WHAT IS A

GROUP?
-A group can be very small, such as a boy and a girl talking to each other. Or it can be
very huge, such as thousands people attending a prayer rally. It can be also intimate
like a family or it can be formal like employees of a business firm. A Group is
Constituted by 2 or more Persons who interact together and are together physically.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL
GROUP?
-In the social sciences, a social group can be defined as two or more people who
interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense
of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties. For
example, a society can be viewed as a large social group.
TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS:

 GEMEINSCHAFT AND GESSELSCHAFT – A somewhat similar distinction in Primary and

Secondary Group Dichotomy was developed by FERDINAND TOENNIES (1951:82) –
GEMEINSCHAFT (close to communal relationships or community) and GESSELSCHAFT
(organized impersonal relationship or society).
-Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, generally translated as “COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY",
are categories which were used by the German sociologist FERDINAND TOENNIES in order to
categorize social relationships into two dichotomous sociological types which define each
other.
 GEMEINSCHAFT – is a community of individuals with close personal and family
ties. It is base on what Toennies calls “NATURAL WILL” of the members where they
relate to one another as total personalities. The activities, interests, and
personalities of the members center on the large family groups and neighbors.
GESSELSCHAFT - social relations based on impersonal ties, as duty to a society or
organization.

PRIMARY GROUP - a group in which one exchanges implicit items, such as love,
caring, concern, support, etc. Examples of these would be family groups, love
relationships, crisis support groups, and church groups. Relationships formed in
primary groups are often long lasting and goals in themselves.

SECONDARY GROUP - a relatively larger group composed of impersonal and goal-

oriented relationships, which are often temporary. These groups are often based
on achieving a common purpose outside of the relationship itself and involve
much less emotional investment.

-(CHARLES W. COOLEY) – the one who introduced and made the “PRIMARY GROUP”
and “SECONDARY GROUP” (1957:23-27)).
IN-GROUPS & OUT-GROUPS – Two Groups that are the opposite of each other

 IN-GROUP - an exclusive, typically small, group of people with a shared interest or

identity. It’s also defined as groups that have competement to have a specific reward.

 OUT-GROUP - is a group defined by its dissimilarity to an in-group. Where an in-group

is unified by a shared element of identity, be it a belief or a trait, and out-group is defined
by its lack of that shared element.

 REFERENCE GROUP - a group to which an individual or another group is compared,

used by sociologists in reference to any group that is used by an individual as a
standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior.

 STEREOTYPE - is a widely held, simplified, and essentialist belief about a specific

group. Groups are often stereotyped on the basis of sex, gender identity, race and
ethnicity, nationality, age, socioeconomic status, language, and so forth. Stereotypes
are deeply embedded within social institutions and wider culture