Social Groups Social Group Definitions A social group can be defined as a family, a peer group, a sport team group, a church group, and a work group. These are all similar in the way that these groups consist of a number of people who have regular contact with each and are interested in the same things. A family typically lives together and interacts with each other on a daily basis. The members of the family share the same traditions and usually have the same expectations as to how each member is to fulfill their particular role in the group. A peer group is a collection of friends who enjoy spending time together doing things in which they all have an interest. They may like to play cards, they might like to go dancing, or they may like to just hang out and talk. A few examples of a sport team group would be a wrestling team, a football team, or a volleyball team. There are several types of church groups; such as a greeting team, a support group, a Bible study group, and a volunteer group. Being part of a church group can significantly enhance a person’s life in a positive way. Serving God can fill a person’s soul with such good feelings. A work group is a team of people who are employed by the same company. There can be several different groups within a company. Each group has a set of responsibilities to fulfill for the company. The difference among these groups is in the way they each interact with each other within their particular group. The benefit to defining these groups is that a person can be involved in each one of these groups but play a different role in each one. A mom can be a friend in a peer group, a pitcher on a baseball team, a leader of the women’s support group at church, and a supervisor of employees ... ... middle of paper ... ...es and definitions of social groups in our society today. It is beneficial to segregate the categories in order to understand how all these groups and categories of people interact with each other. It is also interesting to understand how one person can be a part of several different social groups. Most people in our society today are members of several different social groups. References The TouchPoint Bible, (1996) New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, IL Niu, J., and Rosenthal, S. (2009) Trust discrimination toward socially dominant and subordinate social groups, Harvard University, http://www.judsonu.edu:2102/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=105&sid=360fadd7-d118-4687-8f8c-d296674656b3%40sessionmgr112 Zastrow, C.H. & Kirst-Ashman, K. (2010). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Belmont, CA: Brooks & Cole.
Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2013). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Zastrow, C. H., & Krist-Ashman, K. K. (2013). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (9 ed.). Belmont:
One difference is parties will not speak to each other the same say depending on the environment. Domenici and Littlejohn (2007) explain, “You will not communicate the same way with your best friend, son or daughter, co-worker, or professor” (p. 32). For example, in a group setting, a student might not be as verbally violent with other students as if there were two sisters having a dispute in a personal context. Moreover, in a group context parties may hold back opinions due to the fact of not know each other as well as they might in a personal setting. If parties hold back on what is said less damage can be done to the relationships and people making it easier to move to the sphere of value. On the other hand, parties involved in a personal context may know each other well enough to feel the right to push the issue and/or issues more so than in a group. The more parties know each other the easier it is to cause additional damage to peers, relationships and social worlds, creating a sphere of harm. With that being said in this case moving from the sphere of harm to value may be faster and/or easier in a group context, while in a personal context it may require extra time and effort. In addition, group contexts have additional parties involved with diverse values and beliefs to respect. When involved in a conflict parties have to take people’s religion, culture and age
Our behavior is an obvious effect of how groups affect us. Social facilitation for example occurs when an indivisual changes their performance because others are around (Cacioppo & Freberg, 2014). When Dap and Half-Pint where in the library, Half- Pint acted in a calm relatable matter, yet around the Gamma recruits he conformed to the dumb things they did. Social loafing also affects people within a group. Social loafing is the reduced motivation and effort shown by individuals working in a group as opposed to working alone (Cacioppo & Freberg, 2014). An example of social loafing would be when Dap’s group decided to march in the parade, the people supporting him wouldn’t need to apply as much effort to protest together than they would alone. School Daze also conveys the message of being lost in the crowd, which is Deindividuation. Deindividuation is the lost of personal identity within the crowd (Cacioppo & Freberg, 2014). Sororities and fraternities have the idea that all members are one. Last, but not least a group can affect one’s attitude, or the way you feel about something. The common attitudes of the sororities and fraternities lead to prejudice. Prejudice is a prejudgment, usually negative, of another person on the basis of his or her membership in a group. In School Daze, Rachael and Jane had a rivalry because they had two different points of view on hair, causing the entire group to dislike each other because they were apart of a separate group. As the saying goes, you are the company you
Hutchison, E. D. (2017). Essentials of human behavior: integrating person, environment, and the life course. Los Angeles:
Group formation or formation of cliques is typically seen as the stereotypical jocks, cheerleaders, geeks, or nerds. But what most do not necessarily take into consideration is that members of each group have an existing commonality between them even if most of the members do not know what that common trait is. Being a part of a group can have an impact on an individual. Through group discussion, individuals only strengthen their beliefs due to the fact that they know that they are not alone in those beliefs since they have friends
Kirst-Ashman, K. (2011). Human behavior in the macro social environment. (3rd ed., pp. 303-355). Belmont, CA: Brookes/Cole.
According to social psychologists a group is composed of more than two individuals who depend and interact with each other in some manner (Lessing). Examples of groups include a class, a football team, a cult etc. Groups normally have various similar features including: norms that determine the right behavior, roles assigned to individuals, which determine what responsibilities and behaviors people should undertake, a communication structure and a power structure, which determines how much influence and authority group members have. For example, a class has norms, like the time people should arrive in class. The role of the professor includes teaching, administering exams and inviting discussions. The ro...
Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2014). Human Behavior in the Macro Social Environment: An Empowerment Approach to Understanding Communities, Organization, and Groups. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
Zastrow, Charles. Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Fifth Edition. 2001, pg. 246-47 & 324-29.
Schellenberg, James A. Exploring Social Behavior: Investigations in Social Psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1993. Print.
Groups are an essential component of society as they allow individuals to affiliate themselves with certain people, typically those who are most similar to themselves. Groups also provide social support and a greater sense of belonging for the individual, which is not provided by crowds. Due to the significance of groups, it is important that groups are maintained in organized structures that encourages group harmony and group cohesion. It is essentially the leader’s task to maintain these ideals since the leader has authority over the members of the group.
... that areas of expertise can be exploited, different people are good at different things. Groups can discuss material, and that discussion can improve the quality of the decision. Groups are less likely to suffer from judgmental biases that individuals have when they make decisions. People are more likely to follow through on decisions made by groups that they are connected to. Also, more monumental decisions can be made in groups, because one member will not be singled out for blame, making the entire group responsible.
Reading: “A social group is that two or more people who identify and interact with one another. And secondary group is a large social group whose members purse a specific interest or activity”( Macionis, JJ & Plummer, K 2012, pp.176-200).
Several experiments and researches have been conducted that have focused on how people behave in groups. The findings have revealed that groups affect peoples’ attitudes, behavior and perceptions. Groups are essential for personal life, as well as in work life.