Characteristics and Significance of Groups

Introduction

All day long we interact first in one group and then in

another. We live in a dwelling as part of a group, we

learn in groups contained in the same classroom, we

work in groups, we interact with friends in groups, and

we spend much of our leisure time in groups. Our family

life, our leisure time, our friendships, and our careers

are all filled with groups. In fact, if a person from outer

space conducted a study of the people of Earth, group

membership would probably be the dominant

characteristic noted. We are born into a group called

the family, and we would not survive the first few

minutes, the first few weeks, or even the first few years

of our lives without membership in this group. It is within

our family and peer groups that we are socialised into

ways of behaving and thinking, educated, and taught

to have certain perspectives on ourselves and our world.

Our personal identity is derived from the way in which

we are perceived and treated by other members of our

groups. We learn, work, and play in groups. As humans

we have an inherent social nature. Our life is filled

with groups from the moment of our birth to the moment

of our death. All these make groups one of the most

important factors in our lives. In business, government,

and the military there is great interest in improving

the productivity of groups. There is great concern in

our society with strengthening the family. Educators

are striving to better understand how the classroom

functions as a group. Drug abuse, delinquency and

crime, and mental illness are all being treated through

group procedures, and there is continued concern with

making those procedures more effective. As the

effectiveness of groups goes, our quality of life goes.

The more effective our family, career, and educational

groups, the higher the quality of our lives.

Definition of Groups

Not every collection of people can be considered a group.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines group as a

number of persons or things regarded as forming a unit

on account of any kind of mutual or common relation or

classified together on account of a common degree of

similarity. There are three criteria suggested by this

definition to call a group as a group:

a) Number of persons – more than one

b) Mutual or common relation

c) Similarity

Groups may be contrasted with aggregates. An

aggregate is a collection of individuals who are present

at the same time and place but do not form a unit or

have a common degree of similarity. Individuals standing

on a street corner, the members of an audience at a

music programme are aggregates, not groups.

While the Oxford definition has captured the basic

essence of a group, different social scientists have put

forward their own views on what is a group with

emphasis on the various aspects of a group. We can see

some of the definitions below.

Interpersonal Interaction

A group may be defined as a collection of individuals

who are interacting with one another. According to this

definition, the individuals are not a group unless they

are interacting with one another. Three psychologists

who have defined group in this way are Bonner, Stogdill,

and Homans. They stress that the primary defining

characteristic of a group is interpersonal interaction. It

is questionable that a group can exist without its

members interacting with one another.

Perceptions of Membership

A group may be defined as a social unit consisting of

two or more persons who perceive themselves as

belonging to a group. According to this definition, the

persons are not a group unless they perceive themselves

to be part of a group. Two psychologists who have defined

group in this way are Bales and Smith. They stress

that the primary defining characteristic of a group, is

that the members perceive themselves to be part of a

group. It is questionable that a group could exist without

its members being aware that they are members of a

group.

Interdependency

Group may be defined as a collection of individuals who

are interdependent. According to this definition, the

individuals are not a group unless an event that

affects one of them affects them all. Four psychologists

who have defined group in this way are Cartright and

Zander, Fiedler, and Lewin. These authors stress that

the primary defining characteristic of a group is that

the members are interdependent in some way. It is

questionable that a group could exist without its

members being interdependent.

Goals

Group may be defined as a collection of individuals who

join together to achieve a goal. According to this

definition, the individuals are not a group unless they

are trying to achieve a mutual goal. Three psychologists

who have defined group this way are Deutsch and

Freeman.

They stress that the primary defining characteristic of

a group is the craving of its members to achieve a mutual

goal. It is questionable whether a group would exist

unless there was a mutual goal that its members were

trying to achieve.

Motivation

Group may be defined as a collection of individuals who

are all trying to satisfy some personal need through

their joint association. According to this definition, the

individuals are not a group unless they are motivated

by some personal reason to be part of a group. Two

psychologists who have defined group in this way are

Bass and Cattell. They stress that the primary defining

characteristic of a group is that its members belong to

the group in order to obtain needed rewards or to satisfy

other personal needs. It is questionable that a group

could exist without its member needs being satisfied

by their membership.

Structured Relationships

A group may be defined as a collection of individuals

whose interactions are structured by a set of roles and

norms. According to this definition, the individuals are

not a group unless their interactions are structured by

a set of role definitions and norms. Two sets of

psychologists who have defined group in this way are

McDavid and Harari and Shel and Sherif.

They say that the primary defining characteristic of a

group is that the interaction of its members is

structured by role definitions and norms. It is doubtful

whether a group could exist unless role definitions and

norms structure the interaction of its members.

Mutual Influence

A group may be defined as a collection of individuals

who influence each other. According to this definition,

the individuals are not a group unless they are affecting

and being affected by each other and therefore, the

primary defining characteristic of a group is

interpersonal influence. Shaw defined group in this way.

One solution to the profusion of definitions is to combine

them all into one definition. A small group may be

defined as two or more individuals who:

a) pursue common goals

b) are interdependent

c) interact with each other

d) share norms concerning matters of common interest

and participate in a system of interlocking roles

e) influence each other

f) find the group rewarding and

g) define themselves and are defined by others as

belonging to the group

Not all these characteristics are equally important and

although it is impossible to gain consensus among social

scientists as to which characteristics are most important

we can arrive at a definition of group for the purpose of

group work as follows.

A group is two or more individuals in face to face interaction,

each aware of positive interdependence as they strive to

achieve mutual goals, each aware of his or her membership

in the group, and each aware of the others who belong to the

group.