Psychology of social groups. Types, functions, group size and structure Functions and conditions for normal development

Group- a community of people limited in size, separated from the social whole on the basis of certain characteristics.

The existence of a large number of different social groups led to the development of various typologies of groups.

The main criteria for identifying such typologies can be:

The number of people in the group;

Public status;

Development level, etc.

So, according to social status, groups are divided into formal and informal, by the immediacy of relationships - on real and nominal, by importance - on reference groups and membership groups. The most common typologies are distinguished by the number of people and by the level of development. These two criteria are also significant for pedagogical activity.

According to the level of development, groups are distinguished that are unorganized or poorly organized, with a low index of cohesion, as well as groups with a high level of development:

- diffuse group- a community in which there is no cohesion as a value-orientational unity, there is no organized joint activity capable of mediating the relations of its participants. Most often, a diffuse group is a small, short-term association of people on a random basis. Diffuse groups are at a very low level of development and quickly disintegrate;

- association- a group in which there are no joint activities, organization and management that unite it, and value orientations that mediate interpersonal relations are manifested in the conditions of group communication. The Association is an official group that has a common, officially set goal, an official structure, but there is still no joint achievement of socially significant goals in such a group: everyone achieves these goals on their own;

- corporation- an organized group, characterized by isolation, maximum centralization and authoritarian leadership, opposing itself to other social communities on the basis of its narrow-minded interests;

- team- a group of people united by common goals and objectives, having reached a high level of development in the process of socially valuable joint activities. The following signs of a team are distinguished: a high level of development of the group, socially positive activity, high cohesion of the members of the group, the reference of the group, the mediation of interpersonal relations by joint activities.

By the number of people allocate large groups, small groups and micro groups. The composition of microgroups includes two or three people (respectively, dyads, triads). Large group - it is a social community, whose members, having no direct contacts with each other, are indirectly linked by psychological mechanisms of group communication. A small group is understood to be a small group, whose members are united by common social activities and are in direct personal communication, which is the basis for the emergence of emotional relationships, group norms and group processes (G.M. Andreeva). In a small group, the participants know each other personally.

Psychological characteristics of the group

Group norms(from lat. norma- guideline, precise prescription, sample) - these are certain rules that are developed by the group, adopted by it and which the behavior of its members must obey in order for their joint activity to be possible.

The norms thus fulfill a regulatory function in relation to this activity. Group norms are associated with values, since any rules can be formulated only on the basis of the acceptance or rejection of some socially significant phenomena.

Group norms include and generally valid norms, and specific(developed by this particular group). Group norms help to increase the resilience and stability of the group. Sometimes group norms play a conservative role in a certain sense.

Social psychology also studies such an important problem as the measure of acceptance of norms by each member of the group. If a person does not comply with group norms, then mechanisms are activated through which the group "returns" its member to the path of compliance with the norms. All procedures by which the behavior of an individual is reduced to a group norm, are called group sanctions. The sanctions system is designed to enforce compliance.

Sanctions can be:

Positive and negative;

Formal and informal;

Immediate and mediated.

Sanctions exist at all levels of social life and in all groups. They regulate the behavior of individuals with varying levels of severity and strength.

Group pressure - actions that induce a person to behave in a certain way and in accordance with the expectations (a system of expectations, requirements regarding the norms of the individual's performance of social roles) of others. This phenomenon has received the name of the phenomenon in social psychology conformity (or conformal behavior).

Conformity(from lat. conformis- similar, consistent) - a person's compliance to real or imagined pressure from the group, manifested in a change in his behavior and attitudes in accordance with the position of the majority that was initially not shared by him.

Distinguish:

a) external conformity when the opinion of the group is accepted by the individual only externally, but in fact he continues to resist him;

b) internal (true conformism) - the individual really accepts the opinion of the majority.

The weak influence of group pressure is defined as nonconformism. Nonconformity has nothing to do with negativism(conversely conformity). Negativism manifests itself in the desire of a person to necessarily act contrary to the rules, and in this sense it depends on group norms. A nonconformist, on the other hand, has his own, independent view of the phenomena of the surrounding world and trusts his opinion, while he respects the opinions of other people, but he will act in accordance with his ideas about reality.

Group dynamics -it is a set of dynamic processes that simultaneously occur in a group during some period of its existence.

Leadership and leadership are viewed in social psychology as group processes associated with social power in the group. Power carries the right and the ability to dispose of something, someone, to subordinate to the will of one person. The leader and leader have a leading influence on the affairs of the group.

1. In most studies on management problems, the leader and the headmeans a person who has a leading influence on the group, n we mean the leader - in the system of informal relations, and the leader - in the system of formal relations.

2. In a socio-psychological sense leadership and leadership are mechanisms of group integration that unite the actions of a group around an individual who performs the function of a leader or leader.

In social psychology, the following differences exist between a leader and a leader:

First, the leader regulates interpersonal relationships, and the leader regulates formal ones;

Secondly, the leader is a representative of his group, its member (element of the microenvironment). The leader, on the other hand, enters the macroenvironment (element of the macroenvironment), represents his group at a higher level of social relations;

Thirdly, unlike leadership, leadership is a spontaneous process, no one can guarantee planned leadership, since group processes are not always predictable. Leadership is a purposeful and planned process, therefore, leadership acts as a more stable phenomenon than leadership;

Fourthly, the leader in the process of influencing his subordinates has significantly more sanctions than the leader. If the leader can use only informal sanctions, then the leader has the opportunity to apply both formal and informal sanctions;

Fifth, decision-making by the leader is carried out directly, and the leader is indirect. After all, the leader owns only the information that exists within this group, and the leader uses a large amount of both internal and external information.

Considering the phenomena of leadership and leadership, the role of authority should be noted. A leader is always authoritative, otherwise he will not be a leader. A leader may or may not have authority at all.

Authority is a very special kind of influence on people. It is expressed in the ability of a person, without resorting to coercion, to direct the actions and thoughts of other people. All charismatic personalities were, of course, authoritative.

In psychology, true and false types of authorities are most often distinguished:

False authority arises in the conditions of the manipulative activity of the "leader", when he achieves power over people through tricks, hypocrisy, social games ( E. Bern), i.e. actions with ulterior motives. In most cases, false authority allows a person to influence the course of affairs and seek recognition from other people, but in general, the attitude towards such a person will be somewhat wary, because it is extremely difficult to hide obvious manipulations.

One of the most traditional leadership and leadership issues is that of leadership styles. Back in the 1930s, K. Levin identified three leadership styles: authoritarian (directive), democratic (collegial), and conniving (anarchic).

Leadership style- this is a typical leader's system of methods of influencing group members.

Any person, unless he has accepted asceticism and does not live the life of a hermit, is part of society. He interacts with other people and fulfills his social role. And, as a rule, the communication of different people with each other is always different. All people are different and they can belong to different social groups, occupy different social positions, have different status, etc. Many factors influence the communication and relationships of people, and our task, as people striving for self-development and a better understanding of human nature, is to figure out what these factors are and what are the general features of human interaction and their behavior. And in this topic, social psychology will help us to understand, to which we devote the next lesson of our course.

In this lesson, we will understand what applied social psychology is, knowledge from the field of which we can successfully apply in practice. We will find out what they are based on, we will understand what the tasks and problems of social psychology are, we will talk about its subject, object and methods. And we'll start by explaining the very concept of social psychology.

