What are the intervals. What are groups Formation of a small social group

30.01.2022

Society has a very complex structure; large and small groups are distinguished in it, which represent a variety of stable connections of people. A large group is a people, classes, nationalities, nations, adherents of a particular religion. It is through large groups that the influence of a certain ideology occurs, and its consolidation in society.

The concept of a small group

The direct instrument of the influence of large groups on the individual is performed by a small group. A small group is a small (from 2 to 30 people) association of people that takes place on the basis of a common cause and interests. Members of a small group are always in close relationship with each other. Vivid examples of small groups are: a work team, a school class, an academic group, family, close friends and buddies.

Types of small groups

Small groups are divided into different types, depending on their size, structure of relationships, individual composition, content of activities. Depending on the design of the small group, natural and laboratory small groups are distinguished. Since laboratory small groups are created artificially for scientific purposes, often by psychologists, in order to study a model of human behavior, we will consider in more detail precisely the natural groups that take shape in society on their own.

Natural groups are of two types: formal and informal. Formal small groups are created and function within the framework of official organizations - this is a school class, labor collective, academic group, etc. Informal groups are groups that take shape and function outside the official framework - friends, informal youth associations, family.

Well-being of a person in a small group

In order for a member of a small group to feel comfortable and at ease, it is necessary to consider those factors on which the personal state of an individual in such a group depends.

1. Contact. The concept of contact refers to emotionally favorable relationships between group members, which consist in goodwill, tact and respect.

2. Organization. The concept of organization is a conflict-free distribution of responsibilities in a small group, the ability to collectively solve current problems.

3. Informative. A member of a small group must know all the main aspects of the activities of other members of this group. The same factor provides for the members' knowledge of each other's characters.

group selfishness

Each small group is characterized by group egoism, which is often a necessary element of its existence. The concept of group egoism refers to the selfish motivation of the activities of a small group solely in the interests of its members. As a rule, the group egoism of this small group damages the interests of another, alien small group.

However, it is pointless to fight with group egoism, because it is thanks to this that the members of a small group achieve the tasks set in their activities. Group egoism must be harmonious and not go beyond the infringement of the interests of others. Often behind group egoism lies the totality of personal egoism of each member of a small group.

Each person, regardless of his age and occupation, is in several small groups - this is a family, a school class, a sports team. The relationship of the individual with other members of the team plays a key role in shaping his personality. The variety of types of associations demonstrates the classification of small ones, which attaches particular importance to the study of the characteristics of small groups and their role in society.

What is a small social group

On the basis of small collectives, it is possible to study in detail the connection of the individual with his environment, the influence of society on its members. Therefore, in sociological research, the concepts of "group", "small group", "classification of groups" occupy an important place. The fact is that a person spends most of his life in small groups that have a strong influence on the formation of his values.

A social group is an association of people connected by joint activities and a system of interpersonal relations. Such groups are classified by size, that is, by the number of participants.

Small group - a small association of people connected by joint activities and in direct communication with each other. A feature of such a team is that the number of its members does not exceed twenty, and therefore they can freely contact each other and establish an emotional connection.

signs

There are a number of provisions, the presence of which may indicate that the association is a small social group:

co-presence of people in one territory at a certain time;
emotional contact between team members, the presence of stable relationships;
joint activities aimed at achieving a common goal;
division between members of group roles;
the presence of an organizational and managerial structure;
the formation of their norms and values.

The concept and classification of small groups are based on these features and the nature of their manifestation. The establishment of emotional relationships between individual members can lead to the emergence of subblocks and internal structure.

Association types

There are several aspects in relation to which the classification of small groups is formed. The table below shows the types of small social associations.

sign	Types
emergence	Formal (consciously organized) and informal.
Way of interaction	Primary (high level of cohesion) and secondary (lack of strong relationships, working together).
Duration of existence	Temporary (created to achieve a single goal) and stable (designed to work for a long time).
Nature of activity	Labor, research, entertainment, ideological, aesthetic, communicative, political.
Personal Significance	Elite and reference.

The nature of internal communications

The determining factor is the classification of small social groups with respect to the way it arises. Formal associations are created by management and have legal status. Their activities are regulated by certain documentation. The management of such a group is top-down, and its members are determined by the organization.

Informal groups arise spontaneously based on the emotional ties of the participants. Such societies do not have an official status, and its activities are directed "from the bottom up". Nevertheless, they also form some norms and values shared by all members of the group and predetermining their behavior. If in formal organizations the leader has official powers, then in contact organizations he acts through the recognition of other participants.

