Definition
Indailylife,doaudiencesinthesamemovietheaterandpassengersonthesameplaneformagroup?Isagroupagroupofindividualswithacommongoalandconsistentcompliance?Itisonthebasisofthinkingabouttheabove-mentionedproblemsthatsocialpsychologistshavedeterminedsomebasiccharacteristicstoscientificallydefinethegroup.
Shaw(Shaw,1981)believesthatagroupiscomposedoftwoormoreindividualswhointeractandinfluenceeachother.Hepointedoutthatallgroupshaveacommonfeature,thatis,groupmembersinteractwitheachother,andthereisareasonfortheexistenceofgroups.Forexample,inordertomeetacertainneed,provideinformationorachieveaunifiedgoal,etc.ItcanbeseenthataccordingtoXiao'sdefinition,theaudienceinthesamemovietheaterandthepassengersonthesameplanecanonlybesaidtobeagroup,notarealandinteractivegroup.
Baker(Back,1977)believesthatthekeytotheunderstandingoftheconceptofagroupisthatallitsmembersmusthaveanobservableandmeaningfulwayofcontactingeachother;theinteractionbetweenindividualsmakespeopleBecomeagroupandworkhardforacommongoal.Moreandmoreresearchersbelievethatagroupisamixtureofalltheabovemeaningsorwithmoremeanings.Others(N.Dasgupta,M.R.Banji&R.P.Abelson,1999;B.Lickel,eta1.,2000)believethatagroupisagroupofpeoplecloselyconnectedinsomeway.Barronetal.(2003)believethatagroupisagroupofpeoplewhoareconnectedbyacertainbondandhavedifferentdegreesofcohesion.
Groupcharacteristics
Althoughgroupsvarygreatlyintype,size,nature,andscale,allgroupshavethefollowingcharacteristics:
Firstofall,Allmembershavecommongroupgoalsandinterests.Anygroupmusthaveagroupaim.Thereareorganizationalguaranteesformutualcooperationandcooperationwithinthegroup.Everymemberofthegrouphascommoninterestsandmakestheirowneffortstoachievethegroupgoal.Usually,thegoalofagroupissomethingthatasingleindividualcannotachievealone.
Secondly,eachmemberhasgroupconsciousness.Everymemberofthegrouprealizesthatheisamemberofthegroup,realizestheexistenceofothermembers,andinteractswiththem,andestablishesinterdependentrelationshipsandemotions.Groupmembersoftencarryoutnecessaryexchangesandcommunication.Themembershipofagrouphelpstoestablishapositivesocialidentityandisconducivetotheformationofanintegratedsenseofself.Ifseveralpeopleormorepeoplegathertogether,iftheydon'thavemuchpsychologicalcontactwitheachother,thenthesepeoplecan'tbecalledagroup,butthesepeoplecanonlybedescribedasabunchofpeopleoragroupofpeople.
Again,thememberscancooperateandcooperateclosely.Thatis,theremustbeadivisionoflaborwithinthegroupandacertainorganizationalstructure.Eachmemberofthegrouphasacertainpositioninthegroup,playsacertainrole,performscertaintasks,andhascertainrightsandobligations,thatis,groupdevision.Forexample,acompanygrouphasadivisionoflaborsuchaschairman,generalmanager,supplyandmarketing,technology,andpropaganda,allofwhichperformtheirduties.
Finally,thegroupmustmeettheneedsofeachmember'ssenseofbelonging.Thisisanemotionthatindividualsconsciouslybelongtothegrouptheybelongto,andtheyhavepsychologicaldependenceandasenseofcommonality.Withthiskindofemotion,theindividualwillusethegoalofthegroupasthecriterion,carryouthisownactivities,cognitionandevaluation,consciouslysafeguardtheinterestsofthegroup,andresonateemotionallywithothermembersofthegroup.
Howthegroupworks
Howdoesthegroupaffectitsmembers?Thisinvolvesthewaythegroupfunctions.Wediscusstherole,status,normsandcohesionofthegroupitself.
Grouprole
Thismainlyreferstothefunctionaldifferenceswithinthegroup.Inagroup,notallpeopledothesamethingandplaythesamerole;butdifferentpeoplecompletedifferenttasksandplaydifferentroles.Nomatterhowtheroleisacquired,peopletendtointernalizeitandassociatetheroleplayedwiththeself-concept.Whetherheorsheisinthegroupornot,therole’sexpectationsandcharacteristicswillbereflectedinthebehavior.