Social psychology concept

This is a section of psychology, which is devoted to the study of human behavior in society and various groups, his perception of other people, communication with them and the influence on them. Knowledge of the basics of social psychology seems to be very important for the psychologically correct upbringing of a person and the organization of interaction between the individual and the team.

Social psychology is a science that is at the junction of psychology and sociology, therefore, it studies aspects of social psychology that are characteristic of both of these sciences. More specifically, we can say that social psychology studies:

• Social psychology of personality
• Social psychology of groups of people and communication
• Social relationships
• Forms of Spiritual Activity

Social psychology has its own sections:

According to Galina Andreeva- a person whose name is associated with the development of social psychology in the USSR, this science is divided into three main sections:

• Social psychology of groups
• Social psychology of communication
• Social psychology of personality

Based on this, it is possible to describe the range of problems of social psychology.

Problems, subject and object of social psychology

Social psychology, considering mainly the person in society, sets as its task to determine in what conditions a person assimilates social influences and in what conditions it realizes its social essence. It reveals how socio-typical traits are formed, why in some cases they appear, while in others some new ones have appeared. The study takes into account the system of interpersonal relationships, behavioral and emotional regulation. In addition, the behavior and activities of the individual are considered in specific social groups, the contribution of an individual to the activities of the entire group and the reasons that affect the size and value of this contribution are studied. The main reference point in the study of personality for social psychology is the relationship between the individual and the group.

Social Psychology Subject- these are the patterns of the emergence, functioning and manifestation of socio-psychological phenomena at the micro, middle and macro levels, as well as in different areas and conditions. But this is more related to the theoretical side of science. If we talk about the practical side of social psychology, then its subject will be a set of patterns of psychodiagnostics, counseling and the use of psychotechnologies in the field of social and psychological phenomena.

TO objects of social psychology are the carriers of socio-psychological phenomena themselves:

• Personality in the group and the system of relationships
• Human-human interaction (relatives, colleagues, partners, etc.)
• Small group (family, class, group of friends, work shift, etc.)
• The interaction of a person with a group (leaders and followers, bosses and subordinates, teachers and students, etc.)
• Interaction of groups of people (competitions, debates, conflicts, etc.)
• A large social group (ethnos, social stratum, political party, religious denomination, etc.)

To make it clearer what social psychology does and what it studies, you can ask questions about why, for example, some students in the class behave in one way, and others in another? How does it affect the formation of a person's personality, for example, is it brought up by alcoholic parents or athletic parents? Or why do some people tend to give directions while others tend to follow them? If you are interested in finding out the psychological details of the communication of people or the interaction of groups of people with each other, then your needs in this matter will be perfectly satisfied by social psychology.

And, of course, for the study of the subject and object of social psychology to be the most effective, and for research to yield maximum results, social psychology, like any other science, must have a certain set of methods in its arsenal. We will talk about them below.

Social psychology methods

In general, it cannot be said about the specific methods of social psychology that they are independent of the general methods of psychology. Therefore, the use of any method should be conditioned by the specifics of the presented science, i.e. any method should be applied in a certain "methodological key".

The methods of social psychology themselves have their own classification and are divided into four groups:

• Empirical research methods (observation, experiment, instrumental methods, sociometry, document analysis, tests, survey, group personality assessment);
• Modeling method;
• Methods of administrative and educational influence;
• Methods of social and psychological impact.

Let's take a quick look at each group of methods.

Empirical research methods

Observation method. Observation in social psychology means the collection of information, which is carried out through direct, purposeful and systematic perception and registration of socio-psychological phenomena in laboratory or natural conditions. The basic material on observation is contained in our second lesson, from which you can learn about what types of observation exist and how they are characterized.

You can learn how the observation method works by checking it out on your own experience. For example, you would like to know what is most interesting for your growing child in the course of everyday life. To find out, you just need to observe him, his behavior, mood, emotions, reactions. Most of all, attention should be paid to speech acts, their orientation and content, physical actions and their expressiveness. Observation will help you to identify some individual interesting features in your child, or, conversely, to see that some tendencies are being consolidated. The main task during the organization of observation is to accurately determine what you want to see and record, as well as the ability to identify the factors that influence this. If necessary, observation can be carried out systematically, use certain schemes for it, evaluate the results for any systems.

Document analysis method this is one of the varieties of methods for analyzing the products of human activity. Any information recorded on any medium (paper, film, hard disk, etc.) is considered a document. Analysis of documents allows you to draw up a fairly accurate psychological characteristics of a person's personality. This method is very popular among psychologists and ordinary people. For example, many parents, noticing some deviations in the development of their children and trying to find out their cause, turn to psychologists for help. And those, in turn, ask the parents to bring the drawings that their children have drawn. Based on the analysis of these drawings, psychologists come to some kind of opinion and give parents appropriate recommendations. There is another example: as you know, many people keep diaries. Based on the study of these diaries, experienced specialists can draw up a psychological portrait of their owners and even determine what factors influenced the fact that a person's personality was formed in a specific way.

Polling method, in particular, interviews and questionnaires, are widespread in modern society. Moreover, not only in psychological circles. Interviews are taken from people from completely different social strata in order to obtain various kinds of information. The questionnaires are carried out in a similar way. If, for example, you are the head of a department in an organization and are trying to find an opportunity to improve the performance of your department or to make the environment in the team more friendly, you can conduct a survey among your subordinates, having previously compiled a list of questions. A subspecies of interviews can be safely called job interviews. As an employer, you can make a list of questions, the answers to which will give you an objective "picture" of the applicant, which will help you make the right decision. If you are an applicant applying for a serious (and not only) position, then this is a reason to prepare for an interview, for which there is a lot of useful information on the Internet today.

Sociometry method refers to the methods of social and psychological research of the structure of small groups and a person as a member of the group. Using this method, the relationship of people with each other and within the group is studied. Sociometric research can be individual and group, and their results are usually presented in the form of sociometric matrices or sociograms.

Group Personality Assessment Method (GOL) consists in obtaining the characteristics of a person in a certain group, based on a survey of members of this group relative to each other. Using this method, experts assess the level of severity of a person's psychological qualities, which are manifested in his appearance, activity and interaction with others.

Test method. Like some other methods of psychology, tests have already been considered by us in one of the first lessons and you can get acquainted with the concept of "tests" in detail there. Therefore, we will only touch on general issues. Tests are short, standardized and, in most cases, time-limited tests. With the help of tests in social psychology, differences between people and groups of people are determined. During the performance of the tests, the subject (or a group of those) performs certain tasks or selects answers to questions from a list. Data processing and analysis are performed in relation to a certain "key". The results are expressed in test scores.

Scales that measure social attitudes are among the tests that still receive special attention. Social attitudes scales are used for a variety of purposes, but most often they are used to characterize the following areas: public opinion, the consumer market, the choice of effective advertising, people's attitude to work, problems, other people, etc.

Experiment. Another method of psychology, which we touched upon in the lesson "Methods of Psychology". An experiment involves the creation by a researcher of certain conditions of interaction between the subject (or a group of such) and certain situations in order to restore the patterns of this interaction. A good experiment is that it allows you to simulate phenomena and conditions for research and influence them, measure the reactions of the subjects and reproduce the results.