Reference team

On the factor of significance of the association for an individual, another small group is based, the norms of which play an important role for a person, called the reference (reference). A member of the team sorts through its value system, forms the appropriate standards. This group is divided into two subspecies:

Ideal. The individual does not belong to the association, but in his behavior he is guided by its norms.
presence group. A person is a member of this team and shares values.

Small communities play a crucial role in shaping The child sees the norms accepted in the family and among friends. At the same time, small social groups can also have a negative impact on the individual - suppress his personal qualities (inhibition), impose incorrect ideals.

social significance

Small organizations can play different roles in society, depending on the values and goals pursued by the small group. The classification of small groups, based on the criterion of social significance, suggests the existence of three types of associations: socially oriented, asocial and antisocial. Accordingly, they play a positive, neutral and negative role. Socially oriented small groups include educational, public, productive organizations. Various criminal associations are not accepted by people, which nevertheless retain authority for their members.

Group management

Management includes a number of actions necessary to organize the activities of the association. This concept includes decision-making, goal setting, development of plans, control, coordination, and so on. There is a conditional classification of small groups regarding the method of management. There are the following types of relationships:

subordination (top);
coordination (horizontal system);
reordination (bottom).

Successful organization of activities is based on the combination of these principles, the search for the best option for building internal relations.

Head of the team

A feature of the organization of small groups is the selection of a leader. This is a member of the association, which has a strong influence on its activities. He is respected among the other members due to his personality and plays an important role in the management of the group. The activity of the leader extends to both internal and external communication. He ensures the involvement of team members in joint activities, exercises control over decision-making. There is a classification of small groups based on the level of the leader's intervention in the activities of the association and the degree of involvement of each member in the process of managing the community. In the most successful organizations (both contact and formal), a balance is struck between the two extremes.

Management styles

The conditional classification of small groups, based on the involvement of members of the association in the process of its management, includes three positions presented in the table below.

There is also a theory of X and Y. In the first case, a person initially avoids work and prefers to be led. Theory Y suggests that the individual has a high level of self-control and strives for responsibility. Accordingly, two different control methods are applicable here.

Collective pressure

The norms adopted in the association have an impact on the way of life of its individual member. Everyone knows an experiment conducted with a group of children, where prearranged participants incorrectly answered the question posed, and the last subject repeated the words of his peers. This phenomenon is called conformism. The opinion of the majority of the members of a small group has an effect on the individual. The opposite of this phenomenon can be independence, that is, the independence of a person’s attitudes from the opinions of the environment.

At the same time, the classification of small groups regarding the role it plays for an individual is important. The higher the association's referentiality, the more conformism manifests itself.

Formation of a small social group

Each team goes through several stages of development. Psychologists G. Stanford and A. Roark developed a theory that includes 7 stages of the formation of a social group. The study is based on a two-factor model of team development, where there are contradictions between business and emotional activity.

Acquaintance, the first attempts of interpersonal interaction.
Creation
stage of conflict.
The state of balance, the emergence of a sense of unity.
Formation of unity - business activity increases, common goals are set.
The dominance is not workers, but interpersonal relations of individual members of the association.
Actualization, balance of business and emotional activity.

Social roles in a small group

Members of an association may be assigned certain behaviors related to solving problems or communicating with other members. Roles are manifested both in the business and in the emotional activity of the group. For example, in the process of solving problems, the "initiator" offers new ideas, and the "critic" evaluates the work of the entire group and finds its weaknesses. Roles are also manifested in the sphere of interpersonal relations of the team. So, the inspirer actively supports the ideas of other members, and the conciliator renounces his opinion and settles conflict situations.

And the behavior of an individual as a person significantly depends on the social environment. The latter is a complex society in which people are united with each other in numerous, diverse, more or less stable compounds called groups. Among these groups can be distinguished large and small. Large represented by states, nations, nationalities, parties, classes, and other social communities distinguished by professional, economic, religious, cultural, educational, age, gender, and other various characteristics. Through these groups, the impact of the ideology of society on the psychology of their constituent people is indirectly carried out.

The direct conductor of the influence of society and large social groups on the individual is small group . It is a small association of people (from 2-3 to 20-30 people) engaged in some common cause and in direct relationship with each other. The small group is the elementary cell of society. In it, a person spends most of his life. The well-known thesis about the dependence of the psychology and behavior of the individual on the social environment would be more correct to formulate as the idea of the dependence of the individual on the psychology and relations that exist in small groups. Examples of small groups that are most significant for a person are a family, a school class, a work team, associations of close friends, friends, etc.

