Social Groups

Instructor: Ms. Ayesha Ijaz

Social Group
Introduction of Social Group
Social group is the basic concept of sociology
Group is the collection of two or more individuals
who are adjustment on for long time on the basis of
common expectation and mutual relationship.
Group is any number of people with similar
 norms, values and expectation who regularly and
consciously interact.
Introduction of Social Group
 Man is a social animal, no man can live in
isolation.
 In fact every aspect of man’s life is influenced
to a great extent by the members of the
different groups of which he/she is a part.
Social Group
Social group is a collection of human beings.
 “A number of units of anything in closeness
to one another.”
 In human context social group is – “Any
collection of human beings who are brought
into social relationships with one another”
Definitions

According to Bogardus
 “A social group is 1.a number of persons two or more,
2.who have some common objects of attention, who 3. are
motivating to each other, who have 4. common loyalty and
participate in similar activities.”
According to Ogburn & Nimkoff
“Whenever two or more individuals come together and
influence one another, they may be said to constitute a social
group.”
 Social group involves some degree of reciprocity
and mutual awareness between the related
individuals.
 The essence of social group is not physical
closeness but a consciousness of joint interaction.
Functions Of a Social Group

 Setting goals:- The common ambition of the group for which

they attempt to perform and achieve
Assigning tasks:- Each member of the group is assigned a task
which he cares and look-after and is responsible for that
Controlling members behavior Behaviors of the members are
continually controlled because deviant behavior of the
members may be dangerous and harmful and rather fatal to the
group.
Functions Of a Social Group
 Defining boundaries:- To identify who are the
members of the group
 Choosing leaders:- By nature , groups resolve
the issue of leadership. A leader is the one who
occupies central role or position of dominance and
influence.
 Making decisions:- The combined aggregate of
all the ideas , opinions and thoughts of members
of the group over an issue.
Characteristics of Social Group
 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 it’s own set of
rules and norms.
Characteristics of Social Group
Two and more than two persons.
 Some kind of regular and conscious interaction
through direct or indirect communication
Some measure of mutual awareness.
 Common understanding.
 Collective behavior
Types of Social
group
Primary and Secondary Groups
In-groups and Out-groups
Formal and informal group
Reference Groups
Primary Group
A social group consists of two or more people who
regularly interact on the basis of mutual
expectations and who share a common identity.
 It is easy to see from this definition that we all
belong to many types of social groups: our families,
our different friendship groups, our workplaces,
the clubs and organizations to which we belong,
and so forth.
Except in rare cases, it is difficult to imagine any of
us living totally alone.
 Even people who live by themselves still interact
with family members, coworkers, and friends and
to this extent still have several group memberships.
Important Definition Of Primary
Social Group

Ogburn and Nimkoff

“Whenever two or more individuals come together
and influence one another, called primary social
group”
According to Bogardus
A number of persons, two or more, who have
common objects to attention, who are motivating to
each other, who have common loyalty and participate
in similar activities”
Characteristics Of Primary
Group
Face to face interaction
Affection (one know everyone else and strong affection)
 Strong emotional attachment
 Small size and informal
 Permanence
 Similarity of background
 Limited self interest
Characteristics Of Primary Group
Personal relationship
 Continuity of relationship
 Keep on over wide period of time
 “ WE ” feelings
 Example = family, etc
Secondary Groups
Secondary group members feel less emotionally
attached to each other than do primary group
members and do not identify as much with their group
nor feel as loyal to it.
Secondary groups are larger and more impersonal and
occur, often for a relatively short time, to achieve a
specific purpose.
Definitions Of Secondary Group
According to Ogburn:-
“the group which provide experience lacking in intimacy are
called secondary group”
 Secondary relationships involve weak emotional ties and little
personal knowledge of one another.
Most secondary groups are short term, beginning and ending
without particular significance.
Characteristics Of Secondary Group

Formal and impersonal relation

 Large in size
 Option of membership
 Less intimate and less sentimental
 “ I ” feelings
Impersonal and secondary
Characteristics Of Secondary Group

Specific interest and ends

Indirect communication
Social control
 Examples = political parties, business
organization
Difference Between Primary and
Secondary Group
Primary Group Secondary Group