Modeling

In the previous lesson, we already touched upon the modeling method in psychology and you can familiarize yourself with it by clicking on the link. It is only worth noting that in social psychology, modeling develops in two directions.

First is a technical imitation of processes, mechanisms and results of mental activity, i.e. modeling of the psyche.

Second- is the organization and reproduction of any activity by artificially creating an environment for this activity, i.e. psychological modeling.

The modeling method allows you to obtain a variety of reliable socio-psychological information about a person or a group of people. For example, in order to find out how employees in your organization will act in an emergency, will be under the influence of anxiety, or will act together, simulate a fire situation: turn on the alarm, notify employees of a fire, and observe what is happening. The data obtained will allow you to determine whether it is worth paying attention to working with employees on behavior in the workplace in emergencies, to understand who is the leader and who is the follower, and also to learn about those qualities and character traits of your subordinates, about which you may , did not know.

Methods of management and educational impact

By management and educational methods is meant a set of actions (mental or practical) and techniques, by performing which you can achieve the desired results. This is a kind of system of principles that gives guidance on the organization of productive activities.

The influence of upbringing methods is manifested through the direct impact of one person on another (persuasion, demand, threat, encouragement, punishment, example, authority, etc.), the creation of special conditions and situations that force a person to express himself (express an opinion, do something action). Also, the influence is exerted through public opinion and joint activities, the transfer of information, training, education, upbringing.

Among the methods of managerial and educational impact, there are:

• Beliefs that form certain mental manifestations (views, concepts, ideas);
• Exercises that organize activities and stimulate positive motives;
• Assessment and self-esteem, defining actions, stimulating activities and helping to regulate behavior

An excellent example of managerial and educational influence is the upbringing of a child by his parents. It is through education in a person that the main features and properties of his personality are born and formed. It is easy to guess that if you want your child to grow up as an independent, self-confident and successful person with a set of positive qualities (responsibility, dedication, stress resistance, positivity of thinking, etc.), then he should be brought up properly. In the process of upbringing, it is important to conduct confidential conversations, be able to direct the child's activities and his behavior, reward for success and make it clear when any wrongdoing has been committed. It is necessary to give compelling reasons, arguments, examples. To set as an example authoritative people, outstanding personalities. It is also important to try to always give a correct assessment of the behavior, actions, actions and results of your child, to form in him an adequate self-esteem. These are, of course, just a few examples. But it is important to understand that only in the case of the correct managerial and educational influence on a person's personality, it becomes possible to exert a positive and constructive influence on him.

And the last group of methods of social psychology are methods of socio-psychological impact.

Methods of socio-psychological impact

Methods of socio-psychological impact is a set of techniques that affect the needs, interests, inclinations of a person, his attitudes, self-esteem, emotional state, as well as socio-psychological attitudes of groups of people.

With the help of methods of socio-psychological influence, it is possible to influence the needs of people and their motivation, to change their desires, aspirations, emotions, mood, behavior. Skillfully using these methods, you can change people's views, opinions and attitudes, as well as create new ones. By exerting the correct socio-psychological impact on a person, it is possible to ensure the most favorable position of a person in society, make his personality more resistant to the effects of various factors, form his healthy worldview and attitude towards people, the world, and life. Sometimes methods of socio-psychological influence are used to destroy the already existing personality traits, stop any activity, motivate to search for new goals, etc.

As we can see, the methods of social psychology are one of the most difficult topics in psychological science. To understand these methods in detail, you need to spend more than one month studying them. But, despite this, one exact conclusion can be drawn: taking into account all the methodological difficulties, in any socio-psychological research there must be the ability to clearly identify and delineate the tasks to be solved, to choose an object, to formulate the problem under study, to clarify the concepts used and to systematize the entire spectrum of those used for research. methods. This is the only way to make social and psychological research as accurate and effective as possible.

But in order for you to start implementing the knowledge gained in your life now, without engaging in in-depth study of specialized materials, you should know several important laws and patterns of social psychology that affect a person's life in society and his interaction with this society and others. people.

People always perceive the people nearby in one way or another.

We usually attribute to the people we come into contact with certain properties that relate to social stereotypes. Stereotypes can be attributed to people on an anthropological basis, that is, on the basis of the characteristics of the race to which a person belongs. There are also social stereotypes - these are images attributed to people holding certain positions, having different status, etc. Stereotypes can also be emotional, i.e. associated with the physiological properties of people.

Therefore, when communicating with different people, you should understand that your perception of them may be subconsciously based on stereotypes. So, for example, a handsome person may turn out to be the one with whom it is better not to get involved, and an unattractive outwardly may amaze you with the beauty and depth of his soul. If you are prejudiced against people of a certain race, it does not mean at all that they are the way you think of them. After all, people of any skin color, gender, religion, worldview can be both good and bad. It is important to learn to perceive people not based on stereotypes, but only on personal experience. As they say, do not judge by clothes, but judge by intelligence.

People easily assign the social roles imposed on them.

A person who is in constant interaction with society builds his behavior according to what social role this society has assigned to him. This can be easily traced in the example of a person who was suddenly promoted in position: he becomes very important, serious, communicates with people from high places, those who yesterday were on equal terms with him, today he is no longer a match, etc. Social roles imposed by society can make a person weak-willed, powerless to change something. People who have been affected can "sink" to the most nasty deeds (even murder) or raise themselves to heights.

It should always be remembered that social roles imposed by society have a strong impact on a person. To be able not to "bend" under the pressure of a social role and remain yourself, you need to be a strong personality, have an inner core, have beliefs, values ​​and principles.

The best conversationalist is the one who knows how to listen.

Conversation is an integral part of human communication. When meeting other people, we start a conversation: about how someone is doing, about news, about changes, interesting events. The conversation can be friendly, businesslike, intimate, formal, or non-binding. But many people, if you pay attention to this, are much more fond of talking than listening. In almost every company there is a person who constantly interrupts, wants to speak out, insert his word, does not listen to anyone. Agree, this is not very pleasant. But this is a pronounced need for conversation. In other people, it may be less pronounced, but, in any case, it always exists.

If a person is given the opportunity to talk incessantly, then saying goodbye to you, he will experience only the most pleasant emotions from communication. If you constantly talk, then he will most likely become bored, he will nod his head, yawn, and communication with you will become an unbearable burden for him. A strong personality is a person who is able to manage their emotions and desires. And the best interlocutor is the one who knows how to listen and not say a word, even if you really want to. Take this into service and practice - you will see how pleasant it will be for people to communicate with you. Plus, it will train your self-control, self-discipline, and mindfulness.

The attitudes of people affect their perception of reality and those around them.

If a person has a pre-formed predisposition to react to something in a certain way, then he will do it in accordance with it. For example, you have to meet with some person and you were told something very bad about him in advance. When you meet, you will have an acute dislike for this person, unwillingness to communicate, negative and rejection, even if this person is actually very good. Anyone, even the same person, can appear before you in a completely different light, if before that you will be given a certain setting for his perception.

You shouldn't take on faith everything that you hear, see, learn from someone else. The main thing is always to trust only personal experience and check everything yourself, taking, of course, into account everything that you have learned, but not based on it. Only personal experience will allow you to find out reliable information and make objective judgments about other people, events, situations, things, etc. In this case, the saying is ideal: “Trust, but verify!”.

People's behavior often depends on how others perceive them.