Groupstatus
Itmainlyreferstothepositionandrankinthegroup.Inaschool,whentheprincipalwalksintotheclassroom,thestudentswillstandup,andthestudentswillnotsitdownuntilheisseated.Whyisthishappening?Oneoftheexplanationsisthattherearestatusdifferencesingroups.Differentstatus,theirrightsarealsodifferent.Thestatusofanindividualinagrouphasagreatinfluenceontheindividual,sopeopleareoftenextremelysensitivetoit,andhavingahigherstatusmeanshavingmorerights.Psychologistswhoadvocateevolutiongenerallybelievethatintermsofsurvivalandreproduction,peoplewithhigherstatusaremorelikelytoobtainfoodoraspousethanpeoplewithlowerstatus.Inshort,statusisactuallyarewardformembersofthegroupandamanifestationofgroupinfluence.
GroupNorms
Thethirdfactorthatgroupsinfluenceonindividualsisgroupnorms,whichtellmembershowtoact.Compliancewiththesenormsisoftenanecessaryconditionforgainingstatusandotherbenefitsinthegroup.
Groupcohesion
Differentcohesion,theinfluenceofthegrouponthepsychologyandbehaviorofmembersisalsodifferent.Groupswithhighcohesionhaveagreaterimpactonindividuals.
Inshort,thefourelementsofthegroup'srole,status,normsandcohesionworktogethertodeterminethevariouspsychologyandbehaviorsofgroupmembers.
Typesofgroups
Groupsarediverse.Thenature,structure,functionandmodeofactivityofeachgrouparedifferent.Accordingtothepurposeofthegroup,themechanismofcontact,thewayofinfluencinggroupmembers,andthecharacteristicsofcommunicationamonggroupmembers,differentgroupscanbeclassified.
FormalandInformalGroups
Accordingtothepurposeandnatureoftheinteractionofeachmemberinthegroup,groupscanbedividedintoformalgroupsandinformalgroups.ThescientistE.Mayo(1931)proposedintheHawthorneexperiment.
Formalgroup(formalgroup)referstoagroupestablishedbasedonmembership,charterorotherformaldocuments.Theformalgroupstructureisclear.Theystipulatethestatusandrolesofmembers,clearlyputforwardtherightsandobligationsofeachmember,andhavegoodgroupnorms,clearinformationcommunicationroutesandpowercontrolmechanisms,anddetailedregulationsforthetaskstobecompleted.Governments,companies,factories,schoolclasses,etc.areallformalgroups.
Informalgroups(informalgroups)refertogroupsthathavenoformalregulations,spontaneouslyformed,whosestatusandroles,rightsandobligationsarenotclear,andhavenofixedorganization.ItismainlyusedforSatisfypeople'scertainlifeneeds,andwithobviousemotionalcolor,thatis,basedonpersonalgoodwill.Therearethreereasonsfortheformationofinformalgroups:oneistheconsistencyofacertaininterestorpointofview;thesecondisduetothecommonvaluesandcommoninterestsandhobbies;thethirdisduetosimilarlifeexperiencesorbackgrounds,suchasstampcollectors,Spontaneousfishingteams,travelcompanions,classmatesassociations,etc.Sinceinformalgroupsarebasedonemotionsandhobbies,theyhavestrongcohesionandattractivenesstomembers.
Socialpsychologyresearchandlifepracticehaveshownthattherearealwaysvariousinformalgroupsinformalgroups(ChenJingchun,2002).Informalgroupswillaffectformalgroupstoacertainextent,andtheirinfluencemaybeItispositiveoritcanbenegative.Iftheinformalgroupitselfhasstrongcohesion,itcanpromotetheconsolidationoftheformalgroup.Whenthegoalsandnormsofaformalgroupareinconsistentwiththeindividualneedsofitsmembers,thetwogroupswillconflictandbecomeanobstacletothefunctionoftheformalgroup.
Largegroupsandsmallgroups
Accordingtothesizeandcommunicationmethodsofthegroups,groupscanbedividedintolargegroupsandsmallgroups.Thisdistinctionisblurredbecausethesizeofthegroupisrelative.However,fromapsychologicalpointofview,therearestandardsforthedivisionofgroupsize,thatis,whethergroupmembersareinface-to-facecontactandcontactsituations.
Largegroup(largegroup)referstoagroupwithalargenumberofmembersinindirectwaytogetintouch,suchasthroughthecommongoalofthegroup,throughvariouslevelsoforganizations,etc.,sothatmemberscanestablishindirectconnections.Largegroupscanbefurtherdividedintogroupsofdifferentformsandlevels.Forexample,itcanbedividedintogroupssuchastownships,streets,andresidentialvillages;itcanalsobedividedintosocialoccupationgroupsorpopulationgroups;itcanalsobedividedintopoliticalgroups,workgroups,andentertainmentgroups.Theselargegroupsdonothavedirectsocialcommunicationandsocialinteraction,andcanbeusedasspecialresearchobjectsofsocialpsychology,buttheyaremoreoftenusedasresearchobjectsofsociology.
