Social Groups

Social Groups

To a considerable part, man's life is a group life. When a person lives in society, he is usually a member of a number of organisations, each of which might be considered a society in and of itself. A group is a collection of people who have formed an affiliation with one another. A clique of friends, a political party, and a sports club are examples some typical groups.

The concept of association is crucial in understanding the nature of human grouping. Individual members form and maintain groups because they enable them to achieve similar aims or interests. The groups to which we belong determine our social behaviour and personalities. Individuals are members of numerous groups throughout their lives; some are selected by them, while others are allocated to them at birth.

The complicated pattern of the 'social structure' is made up of groups. Society is made up of groups.

Meaning of Social Groups: 

A social group is made up of two or more people who interact with each other. It shares a shared goal. In its most basic definition, a group is a collection of people who interact in a structured manner based on shared expectations about each other's behaviour. Members of a group have a common sense of belonging as a result of this contact.

Characteristics of Social Groups :

1. Mutual Awareness
2. One or more Common Interests
3. Sense of Unity
4. We-feeling
5. Similarity of Behaviour
6. Group Norms

Classification of Social Groups :

Sociologists have categorised groups in a number of ways. There are a variety of social groups that are both numerous and diversified. It is impossible to investigate all of the groups. A categorization is required for a systematic study of groups. Many criteria or bases for the classification of social groups have been proposed by various thinkers, including size, type of contact, nature of interests, degree of organisation, and permanence, among others. 

1. Disjunctive and overlapping groups.
2. Territorial and non-territorial groups.
3. Homogenous and Heterogeneous groups.
4. Permanent and Transitory groups.
5. Contractual and non-contractual groups.
6. Open groups and closed groups.
7. In-group and Out-group

Thus, sociologists have classified groups into variety of categories according to their own perceptions.

Social Groups- role, status and impact on personality.

I am member of many groups. Firstly we get affected by our Family which can be considered as the most important primary group. Taking birth in a Hindu family I have to adopt the culture and act accordingly. Thus the role has direct implication on the personality. Family has high influence on the personality development of an individual. 

I am affiliated with a particular political party. This automatically makes me a group member of that party's group. The roles here includes, to propagate the ideology of party, to defend it, to remain loyal towards the party etc. . These roles has direct implication on my personality and status. I tend to be biased and I behave politically in some situations.  

In college I am elected as a Student Advisory Committee (SAC) Member so I fall into a group of elected representatives. I went through it's rigorous process of selection and election, so I adopted a different behaviour with students in order to gain votes. So  My role is to act as a bridge between students and administration. As a member of this group I have a good status in the college. Status is somewhat which on prima-facie is judged by your Group. I have to develop a firm personality of an elected representative rather than just a normal student. Even as a SAC member I have developed different Personalities in Administration and in class among other students. So my role as SAC member motivates me to develop a totally different personality. 

Groups become an important part of our lives and have a huge impact on our personalities. We act the way we do because we see others in our group acting similarly. Our human instinct is to want conformity, and groups give that for us. As a result, our behaviour, value systems, attitude, and, most significantly, ourselves are shaped by groups.