In psychology, this is called reflection. This is inherent, of course, not all, but very many. There are people who are completely dependent on how others perceive them. A hypertrophied feeling of the importance of someone else's opinion leads to the fact that a person begins to feel constant discomfort, emotional stress, dependence on another person, inability to defend his position, express his opinion and many other rather unpleasant sensations. Moreover, these sensations can manifest themselves in different ways: from small mood swings during the day to prolonged and deep depression.

To avoid such situations, you need to understand that someone else's opinion is just someone else's opinion. It is not for nothing that successful people say that someone else's opinion will never feed you and your loved ones, will not buy you clothes, will not bring you success and happiness. Quite the opposite, almost always someone else's opinion makes people give up, stop striving for something, develop and grow. How others perceive you is their own business. You don't have to adapt to anyone and should always be yourself.

People tend to judge others and justify themselves.

Situations in life are different, like the people who get into them. But the reactions elicited in people who find themselves in these situations can be perceived by us in completely different ways. For example, if you are standing in line to make a purchase and there is a person in front of you who has been buying something for a very long time, this causes negative emotions in you, you may start expressing dissatisfaction, rushing the person in front, etc. At the same time, if for some reason you stay late at the checkout, and the person behind you starts to reprimand you, you will begin to give quite reasonable arguments about why you have been standing for so long. And you will be right. People find themselves in similar situations almost every day.

A significant plus for you in terms of your development will be mastering the skill of critical assessment of the situation and the people who find themselves in it (others and yourself). Whenever you feel that you begin to experience negative emotions, irritation, a desire to express dissatisfaction in the direction of another person due to some circumstances, abstract yourself for a little while. Look at the situation from the outside, critically assess yourself and others, think about whether the other is to blame for the situation and how you would lead and feel in his place. Most likely, you will notice that your reaction is not entirely correct and you should behave more calmly, tactfully, more consciously. If you make this practice systematic, life will become much more pleasant, you will be less annoyed, you will begin to experience more positive emotions, you will become more positive, etc.

People often identify with other people.

In social psychology, this is called identification. Very often, our identification with others occurs during our communication with someone: a person tells us a story or describes a situation in which he was a participant, but we subconsciously put ourselves in his place in order to feel what he felt. Also, identification can occur while watching a movie, reading a book, etc. We identify with ourselves with the main character or other participants. Thus, we dive deeper into the information that we study (watch, read), understand the motives of people's actions, evaluate ourselves with them.

Identification can be done deliberately. It helps a lot in non-standard, difficult life situations, and in the process of everyday life. For example, if in some situation you find it difficult to make the right decision, do not know what to do best for you, remember the hero of your favorite book, film, person who is an authority for you, and think about how he would act in your place, what he says or does. An appropriate image will immediately appear in your imagination, which will push you to the right decision.

People form the first impression of a person within the first five minutes.

This fact has long been proven by psychologists. We make the first impression of another person during the first 3-5 minutes of communication with him. While first impressions can be deceiving, this point should be given special attention. When we meet a person for the first time, we look at his appearance, posture, behavior, speech, emotional state. Also, the first impression is influenced by whether we feel that a person is superior to us in some parameters, how attractive his appearance is, what attitude the person shows towards us. Other people compose impressions of us according to the same criteria.

You need to be able to make a first impression. And for this it is necessary to take into account all the above factors of its formation. Therefore, whenever you know that you are planning your first meeting with a person (interview, meeting in a friendly company, a date, etc.), you should prepare for this: look neat, hold on with confidence, be able to find what to say, observe manners decency and rules of etiquette, speak clearly, etc. Remember that first impressions are the foundation for all future relationships.

A person attracts into his life what corresponds to his thoughts.

This is called differently: the law of attraction, "like attracts like" or "we are what we think." The meaning is this: during life on the way of a person there are such people and such events occur that are in resonance with him: correspond to his thoughts, expectations, beliefs. If a person radiates negativity, then more troubles occur in his life, he is accompanied by failures, there are bad people. If positive vibrations emanate from a person, then his life will be filled, for the most part, with good news, good events, pleasant people.

Many successful people and spiritual personalities say that everything in life depends on how we think. Therefore, if you want your life to change for the better, more positive events occur, good people meet, etc., then, first of all, you should pay attention to the way you think. Rebuild it in the right way: from negative to positive, from the position of the victim to the position of the winner, from the feeling of failure to the feeling of success. Don't expect instant change, but try to be positive after a while you will notice a change.

In a person's life, often happens what he expects.

You've probably noticed this pattern more than once: what you fear the most happens with enviable regularity. But the point here is not at all that it is something bad, but in how strong an emotional coloring you give it. If you are constantly thinking about something, worrying about it, expecting something, then there is a high probability that it will happen. Any of your expectations can have an impact on the people around you. But negative emotions (fear, fear, apprehension), as you know, to a much greater extent take possession of the consciousness of people than positive ones. Therefore, something happens that we do not want, more often than what we want.

Reorganize, stop thinking about what you are afraid of, and expect it, start expecting only the best from life and those around you! But the main thing here is not to overdo it, so as not to feel a sense of disappointment. Make it a habit for yourself to expect only good things, but don't idealize your expectations. Step away from the negativity and tune in a positive way, but always remain realistic and take a sober view of the world.

There are a lot of laws that operate in communication between people, because psychology is a science with a huge number of features. To make your life better, and communication with other people and interaction with society more pleasant and more effective, you need to develop attentiveness to everything that happens around: people's behavior, their reactions, the reasons for certain situations and events. No theory will change you and your life on its own. Only the practical application of new knowledge, hone your communication skills and training of personal qualities can influence you and change what you want to change.

As for the person himself in social psychology, it can be stated with confidence that a person, as a formed personality, plays the main role here. It is social and psychological characteristics that allow such a science as social psychology to exist in general. And the knowledge about it that we now have, we want to deepen and strive to apply in practice, give us the opportunity to identify, realize and understand the factors influencing the development of personality, the specifics of the interaction of people with each other and in groups (as well as these groups). And this already allows us to make our life, both individuals and parts of society, more comfortable and conscious, and the results of our actions and actions are better and more effective. It is for these reasons that we must master the basics of social (and not only) psychology and make their use a part of our daily life.

Literature

For those who have a desire to dive deeper into the study of the topic of social psychology, below we present a small but very good list of literature that makes sense to refer to.

