenon of this group by first examining how they are like and unlike previous countercultural movements, as well as which of the classic tenants of “hip” contemporary hipsters have employed as part of their existence in the modern world. Finally, I focus on hipsters’ employment of irony as a tactic to subvert the mainstream culture and why being ironic has caused such a negative backlash on the part of the mainstream culture, as well as other countercultures.

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