Smallgroupreferstoacombinationthatisrelativelystable,hasasmallnumberofpeople,isunitedforacommongoal,andhasdirectcontactwitheachmember.Ithasacommongoal,andallmembersworktogetherforthisgoal.Membersofsmallgroupsarefamiliarwitheachother,oftenface-to-facecommunication,andtheirpsychologicalfeelingsaremoreobvious.Itssizecannotbelessthan2people,butgenerallynomorethan30people.Couples,families,relativesandgroups,classes,etc.canallberegardedassmallgroups.Apersoncanassumedifferentsocialroles,orbeamemberofseveralsmallgroupsatthesametime,andcancommunicatedirectlywithothersaccordingtohisownwishesandneeds.Inasmallgroupwithalargenumberofpeople,duetovariousreasons,somepeoplehavemoreinteractionactivities,communicationismorefrequent,andthecommunicationismoreintimateinnature,whichcanbecalleda"smallgroup".Thenumberof"smallgroups"isnotlarge,usually2-7people.A"smallgroup"maybeaformalgrouporaninformalgroup,anditalsobelongstoasmallgroup.Smallgroupshavealwaysbeensubjectsofinteresttosocialpsychologists.Forexample,Allport,Mayo,Lewin,Sharif,Lipa,etc.haveallconductedsystematicresearchonsmallgroupsandhaveachievedfruitfulresearchresults.
Membergroupsandreferencegroups
Accordingtothepsychologicalyearningofgroupmembersforthegroup,groupscanbedividedintomembergroupsandreferencegroups.Membergroups,alsoknownassubordinategroups,refertogroupsinwhichindividualsaretheirofficialmembers,suchasteams,groups,classes,schools,districts,etc.whereanindividualbelongs.Theso-calledreferencegroupreferstoagroupthatindividualsconsciouslyacceptitsnormsandguidelinesandusethemtoguidetheirbehavior.Itisagroupthatpeoplelike,anditsvalueandnormsystemareoftenpersonalgoalsorstandards.Alsoknownasrolemodelgroups,suchasadvancedclasses,excellentteams,etc.Thereferencegroupmayhaveapositiveornegativeinfluenceongroupmembers.Inaperson'smind,thereareoftentwoormorereferencegroups.Ifthenorms,guidelines,andgoalsofthesereferencegroupsareconsistent,theywillenhancethemotivationoftheindividualandserveasagoodexample;otherwise,itwillcauseconflictsandstrugglesintheindividual'sinnermotivation.
Inreallife,someteenagersshowdeviantbehaviorsorcriminalbehaviorsbecausetheyregardcriminalgangsastheirownreferencegroup,andregardtheirbehavioralnormsandguidelinesastheirownbehavioralstandards.Therefore,peopleshouldstrengthentheresearchonreferencegroupsinordertoascertainthereferencegroupintheindividual'sheart,sothatcorrectandhealthygroupnormscanbetransformedintopersonalbehaviorstandards.
Petrovsky’sclassification
Afteryearsofresearchandpractice,Petrovsky,aformerSovietsocialpsychologist,wroteinhisbook"CollectiveSocialPsychology"(TranslatedbyLuShengzhong,People'sEducationPress,1985),accordingtothelevelofgroupdevelopmentandtheclosenessoftheconnectionsbetweengroupmembers,groupsaredividedintoloosegroups,jointgroupsandcollectives.
Loosegroupreferstoacommunityinwhichtherelationshipbetweenmembersisnotmediatedbythepurpose,content,meaningandvalueofcommonactivities.Inmanycases,therearenocommonactivitiesinloosegroupsatall.Forexample,passengersonairplanes,audiencesinconcerthalls,guestsinhotels,andtravelcompanionsontheroadareamongtheloosegroups.
Jointgroup(jointgroup)orcooperativegroupreferstoagroupthatgraduallycondensesintoanorganizedcollectionthroughcommonactivitiesandestablishesavarietyofemotionalrelationshipsamongmembers.Eachmemberrealizesthateachotherbelongstothesamesocialcommunity,andmutualattractionwithinthegroupisbecomingmoreandmoreobvious.Insuchgroups,psychologicalrelationshipssuchasemotionsdominate.Petrovskybelievesthatthejointgrouporthecooperativegroupseemstobeatransitionalgroupbetweentheloosegroupandthecollective.
Collectiveisthehigheststageofgroupdevelopment.Therelationshipbetweenmembersisagroupmediatedbythecontentofgroupactivitieswithpersonalsignificanceandsocialvalue.Thismeansthatcollectivemembersnotonlyrecognizethevalueofgroupactivitiestoindividualsandthecollective,butalsorecognizeitssignificancetosocietyasawhole.Generally,atruecollectiveshouldtakeintoaccounttheinterestsofindividuals,collectivesandtheentiresociety.