What Is Social Cohesion?

- De nition & Theory

Lesson Transcript

Why do some groups stick together through thick and thin, and other groups fall apart at the rst hurdle? Whether a group stays together or not is
called group cohesion. Find out more about cohesion below.

Mob Mentality and Practical Performance

The term 'mob mentality' brings to mind a crowd of angry people, often carrying torches and pitchforks, and the violent things this
sort of crowd can do. Not every incident of mob mentality is so dramatic, though - often, it's a much quieter event and takes place
in board rooms and voting booths. The power of groups to repress originality is well documented; however, groups can also serve
important functions. Even if an important scienti c discovery can be made by a single person, the task of bringing that discovery to
life often falls to a group of engineers and other scientists.

So how do groups form and stay together? What is it that keeps a group of individuals in a coherent relationship without everyone
going their separate ways?

Social Cohesion and Key Concepts

Social cohesion is the set of characteristics that keep a group able to function as a unit. What constitutes group cohesion really
depends on whom you ask. For instance, psychologists look at individuals' traits and similarities among the group members. Social
psychologists treat cohesion as a trait that combines with others in order to in uence the way the group does things. Sociologists
tend to look at cohesion as a structural issue, measuring how the interlocking parts of the whole group interact to allow the group
to function. Beyond all these disciplinary di erences, there are some generalizations we can make about how groups function as a
unit.
First, there are some terms we should de ne to get started.

The rst concept is that of incentive. An incentive is a reward o ered to get a person to do something. Anyone who has worked a
job they don't like that much is familiar with incentives. Pay functions as an incentive to keep working. People with incentives to
work as a group will do better than those without.

Another important concept is that of social norms. Like other norms, social norms are standards of behavior. These norms apply
to the function individuals have in the group. Norms can include a dress code, standards of conduct, or admissions standards.
Norms tend to keep a group working better together as long as the norms are uniformly enforced. Selectively ignoring norms tends
to result in disciplinary measures for group members. If the group as a whole ignores norms, cohesion could be weakened by a
feeling of apathy toward the norms and group as a whole.

Groups Sticking Together

There are many kinds of proverbial 'glue' that can help groups stick together. The three we will discuss here are: purpose,
magnetism, and interpersonal factors.

The purpose of a group has much to do with how closely a group sticks together. More accurately, cohesion can be determined by
how closely the purpose of the group matches the motivations and talents of its members. A group may have a really lofty goal, like
ending world hunger; group members may want to do it and really desire success. However, if the group doesn't have the
resources or expertise then their goal will remain out of reach, and people who believe in the goal of the group might nd it better
to go elsewhere.

Another example of this phenomenon is forced grouping, like a group project in class. Everyone says they intend to do the best they
can, but often students nd that many of their classmates ake out on their attendance and contributions. This can be caused by a
variety of factors, and a lack of commitment to doing well in the course is a big one. Often, people have other priorities, and if
group work in this one class isn't as important to them, then cohesion su ers.

Another aspect of social cohesion is magnetism. Some groups do the best job possible, and people want to be part of them.
People who become part of these groups like to stick around and help the group succeed. This is because of factors in uencing the
attractiveness of the group as a whole. Some groups have prestige or a long history of getting things done. Group cohesion is
stronger in groups that are harder to get into and those with a history of success and excellence. In military circles, this is called
esprit de corps, literally 'spirit of the body'. This term refers to elite military groups with histories of success and extreme mental and
physical requirements, such as the Navy SEALs or other Special Forces groups. These groups have a history of strong cohesion
under life and death circumstances.

Finally, let's talk about interpersonal factors.

There are as many reasons for joining a group as there are people. However, the kind of people someone encounters within a
group has an e ect on group cohesion. This isn't so much about having one kind of 'team player' or not. Rather, the issue is of the
similarities among group members. If half the team is motivated, and the other half takes a more casual attitude toward work, then
the team will tend to fracture. If everyone is motivated, then the team stays focused. If everyone is casual, then the team nds it
easier to function as a unit, though they may not get as much done.

This seems very similar to the orientation of team goals that we discussed before. The di erence is that this time it is the individual
parts of the team that must work together, rather than how well a person's goals t the team as a unit. Now, this doesn't mean that
every person of the group must be the exact same. However, some uniformity of attitudes helps the group members to get along
with each other under most circumstances. People like cooperating with people that they believe are like themselves.

Lesson Summary
Social cohesion is a measure of how well groups stay together and complete their tasks. Groups with stronger cohesion work
better together and can put out many times the amount of work that their individual members could. Groups with less cohesion
can run into problems getting things done, and may break apart from this lack.

Key concepts to bear in mind with cohesion include incentive and social norms. Incentive is a goal or reward that helps to motivate
people to get things done. Social norms are rules about how the group operates; these rules can be explicit or implicit. Three
major factors in group cohesion are the purpose of the group, the magnetism or draw of the group, and the way individuals in the
group interact.