UNDERSTANDING GROUPS

GROUP
- A social unit that consists of two or more persons
- Groups are not simply collections of individuals; rather, they are organized systems in which
the relations among individuals are structured and patterned
o Not all social units of two or more persons are groups
(e.g.: persons in a theatre crowd escaping in panic from a fire would not
constitute a group because there is no sense of shared membership among
those present)

o ATTRIBUTES OF GROUPS:
[1] Membership
- To be a member of a group, we must identify ourselves as belonging to
the group and must also be recognized by other members as belonging
to the group
[2] Interaction among members
- Group members must also interact – communicating with one another
and influencing one another
[3] Goals shared by members
- Group members may have goals that are the SAME, UNIQUE or
COMPLEMENTARY; either way, group members should be
interdependent with respect to goal attainment
(e.g. Members doing different tasks, but progress made by one
member allows other members to also reach his or her goals)
[4] Shared norms
- Group members hold a set of expectations that place limits on
members’ behavior and guide action

GROUP CATEGORIES:
[1]Primary Groups
- Smaller groups with strong emotional ties and bonds that endure over time
- More informal and intimate than other groups that an individual belongs to
(e.g. Family, Circle of best friends)
[2] Secondary Groups
- Larger groups that is more formal and impersonal
- Members tend to be organized around instrumental goals and have few
emotional ties
(e.g. Random group mates in a class project)
- However, occasionally, secondary groups begin to take on some qualities of
primary groups
(e.g. Random group mates become close friends after class project
submission)
GROUP COHESION
- Extent to which members of a group desire to remain in a group and resist leaving
- Highly cohesive groups generally maintains a firm hold over its members’ time, energy,
loyalty, and commitment
- Cohesive groups are marked by:
= strong ties among members,
= positive emotional feeling about membership, and
= tendency for members to perceive events in similar terms
 Because members of a cohesive group desire to belong, the interactions
among them will typically have a positive, upbeat character and reflect a
“we” feeling

TYPES OF GROUP COHESION

[1] SOCIAL COHESION
- Members stay on the group primarily because they like one another as persons
and desire to interact with one another
[2] TASK COHESION
- Members remain together primarily because they are heavily involved with the
group’s task
 Task cohesive groups are more productive than social cohesive groups
because members of the latter prefer to spend their time socializing rather
than producing

GROUP GOAL
- An outcome that group members view as desirable and important to attain
- Differ in terms of SPECIFICITY
– ranging from general statements about what the group does and why it exists
to more specific targets and tasks that the group members attempt to achieve
along the way to attain its larger goals
 PRIMARY GROUPS tend to have more general or diffuse goals (e.g.
supporting and caring for one another) while SECONDARY GROUPS are likely
to have specific goals (e.g. completing a project or winning a game)

 GROUP ISOMORPHISM
- A state in which GROUP goals and INDIVIDUAL goals are COMPATIBLE
in the sense that actions leading to group goals also lead to the
attainment of individual goals

GROUP NORM
o NORM
- A rule or standard that specifies how group members are expected to behave
under given circumstances
- Groups develop a variety of norms that regulate their members’ activities
  FUNCTIONS OF NORMS:
[1] Norms foster coordination among members while in pursuit of group
goals
(e.g. Sunday is family day – limits family members’ to go out with friends
or non-members of the family during Sundays. This norm helps the
members of the family to achieve their goal: become a bonded family)
[2] Norms provide a cognitive frame of reference through which group
members interpret and judge their environment
(e.g. A religious group’s norm provides a basis for distinguishing what is
good or bad)
[3] Norms define and enhance the common identity of group members
(e.g. Groups requiring their members to wear uniforms)

o CONFORMITY
- When an individual adheres to group norms and standards
- Group members often change their behavior expressly so it will conform to group
norms
(e.g. Saying bad words while with friends, but not inside the household)
 MAJORITY INFLUENCE
- The process by which a group’s majority pressures an individual member
to conform or to adopt a specific position on some issue
(e.g. ASCH LINE EXPERIMENT – standard line vs comparison lines)
* Study found: PUBLIC COMPLIANCE WITHOUT PRIVATE ACCEPTANCE
- Although many participants conformed publicly, they privately
did not believe or accept the majority’s judgment