• Ageev B.C. Intergroup interaction: socio-psychological problems. M., 1990
• Andreeva G.M. Social Psychology M., 2003
• Bityanova M.R. Social Psychology M., 2002
• Bodalev A.A. Perception and Understanding of Man by Man M. Moscow State University, 1982
• Bodalev A.A. Personality and Communication M., 1995
• Dontsov A.I. Team Psychology M., 1984
• A. A. Leontiev Psychology of communication M., 1998
• Kolomensky Ya.L. "Differentiation of social psychology and some problems of developmental psychology" St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000
• Myasishchev V.N. Psychology of relations Moscow-Voronezh, 1995
• Fundamentals of socio-psychological theory / Ed. A.A. Bodaleva, A.N. Sukhova M., 1995
• Parygin B.D. Social psychology M., 1999
• Psychology of personality and way of life / Otv. ed. E.V. Shorokhova M. Science, 1987
• A.A. Rean, Ya.L. Kolomensky Social educational psychology SPb., 1998
• Robert M., Tilman F. Psychology of the individual and the group M., 1988
• V. I. Sekun The psychology of activity. Minsk, 1996
• Semenov V.E. The method of studying documents in social and psychological research L., 1983
• Modern foreign social psychology Texts / Ed. G.M. Andreeva et al. M., 1984
• Social psychology / Ed. A.N.Sukhova, A.A. Derkacha M., 2001
• Social psychology and social practice / Ed. E.V. Shorokhova, V.P. Levkovich. M., 1985
• Social psychology of classes / Ed. G.G. Diligenskogo M., 1985
• D.L. Spivak Altered states of mass consciousness SPb., 1996
• Stankin M.I. Psychology of communication Lecture course M., 1996
• Stefanenko T.G., Shlyagina E.I., Enikolopov S.N. Methods of ethnopsychological research. M., 1993
• Stefanenko T.G. Ethnopsychology. Issue 1.M., 1998
• Sukharev V., Sukharev M. Psychology of peoples and nations. M., 1997
• Freud 3. Group psychology and analysis "EGO" M., 1991
• Shevandrin N.I. Social Psychology in Education M., 1996
• Shikhirev P.N. Contemporary social psychology in Western Europe M, 1985

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge of the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. In each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you have selected one of the options, the system automatically proceeds to the next question. The points you receive are influenced by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are mixed.

Every day, every person, regardless of age, preferences, interests, and standard of living, contacts other people at work, school, among relatives, friends, acquaintances, and sometimes strangers. Various relationships, social connections, contacts are formed. People are united in groups of interests, professional specialization and other characteristics. One way or another, communication with other people directly affects the formation of the personality and the determination of the place of a particular individual in social activity. Knowledge of certain psychological foundations of the formation of teams can help a person to determine the choice of his environment. Professional psychologists need such information to create favorable conditions in the work collective, and the manager will help to effectively organize personnel appointments, control the interpersonal activities of employees. Today we will share information about what types of small groups exist and what are their features.

What is a small group in psychology?

In psychology, it is customary to call a small group an association of a small number of people who have a single link connecting all participants, there are any common social ties and joint activities. Such aggregates are formed in each team. The types of small groups in social psychology are distinguished by the method of formation: artificial or natural.

The question of how many participants should be in such small associations is debated by psychologists and sociologists all over the world. Some experts argue that two people are enough to create a small group. Others, meanwhile, believe that the types of relationships in a small group consisting of a dyad (two people) are completely different, they have their own characteristics, different from the signs of a small association of people. Therefore, supporters of this assumption prove the point of view that the minimum number of participants in a small team should be 3 people.

Even more controversy arises over the maximum number of people in small groups. In the works of various researchers, you can find the number 10, 12 and even 40. In the works of the famous psychiatrist Jacob Levi Moreno, who was actively involved in groups, the maximum allowable number of participants in a small group is indicated. In his opinion, it is 50 people. But formation of an association of 10-12 members is considered optimal. It is noted that in collectives with a large number of people, splits occur more often, thereby forming new types of small groups.

Features

To define a gathering of a small number of people as a small group, certain distinctive features must be present:

1. Regular meetings of the participants.
2. Formation of a single goal, tasks.
3. General activity.
4. The presence of a structure, the definition of a leader, a leader.
5. Defining the role and scope of each participant.
6. Formation of internal interpersonal relationships in the group.
7. Formation of rules, traditions, norms within a small group.

Small group formation naturally

Almost always, in large groups, there is an unintentional division of participants into smaller associations. The concept and types of small groups that have formed in a natural way are determined using the analysis of distinctive features and characteristics. People are divided according to interests, preferences, life position, and so on. Such associations are called informal.

Each environment has its own characteristics of the division of team members. This should be taken into account by the leaders and organizers of such communities, since the formation of small groups affects the ability to work and the general atmosphere in the team. So, for example, to organize effective educational activities in a children's team, it should be borne in mind that the composition of informally created small groups changes literally every day, the statuses and roles of participants change. Such associations can exist under the guidance of an adult leader. Among children of different ages, the leader must gain an impeccable reputation.

In professional informal groups, for the organization of successful activities, there must also be a reasonable leader. Uncontrolled grouping of workers into different types of small groups can sometimes negatively affect the work of the company. The dissatisfaction of the participants with the leadership, working conditions and other things is capable of generalizing people, which will lead to strikes, mass layoffs. Therefore, in large companies, where time is allocated and funds are allocated for the psychology of personnel, a full-time psychologist works. One of the tasks of such a specialist is to identify associations of workers in a team and determine their focus and activities. When done correctly, these groups can be used to improve the performance of the company.

Formal group

Formal types of small social groups are distinguished. The peculiarities of such a team is that people unite not so much according to their wishes and preferences, but because of necessity, status and professional qualifications. Formal small groups include, for example, the consolidation of the company's management team.

At the same time, formal and informal types of small groups in an organization can form, exist and interact. Leaders and psychologists are faced with the task of implementing the activities of such teams for public purposes, for the development of the company.

Small group functions

Small groups perform important functions both in the development and formation of the individual and the collective as a whole. Psychologists distinguish the following functions, which are identical, regardless of what types of small social groups exist in a particular association of people:

1. Socialization of the individual. Starting from a very young age, a person learns to interact with people around him, preferences and views, character, place in society are formed.
2. The expressive function is to determine a specific individual in a small group, his place in it. Thus, the level of self-esteem, personal professional qualities are formed, the person's need for encouragement and approval is realized.
3. The instrumental function allows the individual to carry out the selected activity.
4. The function of psychological assistance is to provide support to the participants in overcoming life and professional difficulties. Studies have been conducted that have shown that participants in small groups seek help from colleagues even more often than from relatives. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the individual does not want to injure and burden his loved ones with his problems. While the members of a small team can listen, give advice, but not take the information to heart, leaving the personal space of the individual untouched.

The types and functions of small groups depend on the choice of tasks and goals, the direction of social activities of such associations.

Small group classification

What are the criteria for classifying a small group? The types of small groups, the characteristics of their activities are determined by analyzing certain indicators.

There is no precise division of these social units. Psychologists have developed only recommendations for the classification of such groups. Below is a table revealing the types of small groups.

Structure

The types and structure of a small group are closely interrelated. Depending on what kind of small association was formed, the internal structure of the community is formed. It represents the internal communication, social, emotional and psychological connections between the individual participants. The structure is classified as follows:

1. The sociometric type is based on interpersonal preferences and dislikes.
2. The communicative type is determined by the flow of information within the group, the way of communication between the participants.
3. The role structure consists in the distribution of positions and types of activities among the members of the small group. Thus, the group is divided into those who make decisions and those who carry out and support actions.

Relationships between members of small groups

A lot of psychological and social works, research, experiments are devoted to the problem of interpersonal relations in the circle of a small group of people. Summarizing the knowledge, the following types of relationships in a small group can be distinguished: formal and informal. In the first case, cooperation is clearly regulated by legislative acts: there is a boss and subordinates.

In the second case, everything is much more complicated. Here, thanks to personal qualities, a certain individual becomes a group. Such relationships are not regulated by anything, except as the sympathy of other members of the small team. Such a position is often quite unstable: it is possible that there are several leaders at once, the complete absence of such, competition between participants, unwillingness to accept the advanced role and other problems in communication and the distribution of social roles.

Do not underestimate the role Often such alliances lead to changes in the formal circles of leaders.

an individual in a small group?

