A social group is an association of people on some significant social grounds. Participants in such associations can engage in common activities, have a certain structure of relations, or be in the same conditions. The members of the group, one way or another, are aware of their involvement in this education.
The study of social groups involved in sociology and social psychology.
The classification of social groups is very diverse. First of all, small, large and medium groups are distinguished.
A large group is social strata, ethnic communities, age groups, and so on.
As part of the study of secondary, teams working in enterprises, residents of one city, district are considered.
Small groups include family, groups of friends, etc. A distinctive feature of such is the presence of contacts and interpersonal or emotional relations of their participants with each other. Most research in the field of social psychology is devoted to small groups.
The classification of social groups can be based on various attributes.
For example, primary and secondary small groups are distinguished . Primary are characterized by the presence of direct contacts between participants. In the secondary, special means are used for communication, for example, various kinds of messages. The members of the secondary group are more separated from each other.
There is also a classification of social groups based on how clearly defined the status of each of the members of the association. Based on this, small groups are divided into formal and informal. The first type is characterized by a fixed system of roles. The form of leadership and submission is also strictly fixed. Informal groups are formed spontaneously, sometimes they can arise within formal associations. If a general activity appears within an informal group, then a fairly clear structure may arise.
Another classification of social groups is based on whether a person participates in a group whose norms are significant for him. From this point of view, two types are distinguished.
A membership group is an association that includes a person to whom he is a member.
The reference social group serves the individual as a certain standard, a source of social norms and values, however, he is not always a member of it.
From this point of view, reference groups can be divided into ideal and presence groups.
An ideal group can be either real or fictional. The main thing is that a person does not participate in it, and the adopted system of values is especially attractive to him.
Reference groups are also divided into positive and negative.
If the individual fully shares and supports the system of values of a positive group, then the norms adopted in the negative are perceived negatively. Moreover, the values of both groups have a significant impact on the person.
In order to clearly demonstrate the mechanism of the influence of group opinion on consciousness, we give examples of social groups whose value system is perceived positively.
So, for a teenager, a company of high school students whose opinion is important to him may be a positive reference group. He seeks to imitate them, wears the same clothes, listens to music that these high school students like.
Also, for a young person, a reference group can be individuals belonging to completely different associations. For example, father, film hero and coach.
In this case, each of them has certain traits that are appreciated by a teenager. It can be courage, courage or independence.
The classification of social groups allows us to study the mechanisms of the impact of society’s norms on a person, thanks to which it is possible to find out the causes and patterns of human behavior. The information obtained can be used in various fields, for example, to elucidate the mechanisms of formation of dependent behavior, as well as to establish patterns of interaction between people in groups.