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SOCIAL GROUPS
DEFINITIONS:
 The emergence of three or more individuals into a pattern of goal
orientation, characterized by an interrelationship of statuses and
awareness of membership.
 Whenever two or more individuals come together and influence one
another they may be said to constitute a social group. (Oghburn)
 A social group may be thought of as a number of persons two or more, who
have some common object of attention, who are stimulating to each other,
who have common loyalty and participate in similar activities. (Sheriff &
Sheriff)
 It is a number of units of anything in close proximity to one another.
(Bogardus)
 A group is an aggregate of individuals which persists in time which has one
or more interests and activities in common and which is organized. (Green)
 A social group may be defined as two or more persons who are in
communications over an appreciable period of time and who act in
accordance with a common function or purpose.(Eldridge & Merill)
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL GROUPS:
 A collection of two or more people
 People who interact with each other frequently
 Share a sense of belonging
 Have a feeling of interdependence/ have common interests
 Share a sense of identity, have common loyalty & sense of unity, “We-
feeling” “Consciousness of Kind”
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 People who have a shared set of expectations (a set of social norms)

 There is some awareness of social boundaries
DIFFERENTIATION AMONG SOCIAL GROUP, SOCIAL AGGREGATE AND SOCIAL
CATEGORY
A SOCIAL GROUP has 4 major features: two or more people, interaction among
members, shared expectations, common identity as Family, Peer group.
SOCIAL AGGREGATE: people gathered in the same place at the same time, but
lack organization or patterns (Airline passengers, shoppers, waiting at a traffic
light)
SOCIAL CATEGORY: classifying people according to a shared trait or common
status or common characteristics (Students, elderly, women, men)

CLASSIFICATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS

 Sociologists interested in group size look at varying qualities of interaction
based on size.
 Charles Horton Cooley introduced Primary and Secondary Groups (1909,
Social Organization)
 William Sumner classified groups into in-group and out-group
 Georg Simmel introduced analytical categories for thinking about groups.
Formal and Informal Groups
 Sheriff introduced Reference groups

COOLEY’S CLASSIFICATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS

PRIMARY GROUP: A primary group is a small social group whose members share
personal and enduring relationships.
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 A group whose members interact informally and relate to each other as

whole persons and enjoy their relationship for its own sake.
 Families are primary groups in that they are the first groups we experience
in life and because they are of central importance in the socialization
process.
 Peer groups, fraternities and sororities
CHARACTERISTICS OF PRIMARY GROUPS

 Relationships are Spontaneous

 Intimate feelings for each other
 Interaction personal and face-to-face
 Common interests and aims
 Share common experience
 Close identification
 Cooperation
 Idea of oneness, “We-feeling” consciousness of kind
 Relationships Permanent
 Substitution or replacement is not easy

SECONDARY GROUPS
Secondary groups are large and impersonal social groups devoted to some
specific interest or activity.
A group whose member interacts formally, relate to each other as players of
particular role and expect to profit from each other.
Examples: Schools, College, Universities, Work places as banks.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SECONDARY GROUPS

 Relationship impersonal or less personal
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 Low degree of intimacy

 Groups are not permanent but temporary
 Interaction is short-lived and temporary
 Individuals can be replaced without disturbance in structure and functions
of the group
 limited responsibilities towards one another
 There is no attachment to a particular individual

SIMMEL’S FORMAL AND INFORMAL GROUPS

A group whose activities are rationally designed to achieve
Formal group
specific goals. Example, UN, Schools College, Parliaments etc.
A group which is formed by informal relations among
members based on personal face-to-face interaction not on
Informal group
any plan by the group. Example family, peer group, salesman-
client

CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL GROUPS

 Formed for specific purpose and goals
 Formal/ written rules, conducts and norms
 No emotional ties
 Interaction impersonal
 Large size
 Competition and cooperation

CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL GROUPS

 Spontaneous formation
 Informal no written rules and norms
 Emotional ties
 Personal
 Small size
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 Cooperation

SUMNER’S INGROUPS AND OUTGROUPS

CHARACTERISTICS OF IN-GROUPS
The groups with which the individual identifies himself are his in-groups.
The group to which an individual is strongly tied as a member is in-group.
My family, My caste, My school etc.
 They can be primary and secondary groups
 Strong Sense of identification
 Loyalty
 Feeling of Exclusiveness towards non-members
 Consciousness of kind “We-feeling”
 Emotionally attached to each other
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUT-GROUPS
The groups refer to all persons who are being considered as being excluded from
an in-group.
The group to which an individual is not a member. Your family, Your caste, Your
school etc.
 They can be both primary and secondary groups
 Relationship of individuals not intimate
 No Loyalty
 No Consciousness of kind no “We-feeling”
 Not Emotionally attached to each other
REFERENCE GROUPS
 A reference group is a social group people often use as a frame of reference
for evaluating their behaviour or forming opinions the group is then called a
reference group.
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 This terms was introduced by Muzafer Sherif in 1948. According to Collin’s

dictionary of Sociology:
 “They are actual groups or social categories with which (individuals) identify
themselves and make comparisons in guiding their personal behaviour and
social attitudes.
 The group may be positive or negative reference group”.
 As; Religion, Sect, city, school, country, club, political party, ethnicity, class,
etc.
 Reference groups are those groups to which individual relates
himself/herself as a part or to which he aspires to relate himself/herself
psychologically.
 A reference group is a social group that serves as a point of reference for
people making evaluations or decisions.
 Influences a person’s behavior and attitudes, regardless of whether they
are a member.
 We may act more like members of a group we want to join than members
of groups to which we already belong.

SMALL GROUPS BY GEORG SIMMEL

 Possible Interactions Based on Group Size