Each person in society, and in the collective in particular, has a certain status. In order to define it, it is necessary to answer the question: who is this person? At birth, for example, race and gender can be assigned. Status can be acquired or attained, for example, doctor or philosopher.

It is possible to determine the status of an individual in a group using sociometric methods. In educational institutions, workers' organizations, surveys are often conducted in which questions are asked about the personal relationships of some group members to others. They are carried out most often in the form of questionnaire cards, or a matrix is ​​filled in, where the scale is an indication of the level of sympathy for another person. For example, you are asked to name the classmate who has the most authority in the class. Based on the responses received, using specially developed keys, informal leaders, performers and other statuses of participants are determined.

When choosing the means and methods of psychological research in a team, it is extremely important for specialists to take into account what types of small groups take part in the survey for the reliability of the results obtained.

Small group leadership concept

Psychologists and scientists began to actively deal with the problem of leadership at the beginning of the twentieth century. Why are some people able to lead others freely? What qualities do you need to possess and what do you need to do for this? Unfortunately, to this day no one has given precise answers to these questions. One person can become a leader in certain conditions and in a specific group of people, while in another team he will be completely lost and will play an inconspicuous role. For example, the leader of a sports team cannot always prove himself worthily in a group of intellectuals. Therefore, a leader is, rather, a person who has correctly weighed his capabilities, defined goals and ways of solving problems in specific conditions.

There are psychological works that explore the necessary personal qualities of a leader. The most popular is R. Hogan's "big five" method, which indicates the 5 most important traits of a person who claims to be a leader in a team.

What is the role of a leader in a small group of people? It is not difficult to conclude that a leader is a person who, under positive conditions, leads the team to achieve the set goals, and under negative conditions, he may not only fail to achieve the results desired by the group, but also completely destroy it as such.

Small group management

In order to streamline, implement tasks and goals, improve, develop and achieve results, a small group needs to be managed. How can you accomplish this? Regardless of what types of small groups have formed, in social psychology it is customary to distinguish several styles of leadership:

1. The authoritarian style lies in the leader's pronounced advantage over other group members who turn out to be only performers.
2. The liberal style presupposes the collective activity of each and every member of the group.
3. The democratic style is that the leader directs the participants to certain actions, coordinating and discussing the processes with each participant.

Summing up, it can be noted that the types of small groups in psychology are an imprecise concept that changes under the influence of external factors and conditions. But the leader of any kind of team should be attentive to the formation of both formal and informal internal associations. Since such groups, with the right purposeful approach, can ensure the development of the entire team, lead to the improvement of work and the effective implementation of tasks.

· The group is ...

A group is a certain set of people considered by them from the point of view of social, industrial, economic, household, professional, age, etc. community. It should be noted right away that in the social sciences, in principle, there can be a double use of the term “group”. A social group is a collection of individuals interacting in a certain way based on the shared expectations of each member of the group in relation to others.

· What angles of view regarding the study of the concept of "group" are characteristic of such approaches as sociological and socio-psychological?

Sociological approach

Socio-psychological approach

The sociological approach focuses on identifying an objective criterion for distinguishing between groups. This criterion is considered a certain place that a group occupies in the system of social relations. From the point of view of the sociological approach, the most important thing is to find an objective criterion for distinguishing between groups, although in principle there can be many such criteria. Differences between groups can be seen in religious, ethnic and political characteristics. For each system of sociological knowledge, it is important to take some criterion as the main one. From the point of view of this objective criterion, sociology analyzes each social group, its relationship with society, with the individuals included in it.

The socio-psychological approach consists in the study of socio-psychological phenomena and processes that arise and function in groups during the joint activities of the people included in them. The inclusion of a group in a certain type of social relations serves as a factor determining the commonality of the content and forms of activity of people in the group, and with this the commonality of the psychological characteristics of the group. The socio-psychological approach is characterized by a different angle of view. Performing various social functions, a person is a member of numerous social groups, he is formed, as it were, at the intersection of these groups, is the point at which various group influences cross. This has two important consequences for the personality: on the one hand, it determines the objective place of the personality in the system of social activity, on the other hand, it affects the formation of the personality's consciousness. The personality is included in the system of views, ideas, norms, values ​​of numerous groups. Therefore, it is extremely important to determine what the “resultant” of these group influences will be, which will determine the content of the personality's consciousness. But in order to answer this question, it is necessary to establish what the group means for a person in psychological terms; what its characteristics are significant for the person included in it. It is here that social psychology is faced with the need to correlate the sociological approach, with which it cannot but reckon, and the psychological, which also has its own tradition of considering groups.

· Sketch the classification of the groups.

Topic 11. Large group

· How can large social groups be classified? Find examples for each species.

Classification according to various criteria:

1) long-existing large groups - classes, nations and short-lived ones - meetings, audiences, crowds differ in time.

2) by the nature of organization - disorganization: crowd, parties, unions. A number of large groups arise spontaneously (crowd), others are organized deliberately (parties, associations).

3) following the example of the classification of small groups, we can talk about conditional (gender and age, professional) and real groups (meetings, meetings).

4) large groups can be open and closed. Membership in the latter is determined by the internal settings of the groups.

The criterion for dividing large social groups can be an indicator of the presence of a certain number of common features and the mechanism of ties with the community. (according to Diligensky)

Typological group is an association of people who have a common objectively existing and socially significant feature. Such a feature can be a demographic indicator (men, women, generation, youth, middle age, elderly people, etc.). the characterization of these groups as social is determined by their importance in the life of society, their role in the system of social relations (at work, in the family). By their composition, they are homogeneous, homogeneous.

Consciously striving for unification (religious groups, parties, unions, social movements). In terms of their social composition, these groups are heterogeneous and heterogeneous; according to socio-psychological characteristics, they are more homogeneous than typological groups.

· What is meant by the concept of "mentality"? List the features of the so-called Russian mentality.

Mentality [from lat. mens, mentis - mind and alis - others] - a system of uniqueness of the mental life of people belonging to a particular culture, a qualitative set of features of their perception and assessment of the world around them, which have a supra-situational nature, due to the economic, political, historical circumstances of the development of this particular community and manifested in peculiar behavioral activity.

Features of the Russian mentality:

Huge willpower, perseverance, the habit of paternalism, unpretentiousness, hospitality, patient and obedient, the practical orientation of their mind, dexterity and rationality, teasing happiness, playing luck, optimism, constancy, preference for stability, the ability to work hard, Discretion, observation, thoughtfulness, concentration and contemplation, a sense of powerful unity with each other, a conciliatory attitude towards neighboring peoples; laziness, carelessness, lack of initiative, poorly developed sense of responsibility, spirituality, forgiving love, responsiveness, sacrifice, kindness, perseverance and solidity.

· Diligensky presented his classification of large groups. Try to supplement it.

1. Groups operating on a community scale:

Social classes and strata + socio-professional groups, ethnic groups and nations, socio-demographic groups (age and gender, territorial), mass public organizations, large groups - organizations.

2. Specifically large groups:

Audience (local, dispersed), public, spontaneous mass education like a crowd.

· Describe the characteristics of these groups.

· Decipher the concept of "ethnocentrism".

