Social Group

A social group is a collection of human beings. “A number of units of anything in close proximity to one another”. In the human context, the social group is – “Any collection of human beings who are brought into social relationships with one another”.

Definitions from sociologists:

• “ A social group is a number of persons two or more, who have some common objects of attention, who are stimulating to each other, who have common loyalty and participate in similar activities”. (Bogardus)
• “Whenever two or more individuals come together and influence one another, they may be said to constitute a social group”. (Ogburn & Nimkoff)

Characteristics of social groups 

• Reciprocal relationships
• Sense of unity and feeling of sympathy towards each other.
• We- feeling: Members defend their interests collectively.
• Common interests and ideals
• Similar behavior: for achieving the common goals and interests.
• Group norms: Every group has its own set of rules and norms.

Functions of Groups

• Defining boundaries
• Choosing leaders
• Making decisions
• Setting goals
• Assigning tasks
• Controlling members behavior

Types of group

According to the nature of social ties

• Primary group (family, neighbor)
• Secondary group

According to social identification

• In-groups
• Out-groups
• Reference group
• According to the organization
• Formal organization
• Informal organization

Primary Group

• The primary group is small in size and characterized by the personal, intimate and non-specialized relationship between their members.
• E . g. Family, Basketball team, A couple, Football team, classmates, etc.

Elements of the primary group

• Tend to be small and ordinarily composed of fewer than 15 to 20 individuals.
• Interaction and communication among members are of intimate and personal nature.
• Members commonly develop strong emotional bonds with other members.
• Generally persist over an extensive period of time.

Secondary Group

• Secondary groups refer to a formal, impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding.
• The relationship between the members is very superficial and there is only an indirect extension of influence amongst them.
• The groups which provide experience lacking in intimacy are called secondary groups. (Ogburn)

Elements of Secondary Group

• Formal and Impersonal relations
• The group does not exert any primary influence upon its members.
• They do not meet face to face.
• They perform their jobs, carry out orders, pay their dues, and still may not see each other face to face.