 WHY CONFORM?
[1] NORMATIVE INFLUENCE
- Occurs when a member conforms to expectations held by others in
order to receive social rewards or avoid punishments
(e.g. Attending religious worships regularly = acceptance
Neglecting attendance to worships = discrimination/dislike)
[2] INFORMATIONAL INFLUENCE
- Occurs when a group member accepts information from others as
valid evidence about reality
- Members seek information about social reality, and they depend on
the majority to validate their understanding of and opinions about
the group and the world
(e.g. DDS believes in the information provided by Mocha Uson)
INTERGROUP CONFLICT
[1] Conflict between organized groups
- Each group consisting of members who interact with one another, who have
well-defined role relationships, and who have interdependent goals
(e.g. Born Again Christian Groups vs Roman Catholic Church)
[2] Conflict between persons belonging to different social categories
- Although not necessarily members of organized groups, these people perceive
themselves as members of the same social category and are involved
emotionally in this common definition of themselves
(e.g. DDS vs Dilawans, Bisaya vs Tagalog)

EFFECTS OF INTERGROUP CONFLICT ON WITHIN-GROUP PROCESSES:

[1] GROUP COHESION
- A group that engages in conflict against another group or is threatened
by another group becomes more cohesive; members show more loyalty,
commitment, and cooperativeness to the group
[2] LEADERSHIP MILITANCY
- Under conditions of threat, group members are more likely to be
influenced by their leaders and be more accepting to increased
militancy
[3] NORMS AND CONFORMITY
- Under severe conflict, members will increase their demands on one
another for conformity to group norms and standards

PERSISTENCE OF INTERGROUP CONFLICT

- Intergroup conflict persists, in large part, because of biased perceptions of the out-
group. In intergroup conflict, it is not uncommon for members of the in-group to harbor
unrealistic impressions regarding the out-group members.

[1] OUT-GROUP HOMOGENEITY

- Although in-group members perceive and appreciate the diversity within the
in-group, individuals usually perceive less variability among members of the out-
group; in-group members perceive the out-group members as ALL ALIKE
(e.g. Duterte critique = Dilawan, pro-Leni, bayaran, anti-government
Pro-Duterte = uneducated, Bisaya, pro-Marcos, bobo)
[2] GROUP STEREOTYPES
- Stereotypes often exaggerate the differences between an in-group and an out-
group; many stereotypes are depreciatory and often ascribe negative valued
traits and characteristics to out-group members
(e.g. Atheist = Satan worshipper, anti-Christ, eat live babies)
 [3] ULTIMATE ATTRIBUTION ERROR
- Positive behaviors by out-group members are attributed to unstable, external
factors (such as luck), while negative behaviors are attributed to internal factors
(such as undesirable personality)
- You are more likely to blame the out-group for negative outcomes, but are less
likely to give credit for positive outcomes
(e.g. blaming the deaths caused by a super typhoon on the inadequacies
of the members of the government, while attributing successful
government projects to “swerte”)
[4] BIASED EVALUATION OF GROUP PERFORMANCE
- In-group members tend to rate their performance more favorably than that of
the out-group, even when there is no objective basis for such rating
(e.g. Robbers Cave experiment: Eagles vs Rattlers on bean counting)

RESOLVING INTERGROUP CONFLICT

- The following techniques were developed to reduce intergroup conflict:
[1] SUPERORDINATE GOAL
- An objective held in common by all groups in a conflict that cannot be
achieved by one group without the supportive efforts of other groups
(e.g. members of conflicting religious organizations helped one another
in order to call for unity to oust Marcos during EDSA I)
[2] INTERGROUP CONTACT
- Increased contact should lessen stereotypes and reduce bias, and
consequently, lessen antagonism between groups
(e.g. intellectual exchange of opinions between pro and anti Duterte
helps in breaking stereotypes or biases)
[2.1] SUSTAINED CLOSE CONTACT
- Contact between members of different groups is more effective in reducing
conflict if the contact is SUSTAINED and PERSONAL rather than brief and
superficial
[2.2] EQUAL-STATUS CONTACT
- Intergroup contact reduce conflict when in-group and out-group members
occupy positions of equal status than when they occupy positions of unequal
status
(e.g. exchange of opinions by opposing students vs exchange of opinions
by a student and a j3j3m0n)
[2.3] INSTITUTIONALLY SUPPORTED CONTACT
- Intergroup contact is more likely to reduce stereotyping and create favorable
attitudes if it is backed by social norms that promote equality among groups
(e.g. respecting opinions of LGBT community on marriage)