Ethnocentrism (Greek ethnos - people, tribe, Latin centrum - center of a circle, focus) is a mechanism of interethnic perception, which consists in the tendency to evaluate the phenomena of the surrounding world through the prism of traditions and norms of one's ethnic group, considered as a universal standard; an attitude of prejudice or distrust towards outsiders who may exist within a social group.

· Highlight the types and characteristics of the crowd.

Crowd types:

Expressive crowd

Conventional crowd

Acting crowd

Aggressive crowd

Panic crowd

Rebel (or rebel) crowd

Crowd Features:

Inability to comprehend, categorical, conservatism, suggestibility, infectiousness, emotionality, high sensitivity, extremism, irresponsibility, physical activity, diffuseness, morality, religiosity.

· Fill out the table allowing you to consider the characteristics of different elemental groups.

· Describe the main problems in the psychology of intergroup relationships.

Problems:

1. what are the sources of intergroup hostility;
2. Is always a positive attitude towards one's group accompanied by a negative attitude towards a stranger;
3. to what extent the perceived differences between one's own group and that of another's group correspond to reality;
4. How intergroup interactions affect intergroup relationships and intragroup processes.

TOPIC 12 Small group

· Give the definition of a small group. What are the main characteristics of small groups?

A small group is understood to be a small group, whose members are united by common social activities and are in direct personal communication, which is the basis for the emergence of emotional relationships, group norms and group processes. The main parameters of a small group, the most important socio-psychological characteristics that comprehensively reveal its essence are:
- Group type (name, purpose, place in the system of other groups).
- Composition (composition) of the group
- Group processes (dynamics of group life

The dynamic group structure includes the following dimensions:
a) functional-role relationships (activity dimension);
b) communication (communicative dimension);
c) emotional interpersonal preferences (sociometric measurement);
- Group formations.

· How can you describe the composition (composition) of the group? Try to describe the group where you are studying.

The composition of the group can be described depending on whether in each case, for example, the age, professional or social characteristics of the group members are significant. The composition of the group is revealed through quantitative, age, professional, social, educational, ethnic characteristics.

The group in which I study consists of 20 people. There are only girls in our group, i.e. the group is homogeneous.

· Sketch the communication structure of the group. Which ones are more favorable for interpersonal relationships and why?

Types of communication networks:
a - circle; b - chain; in - "U"; g - wheel; d - a complex circle.

Points are group members; lines - communication channels.

The most favorable for interpersonal relationships are networks such as a wheel and a complex circle. in these networks, all members of the group can interact with each other.

· What is meant by group dynamics? What is included in this concept?

Group processes (dynamics of group life) are the processes of implementation and regulation of group social interaction: joint activities, communication and intragroup behavior of the individual. Group processes lead not only to the solution of professional tasks, but also to the differentiation and integration of the group (the formation of microgroups, role differentiation, conflicts, group cohesion, compatibility, harmony, forms of regulation of the individual's behavior in the group).
Group processes lead to the formation of the structural components of the group - a multilevel dynamic structure and group socio-psychological formations, which, in turn, regulate these processes, prompting, directing and correcting them.

The dynamic group structure includes the following dimensions:
- functional-role relationships (activity dimension);
- communications (communicative dimension);
- emotional interpersonal preferences (sociometric dimension).

· What is the phenomenon of group pressure?

From the point of view of the individual included in the group, this phenomenon will be called the phenomenon of conformism. Conformity is a change in behavior or beliefs as a result of real or imagined group pressure. More often they speak of conformal behavior, referring to a purely psychological characterization of the individual's position relative to the group's position, their acceptance or rejection of a certain standard, an opinion inherent in the group, the measure of the individual's submission to group pressure. Conformity is stated where the conflict between the opinion of the individual and the opinion of the group is overcome in favor of the group. The measure of conformity is the measure of subordination to the group in the case when the opposition of opinions was subjectively perceived by the individual as a conflict. With external conformity, the individual returns to his original opinion after the group pressure is removed. With internal conformity, the individual retains the opinion of the group even after the group stops putting pressure on him.

· What points of view exist regarding the concept of "group cohesion"? (Levin, Cartwright, Petrovsky). Highlight the main dominants.

"Total field of forces", forcing the members of the group to stay in it. The more united the group is, the more it meets the needs of people in emotionally rich interpersonal relationships.

D. Cartwright noted that group cohesion characterizes the degree to which members of the group wish to remain in it. The forces of cohesion of a group have two generators: first, the degree of attractiveness of their own group, and secondly, the force of attraction of other available groups. The group, therefore, can be defined as a collection of individuals connected in such a way that each regards the benefits from the association as greater than what can be obtained outside.

A.V. Petrovsky:

"Cohesion as a value-orientational unity is a characteristic of the system within: group ties, showing the degree of coincidence of assessments, attitudes and positions of the group in relation to objects (persons, tasks, ideas, events) that are most significant for the group as a whole."

· Fill in the table with data indicating the differences between concepts such as leadership and leadership, based on the statements of B.D. Parygin.

Supervisor

Leader

1. The leader regulates the official relations of the group as a certain social organization; 2. Management is an element of the macro environment, i.e. it is associated with the entire system of social relations; 3. The leader of any real social group is either appointed or elected, but one way or another this process is not spontaneous, but, on the contrary, purposeful, carried out under the control of various elements of the social structure; 4. Leadership is a more stable phenomenon; 5. Leadership of subordinates has a certain system of various sanctions; 6. The decision-making process by the leader (and in general in the management system) is much more complex and mediated by many different circumstances and considerations, not necessarily rooted in this group; 7. The scope of the leader is broader because he represents a small group in a wider social system.

1. The leader is mainly called upon to regulate interpersonal relations in the group; 2. Leadership can be stated in a microenvironment (which is a small group); 3. Leadership arises spontaneously; 4. The phenomenon of leadership is less stable, the nomination of a leader largely depends on the mood of the group; 5. Leadership does not have a certain system of various sanctions; 6. The leader makes more direct decisions regarding group activities; 7. The leader's sphere of activity is mainly a small group, where he is the leader.

· What are the indicators of the effectiveness of group activities?

Goals. They are absolutely clear to all members of the group and are largely shared by them, that is, they are agreed with and supported by all members of the group.

Communication. It is effective and includes both feelings and content, such as information related to a task.

Leadership. It does not belong to the formal leader, but is widely shared and implemented by all members of the group. The group has a participating style.

Influence. Influence in a group is shifted on a rational basis such as information or competence.

Conflict. Conflict is seen as a natural consequence of passion for the cause. Lack of conflict will generate anxiety as it will mean insufficient participation. Conflict is openly expressed and resolved and is seen as a positive source of higher quality solutions.

Making decisions. In general, decisions are made based on open debate, although processes are adjusted according to the nature of the decision and its implications or importance to group members.

Interpersonal relationships. Their importance for group unity is emphasized. Each individual member of the group is equally valuable for his unique contribution to the common cause.

Monitoring and review. Group work and processes are continuously monitored and reviewed regularly. Evaluation of effectiveness is an indicator of the work of the group.

In modern sociology, there are many definitions of the concept of "social group". So, in the opinion of some Russian sociologists, a social group is a collection of people with common social characteristics, performing a socially necessary function in the structure of the social division of labor and activity. The American sociologist R. Merton defines a social group as a set of individuals who interact in a certain way with each other, who are aware of their belonging to this group and who are recognized as members of this group from the point of view of others. He identifies three main features in a social group: interaction, membership and unity.

