LESSON SUMMARY GUIDE FOR UCSP

CHAPTER V: HOW SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED

LESSON 1
Issued & written by Mihke Patricia B. Rios (11-Bl. Stephana Quinzani).
Unless authorized and given to you by the author, you are not allowed to read, use, or reproduce this handout on all accounts.

This lesson covers 3 topics:

 Groups within society and their functions
 Primary and secondary groups
 In-groups, out-groups, reference groups, and networks.

There are 3 key groups that lead to the formation and characterization of other groups. They function as cogs—when
one is given a certain quality, it goes into another type and evolves further. These are social aggregates, social
categories, and social groups.

Social aggregates are a collection of warm bodies who happened to be together in one space. Despite this, they
aren’t bound by anything in particular; there are no common interests, goals, tasks, or more that these people share
other than being in the same space at the same time.
The word “aggregate” is defined as: a whole formed by combining several (typically disparate, or different)
elements. When we say social aggregates, this is a collection of people (elements) in one space (combined) who do
not have any other similar or common characteristics (different). For example, a crowd gathered at a stadium to
watch a sport classifies as a social aggregate.

Social categories, which come from social aggregates, is a collection of individuals who share a common
characteristic but do not necessarily interact or identify with each other. An example of a social category would be a
group of women or a group of lawyers. They both respectively share gender and occupation, however, other than
that, there is nothing else binding them together.

The third and most fruitful is the social group. Social groups are the result of there being more than co-presence
(occurrence of two or more things together in the same place and time) or co-category (class or division of multiple
things having shared characteristics).

Social groups are a collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence,
and common feeling of belongingness, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals. They have
common interests that necessitate interaction with or to each other across time and space. The bond between groups
varies on the purpose and condition of the relationships between the members. A family will differ from a friend
group in this regard. Social groups can be further elaborated depending on certain standards.

Primary groups are typically small-scale, but they are bound by the close, personal, enduring, and long-lasting
nature of the relationships between the members. Said members often feel a close personal identity with the group,
as well as having shared activities and culture. Think of your family—you generally engage with your family
members, face-to-face and with daily long-term emotional means.

Opposite of this are secondary groups. Secondary groups have no limitation on scale—they can be small or large.
They are characterized by a lack of intimate relationships between the members and instead focus on the shared goal
or task at hand. These can be found in school project groups, especially if the members are randomized.

Reference groups are the third type of social group. These are also called identity association groups because of their
creation originating from a person’s strong desire to provide a character connection. They serve as a standard against
which behaviors and attitudes are measured, ones we often compare ourselves to because they guide our behavior
and attitudes while also identifying social norms.

RIOS, MIHKE PATRICIA, B. 1

In-groups and out-groups are the two classifications of reference groups respectively. In-groups are a particular
group of people that identify with each other, and the individuals feel a strong sense of solidarity and belonging
within these groups. In contrast, out-groups are social reference groups to which an individual of a particular in-
group does not identify with because it lacks what the in-group has—a shared similarity or element of identity. It
brews grounds for conflict, antagonism, and contempt between an in-group and out-group.

The behavior of groups isn’t necessarily actual or imagined but is instead dependent on the connections or linkage of
the member to any of the groups. This is formally defined as networks—sets of informal and formal social ties that
link people to each other. Networks are formed by the presence of social linkage invoked and availed by an
individual. This means it doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical group, nor one that is populated by actual people.

We’re able to deduce from the categories of social groups that they can influence their members. This can be from
actual conduct and behavior, down to the mentality and thinking of a person. Groups are part of our social psyches,
in thoughts and in actions with how they can influence a person. Think of the Holocaust and ISIS terrorism—mass
events of history that demonstrate just how far groups can sink their hold into individuals.

With this in mind, we can give this certain influence a term: a groupthink, or a process by which the members of a
group ignore ways of thinking and plans of action that go against the group consensus. It’s a psychological influence
exerted over us by our respective groups.

RIOS, MIHKE PATRICIA, B. 2