GROUPS

DEFINITION OF GROUP
- Is at least two or more people, but usually GROUP FUNCTIONS – are acts that help the group
more, gathered with common purposes or achieve its preferred outcomes
like in a cognitive, affective and social
interchange in a single or repeated Two basic types of group function (Catwright and Zander):
encounters.
- It consists of two or more persons who are TASK ORIENTED FUNCTIONS
in social interaction, who are guided by
(Goal-task Oriented Function)
similar norms, values, and expectations,
- Behavior which contribute to the
and who maintain a stable pattern of
achievement of some specific goal.
relations over a period of time. (SOCIAL
GROUP)
GROUP BUILDING FUNCTIONS
- Behavior that contribute to strengthening
There are other human clusters which do not form the group itself
social groups but may be transformed into one:

AGGREGATES
- a number of persons cluster but do not
interact with each other
- Basically unstructured, are in close physical
proximity, but they do not interact.
- They are not concerned with the feelings
and attitudes of the others.
- Important characteristic is shared physical
space
SOCIAL CATEGORY
- Groups whose members may never have
met and do not interact socially, but
possess a common identifying status
characteristics
- Distinctions may be based on age, sex, or
race. Other criteria may be income or
social class, occupation, religion, political
beliefs, and ethnicity
COLLECTIVITY
- Cluster of people interacting with each
other, but the interactions are short-lived or
passing
- They are composed of clusters of people
who share some kind of belief which
prepare them for action
- They are characterized by the spontaneous
formation of norms and organizations that
oppose or reinterpret the existing norms and
organization in a society
- Temporary groups like crowds, masses,
public, and social movements
1. SIZE
- Refers to the number of persons in the group
Dyad – a group of two people
Triad – a group composed of three
A group of four
A group of five
Advantages of small group size and large group size
SMALL GROUP SIZE
- Easier to get to know the individual
members
- Encourages participation and involvements
- It is more possible for the worker to influence
the group
LARGE GROUP SIZE
- Crucial when a group is fighting for a social
cause
- Could break up into smaller groups in order
to work at specific assigned tasks
Disadvantage: Effort decreases as group size
increases
SOCIAL LOAFING
- The tendency for people to exert less
effort when they pool their effort toward
a common goal
FREE RIDERS
- People who benefit from the group but
give little in return

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2. AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL INTERACTION AMONG
MEMBERS – interaction patterns
3. DEGREE OF INTIMACY
4. LEVELS OF SOLIDARITY – Attribute of a group
that facilitates collective action and social
order
3 Perspective on Emergence of Solidarity in a Group
1. NORMATIVIST VIEW – solidarity is most likely
to develop among individuals who share
fundamental values
2. STRUCTURALIST VIEW – solidarity arises
from the sharing of common material
interest, such as those in social classes
3. RATIONAL CHOICE VIEW – solidarity that
neither of the two conditions: rather it is
held to be a function of dependence
and control mechanisms
5. LOCUS OF CONTROL OF GROUP ACTIVITIES
6. EXTENT OF FORMALIZATION OF RULES
GOVERNING RELATIONS AMONG MEMBERS
FORMAL – a group that is deliberately
constructed and whose members are
organized to achieve a specific goal
TYPES
COERCIVE – control things through force. The
culture is strict obedience of order, and
members are typically stripped of individuality
and forced to conform
UTILITARIAN – control through bartering. People
join utilitarian organization because they have
something to gain, and you have a
responsibility as well
1. PRIMARY GROUPS
- Are small in size and characterized by
personal, intimate and nonspecialized
relationships between their members.
- Introduced by Charles W. Cooley (1957)
- Usually involve face-to-face contact;
and provide warm, supportive, and
emotionally gratifying ties with others
- Functions as mediators between
individual and other parts of society
- Cooley calls primary groups the “nursery
of relations”
- Play a central role in shaping our
personalities and self-concept
- Intimate, personal, “face-to-face”
groups in which we find our companions
and compadres, the members of our
family, and our daily associates (Charles
Holton Cooley)
- These are the people with whom we
enjoy the more intimate kind of social
relations
- It is the degree of intimacy, or social
distance, rather than physical distance
that determines the primary group
- Not constant throughout the lifetime of
an individual
- It is always a small group. It offers
intimate, personal relations; a group in
which we satisfy our wish – in-deed our
need – for response
- Relationships are “personal” and
“intrinsic”
- Considered as the building blocks of
larger society
- When primary group perform the same
function in two different cultures, cultural
values and traditions still stamp some
distinct patterns and meaning on how
people in primary groups relate to one
another
CULTURAL VARIATION – there are some
significant differences, especially in the social
meanings
2. SECONDARY GROUPS
- Based on task-oriented, impersonal, and
specialized ties with people; they may
be small but are often large
- Despite their impersonality, secondary
groups are very important because they
enable us to achieve specified goals.
- Interaction are impersonal, businesslike,
contractual, and casual
- The interpersonal relation may be
characterized as rational, individualistic,
and segmental.
- The composition of the group is
heterogeneous, and membership is
numerous and widespread
- They focus on its goals and on the
development of skills and specialized
know-how, enabling their members to
perform effectively
- They are so called because the
individual comes in contact with the
later in life.
- Relationship is “categoric” and
“extrinsic”
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3. IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS - Not all reference group are membership
- Coined by William Graham Summer, to groups (a person may aspire to be a
distinguish between groups that member of another group)
generate quite different feelings 5. SOCIAL COLLECTIVES
- Not actually groups but a kind of
perspective relationship that exists in the - The term aggregate refers to people
minds as an individual learns the use of which happens to be in the same place
the pronouns “we” and “they” at the same time, even though they may
not interact with one another
- This unit has boundaries that separates
- They are important because social
the “we” and “they”
categories and especially aggregates
- Relationship may be primary or
can transform themselves into a group if
secondary, large or small the members begin interacting and
- Threats from out-group can increase other group characteristics develop
loyalty among in-group members
In-Group
- One that we feel positively toward and
identify with, and that produces a sense
of loyalty or “we” feeling
- “We-group” which includes ourselves
and anybody we happen to mean when
we use the pronoun “we”
- “OUR GROUP”
- The group with which the individual
identifies and which gives him or her a
sense of belonging, solidarity,
camaraderie, espirit de corps, and a
protective attitude toward the other
members.
Out-Group
- Are those to which we do not belong
and that we view in neutral or possibly
hostile fashion, we view out-groups as
“they” as different and less desirable that
ourselves
- “They-group” which involves everyone
else or everybody who is excluded when
we use the word “we”
- Viewed as outsiders by the in-group

4. REFERENCE GROUPS
- A group that people use as a standard in
evaluating their attitudes, and their
behaviors
- Can be very powerful and pervasive
elements in our lives, serving as sources of
values, attitudes, and standards of
conduct.
- A symbolic reference or anchor for an
individual
- The group which an individual relates, or
aspires to relate to psychologically.
- It becomes the person’s frame of
reference and source for ordering his or
her experiences, perceptions,
cognitions, and ideas of self
- Reference group is one’s membership
group to which he or she is officially
attached or recognized as belonging

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