Unlike mass communities, social groups are characterized by:

§ stable interaction contributing to the strength and stability of their existence;

§ a relatively high degree of unity and cohesion;

§ clearly expressed homogeneity of the composition, suggesting the presence of signs inherent in all members of the group;

§ the possibility of entering broader social communities as structural units.

Since each person in the process of his life is a member of a wide variety of social groups, differing in size, nature of interaction, degree of organization and many other characteristics, it becomes necessary to classify them according to certain criteria.

There are the following types of social groups:

1. Depending on the nature of the interaction - primary and secondary (Appendix, Scheme 9).

Primary group, by definition Ch. Cooley, is a group in which the interaction between members is direct, interpersonal in nature and is characterized by a high level of emotionality (family, school class, peer group, etc.). Carrying out the socialization of the individual, the primary group acts as a link between the individual and society.

A secondary group is a larger group in which interaction is subordinated to the achievement of a specific goal and is of a formal, impersonal nature. In these groups, the focus is not on the personal, unique qualities of the group members, but on their ability to perform certain functions. Organizations (industrial, political, religious, etc.) are examples of such groups.

2. Depending on the way of organizing and regulating interaction - formal and informal.

A formal group is a group with a legal status, interaction in which is governed by a system of formalized norms, rules, laws. These groups have a deliberately set goal, statutory hierarchical structure and act in accordance with the administratively established order (organizations, enterprises, etc.).

An informal group emerges spontaneously, based on common views, interests and interpersonal interactions. It is deprived of official regulation and legal status. These groups are usually led by informal leaders. Examples are friendly companies, informal associations among young people, rock music lovers, etc.

3. Depending on the individuals belonging to them - ingroup and outgroup.

Ingroup- this is a group to which the individual feels a direct belonging and identifies it as “mine”, “our” (for example, “my family”, “my class”, “my company”, etc.).

Outgroup - this is a group to which a given individual does not belong and therefore evaluates it as “alien”, not his own (other families, another religious group, another ethnic group, etc.). Each individual of the ingroup has its own scale for evaluating outgroups: from indifferent to aggressively hostile. Therefore, sociologists propose to measure the degree of acceptance or closeness in relation to other groups according to the so-called "Scale of social distance" Bogardus.

Reference group - it is a real or imaginary social group, the system of values, norms and assessments of which serves as a standard for the individual. The term was first coined by the American social psychologist Hyman. The reference group in the system of relations "personality - society" performs two important functions: normative being for the individual a source of norms of behavior, social attitudes and value orientations; comparative, acting as a standard for the individual, it allows him to determine his place in the social structure of society, to evaluate himself and others.

4. Depending on the quantitative composition and the form of implementation of connections - small and large.

A small group is a directly contacting small group of people united to carry out joint activities.

A small group can take many forms, but the original are "dyad" and "triad", they are called the simplest molecules small group. Dyad consists of two people and is considered an extremely fragile association, in triad actively interact three persons, it is more stable.

The characteristic features of the small group are:

§ small and stable staff (usually from 2 to 30 people);

§ spatial proximity of group members;

§ stability and duration of existence:

§ a high degree of coincidence of group values, norms and patterns of behavior;

§ intensity of interpersonal relationships;

§ a developed sense of belonging to a group;

§ informal control and information saturation in the group.

A large group is a group that is numerous in its composition, which is created for a specific purpose and the interaction in which is mainly mediated (labor collectives, enterprises, etc.). This also includes numerous groups of people with common interests and occupying the same position in the social structure of society. For example, social class, professional, political and other organizations.

A collective (lat.collectivus) is a social group in which all vital connections between people are mediated through socially important goals.

Characteristic features of the team:

§ combination of interests of the individual and society;

§ commonality of goals and principles that act for team members as value orientations and norms of activity. The team performs the following functions:

§ subject - solving the problem for which it is created;

§ socio-educational - combination of interests of the individual and society.

5. Depending on socially significant features - real and nominal.

Real groups are groups distinguished according to socially significant criteria:

§ floor - men and women;

§ age - children, youth, adults, elderly;

§ income - rich, poor, well-to-do;

§ nationality - Russians, French, Americans;

§ marital status - married, single, divorced;

§ profession (occupation) - doctors, economists, managers;

§ place of residence - townspeople, villagers.

Nominal (conditional) groups, sometimes called social categories, are allocated for the purpose of conducting a sociological study or statistical accounting of the population (for example, to find out the number of privileged passengers, single mothers, students receiving personal scholarships, etc.).

Along with social groups in sociology, the concept of "quasigroup" is distinguished.

A quasigroup is an informal, spontaneous, unstable social community that does not have a specific structure and value system, the interaction of people in which is, as a rule, an external and short-term nature.

The main types of quasigroups are:

The audience is a social community united by interaction with the communicator and receiving information from him. The heterogeneity of this social education, due to the difference in personal qualities, as well as cultural values ​​and norms of the people included in it, determines the different degrees of perception and assessment of the information received.

A crowd is a temporary, relatively unorganized, unstructured gathering of people united in a closed physical space by a common interest, but at the same time devoid of a clearly perceived goal and related to each other by the similarity of an emotional state. Highlight the general characteristics of the crowd:

§ suggestibility - people in a crowd are usually more suggestible than outside;

§ anonymity - the individual, being in the crowd, as if merges with it, becomes unrecognizable, believing that it is difficult to "calculate";

§ spontaneity (infectivity) - people in a crowd are subject to rapid transmission and change of emotional state;

§ unconsciousness - the individual feels invulnerable in the crowd, out of social control, so his actions are "saturated" with collective unconscious instincts and become unpredictable.

Depending on the way the crowd is formed and the behavior of people, the following types are distinguished in it:

§ random crowd - an indefinite collection of individuals, formed spontaneously without any purpose (to observe a suddenly appeared celebrity or a traffic accident);

§ conventional crowd - a relatively structured gathering of people influenced by planned predetermined norms (spectators in the theater, fans in the stadium, etc.);

§ expressive crowd - a social quasigroup formed for the personal pleasure of its members, which in itself is already a goal and a result (discos, rock festivals, etc.);

§ active (active) crowd - a group that performs some action, which can act in the form of: gatherings - an emotionally agitated, violent crowd, and the revolted crowd - a group characterized by special aggressiveness and destructive actions.

In the history of the development of sociological science, various theories have developed that explain the mechanisms of crowd formation (G. Le Bon, R. Turner, and others). But for all the dissimilarity of points of view, one thing is clear: to manage the command of the crowd, it is important: 1) to identify the sources of the emergence of norms; 2) identify their carriers by structuring the crowd; 3) to purposefully influence their creators, offering the crowd meaningful goals and algorithms for further actions.

Among quasigroups, social circles are the closest to social groups.

Social circles are social communities that are created for the purpose of exchanging information between their members.

Polish sociologist J. Szczepanski identifies the following types of social circles: contact - communities that constantly meet on the basis of certain conditions (interest in sports competitions, sports, etc.); professional - gathering to exchange information exclusively on a professional basis; status - formed about the exchange of information between people with the same social status (aristocratic circles, women's or men's circles, etc.); friendly - based on the joint holding of any events (companies, groups of friends).

In conclusion, we note that quasigroups are some transitional formations that, with the acquisition of such characteristics as organization, stability and structuredness, turn into a social group.