Every day we communicate and interact with many people. It happens all the time. Often, regardless of desire, we join various social groups. Basically, this happens completely imperceptibly, naturally and quickly.
What is a social group? This is an association of people that has attributes unique to it. These signs include interests, goals, values, social status and so on.
Social group
The appearance of such groups is primarily associated with the division of labor that took place many centuries ago. Each social group is based on the use of certain specific benefits of culture, society, and so on.
The totality of such groups - this is the social structure of society. It is understood as an internal social structure, ordered by norms formed in the process of interaction between groups. Of course, it is the social structure that makes society something one, whole.
A social group is not the same as a quasigroup. In the second case, we are talking about an unstable informal association of people whose structure is implicit, and the goals are blurred or are very doubtful.
A quasigroup is an audience, a crowd, a queue in a store, and so on. Quasigroups are small groups. But at the same time, do not forget that their participants are simultaneously included in other, larger associations - in large social groups. Why does social psychology emphasize precisely the study of small associations of people? First of all, because it is they who have the most powerful influence on the development of the human personality. A large social group creates a certain basis, which will subsequently be developed in small groups.
A microgroup is an association of two or three people. The number of people is increasing - the social group is becoming small. Both of these associations can be both temporary and permanent. Why can the line in the store be called a social group? The reason is that it is a collection of people who are in the same place at the same time, and also have the same goal. Of course, such a social group is temporary.
Every day we team up with many people. This applies to both home and work. The family is a social group, the team at work is the same. The associations of people are different, their structure and purpose are always different. In any association, sooner or later a leader stands out . What is a leader? This is a person who, with the help of his authority, and not of any authority, can influence the behavior of people, their activities, decisions and so on.
Members of small social groups are often at an unequal position. Often, inequality is conditional.
This article cannot but mention conformity. This term refers to the impact that a social group has on an individual. The fact is that there are certain rules and regulations that are binding. Also in the group these or other opinions may prevail on certain issues. A person who is a member of the association may or may not agree with the opinion of the group and the rules adopted by it. If he does not agree, then the group will try in one way or another to force him to accept its values. Does the individual resist and do not want to obey? This is non-conformism, that is, independence from the majority opinion.
Social groups can have negative and positive effects on people. Participation in some of them can have a very detrimental effect (for example, communication with drug addicts can lead to a person becoming addicted to it).