Group Behaviour

A group can be defined as "two or more humans that interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity." By this definition, society can be viewed as a large group, though most social groups are considerably smaller.
"A true group exhibits some degree of social cohesion and is more than a simple collection or aggregate of individuals, such as people waiting at a bus stop. Characteristics shared by members of a group may include interests, values, ethnic or social background, and kinship ties. According to Paul Hare, the defining characteristic of a group is social interaction."

When people act as a group they are stronger!

Groups can offer support and protection

It is easy to rip a single sheet of paper, but harder to tear a pack!



Types of groups:
-Primary groups are small groups with intimate, kin-based relationships, for example: families.
-Secondary groups, in contrast to primary groups, are large groups whose relationships are formal and institutional. They may last for years or may disband after a short time. The formation of primary groups happens within secondary groups.
-Reference groups are groups to which the individual conceptually relates him/herself, and from which he/she adopts goals and values as a part of his/her self identity.

There is also another classification of groups:




An example of DISASSOCIATIVE group:



And an example of chavs ;)



Aspirational adverts are very important in marketing. They definately influence customer's purchase. For me this is advert is absolutely fabulous:



We were talking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs as well. This diagram shows Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom.



Maslow's hierarchy of needs is predetermined in order of importance.

The need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an anorexic, for example, ignores the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.
All humans have also a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self-respect, and to respect others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem.

Social comparison theory is also very important. It is a theory initially proposed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954. This theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others.

"In his initial theory, Festinger hypothesized several things. First, he stated that
humans have a drive to evaluate themselves by examining their opinions and abilities in comparison to others. To this, he added that the tendency to compare oneself with
some other specific person decreases as the difference between his opinion or ability and one’s own become more divergent. He also hypothesized that there is an upward drive towards achieving greater abilities, but that there are non-social restraints which make it nearly impossible to change them, and that this is largely absent in opinions" (Festinger, 1954).

Group behaviour is based on norms and values. All human groups have a culture consisting of shared values and norms. In social work groups, norms are standards of behavior that all members are expected to follow.
Norms reflect group values; for example, the norm of making group decisions by
consensus reflects somewhat different values than the norm of “majority rules.”
Norms determine the way in which groups solve problems, make decisions, and do their
work. They influence interactions between members and between the group and the facilitator.

Group norms tend to cluster around the following types of activity:
-Participation
-Decision-making
-Mutual aid
-Affective expression

More about this topic you will find in this article:
http://www.usd.edu/med/socialwork/dnorris/groupnorms.pdf

Group behaviour depends on your perceptions
In order to understand this statement we were watching some interesting videos showing how important is group pressure and how it influences our behaviour.




This is my favourite:


As Ruth said, the power to make an individual conform to group pressure and influence depends upon:
-importance of membership
-fear of negative sanctions
-degree of support from others

An interesting article explaining how group influence on product and brand purchase decision: http://www2.bc.edu/~woodsiar/nov%202%20reference%20grp.pdf