1.A primary group is small in Size 1. Secondary group the

as well as area. The membership is membership is widespread.
limited to a small
2. The members directly Co- 2. Secondary group the Co­
operate with each other operation with the fellow-
participating in the same process. members is indirect
3. The primary group is based on an 3.Every secondary group is
informal structure regulated by a set of formal
rules.
4. The Relationship of members 4. A secondary group is regulated
with each other in a primary group by formal rules which mean a
is direct, intimate and personal. exchange of impersonal for
personal relationships.
In group and out Group
In Group
According to Sumner:-
The group in which the individual recognizes
oneself is called in group.
An in-group is a social category to which persons feel
they belong and share a perception or awareness of
caring.
In group and out Group
 In other words, these are the groups for which we
come first with the pronoun ‘my’ such as my
family , my nation, my caste, my occupational
groups etc.
Examples of In-Group are, Family, Tribe, collage,
occupation or religion.
Important characteristics of in-group

Mutual sympathy towards one another.

 Mutual cooperation, help and goodwill.
 Respect for mutual benefits and rights.
 Emotion of solidarity and we-feeling.
 Feeling of tolerance, compassion and generosity.
 Special behavior with the members.
Important characteristics of in-group

Brotherhood
Ethnocentrism ( People consider their own norms
and values superior to the norms and values of the out
group.
Sense of Unity ( members of in group are united by
a strong sense of unity).
Out Group

According to Sumner, The group in which the individual does

not identify himself is called as out group. It is expressed under
contract between “They and We”
For Example You city, your collage, we are democrats, they are
communists we are Muslims and they are Hindus.
 The group which the individual does not identifies
with himself is called out-group. An out-group is a
group or category to which people feel they do not
belong.
 We treat most members of out-group as ‘others’.
 We have the feeling of difference, avoidance, hatred,
competition, mistrust and dislike towards them.
In Group Out Group
In group members use but Out group
the term ‘we’ to expressed under
express themselves between ‘they 'and
‘We’.
Ethnocentrism is one But out group is not
of the important based on
characteristic of in ethnocentrism
group.
In group members Members of out group
have positive attitude does not have such
towards their own in feeling towards their
group group.
In Group Out Group
Similarity in behavior, Members of out group
attitude and opinion is does not have such
observed among the feeling towards their
members of in group. group.

Members of in group In which a person

display co-operation, does not belong and
good-will, mutual help
toward which the
and possess a sense of
solidarity, a feeling of person may feel a
brotherhood and sense of
readiness to sacrifice competitiveness or
themselves for the hostility.
group.
Formal and Informal Group
Formal Groups
The group formed by organizations to achieve some
specific objectives is called formal group
It is a group which has formal organization, role and
status, people have their entrance which is according
to rules and regulations and there is a written code of
conduct for the group to function.
Social Group
Members are given punishment for violating
the rules and regulations of the norms of the
group.
All the members have roles to play, for
example, Pakistan Armed forces, Professors
Association, Trade unions etc.
Social Group
Informal Group
informal groups are formed by the members of
such groups by themselves.
 They emerge naturally, in response to the
common interests of organizational members.
 It is that type of group which has no organization
and no rules and regulations.
 Members are scattered and become united when
needed.
Social Group
Examples
 In college you had study groups and project team
Peer playing card group
Neighborhood
Sports Team
Social Group
Reference Group
 Any person or group of people who significantly influences
an individual’s behavior For Example, Individuals
(Celebrities, Athletes, or Political leaders) Groups of
individuals with similarities (Musical groups or Sports teams)
A reference group is a group to which we compare
ourselves. Reference groups, such as college freshmen, serve
as a standard to which we measure our behaviors and attitudes.
We use reference groups in order to guide our behavior and
attitudes and help us to identify social norms.
Social Group
A group that we have been a part of in the past or that we will
be a part of in the future can serve as a reference group.
( School friend,(Past)) (university groups (present))
It is important to note that a majority of us rely on multiple
reference groups.
 (Example) we may look to our university friends to identify
social norms, but also our favorite singers to compare our body
size to see if he/she is of normal weight.
Social Group
Why Reference Groups are Important?
 Social Power:
 The capacity to modify the actions of others
 Referent Power:
 When consumers imitate qualities by copying behaviors of a
prominent person they admire.
Social Group
Information Power:
Able to influence consumer opinion by virtue of their
(assumed) access to the “truth”
Legitimate Power:
 Granted to people by quality of social agreements
Any
Question?