A small group is characterized by the psychological and behavioral community of its members, which singles out and separates the group, making it a relatively autonomous socio-psychological entity. This commonality can be revealed by various characteristics - from purely external (for example, the territorial community of people as neighbors) to fairly deep internal (for example, members of the same family). The measure of psychological community determines the cohesion of the group, one of the main characteristics of the level of its socio-psychological development.

Types of small groups.

Fig.1. Classification of small groups

Small groups can be different in size, in the nature and structure of the relations existing between their members, in individual composition, in the characteristics of values, norms and rules of relationships shared by the participants, in interpersonal relations, in the goals and content of the activity. The quantitative composition of a group in the language of science is called its size, the individual - composition. The structure of interpersonal communication, or the exchange of business and personal information, is called communication channels , moral and emotional tone of interpersonal relations - psychological climate groups . The general rules of behavior that the members of the group adhere to are called group norms . All of these characteristics are the main parameters by which small groups are distinguished, divided and studied in social psychology.

Consider the classification of small groups (Fig. 69). Conditional , or nominal , - These are groups that unite people who are not part of any small group. Sometimes the selection of such groups is necessary for research purposes in order to compare the results obtained in real groups with those that characterize a random association of people who have neither constant contact with each other, nor a common goal. In contrast to the nominal groups, there are real . They are really existing associations of people that fully meet the definition of a small group.

Natural called groups that form on their own, regardless of the desire of the experimenter. They arise and exist based on the needs of society or people included in these groups. Unlike them laboratory groups are created by the experimenter for the purpose of conducting some kind of scientific research, testing the hypothesis put forward. They are just as effective as other groups, but they exist temporarily - only in the laboratory.

Conditional, or nominal, groups are associations of people artificially singled out by the researcher. In contrast to them, all other types of groups actually exist in society and are quite widely represented in it among people of different professions, ages, and social affiliation.

Natural groups are divided into formal and informal(another name is official and unofficial). The former are distinguished by the fact that they are created and exist only within the framework of officially recognized organizations, the latter appear and act, as it were, outside the framework of these organizations (compare, for example, a school class as an official small group and an informal youth association as an informal group). The goals pursued by official groups are set from the outside on the basis of the tasks facing the organization in which this group is included. The goals of informal groups usually arise and exist on the basis of the personal interests of their members, and may coincide with and diverge from the goals of formal organizations.

Small groups can be referential and non-referential . Reference - this is any real or conditional (nominal) small group to which a person voluntarily classifies himself or whose member he would like to become. In the reference group, the individual finds role models for himself. Its goals and values, norms and forms of behavior, thoughts and feelings, judgments and opinions become significant models for him to follow and follow. non-referential a small group is considered, the psychology and behavior of which are alien to the individual or indifferent to him. In addition to these two types of groups, there may be anti-referential groups, the behavior and psychology of whose members a person does not accept at all, condemns and rejects.

All natural groups can be divided into highly developed and underdeveloped . Underdeveloped small groups are characterized by the fact that they do not have sufficient psychological community, established business and personal relationships, an established structure of interaction, a clear distribution of responsibilities, recognized leaders, and effective teamwork. The latter are socio-psychological communities that meet all the requirements listed above. Underdeveloped, by definition, are, for example, conditional and laboratory groups (the latter often only at the first stages of their functioning).

The main indicator that allows you to recognize the enterprise as small is the number of employees for a specific period of time. Criteria such as the size of its assets, the size of the authorized capital and the annual turnover also matter.

In Russia, a small business is a commercial organization in whose authorized capital the share of participation of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charitable and other foundations, as well as religious and public organizations does not exceed 25 percent. In addition, a share that belongs to several legal entities or one legal entity. face, should also not be more than 25 percent.

The number of employees for a certain period should not be higher than the standard established in a particular area. If it is construction, industry or transport, the number of employees of a small enterprise cannot exceed 100 people. If it is a wholesale trade - no more than 50 people, if it is a consumer service or retail trade - no more than 30 people, if any other activity - no more than 50 people.

Medium enterprises

The definitions of medium and small business around the world are quite close. What generalizes them is economic entities that do not exceed a specific indicator in terms of the number of employees, the amount of gross assets and turnover. Medium enterprises are also eligible for simplified reporting. In order to understand the scope of the number of employees - after all, this criterion is most often the main one - it is worth considering a few examples.

If we take a consulting or research agency, it can be classified as a medium-sized enterprise when the number of its employees ranges from 15 to 50. If we talk about a travel company, then it can be classified as a medium-sized enterprise when the number of its employees is in the range from 25 to 75. Medium print media will be an editorial office with no more than 100 employees. As with small businesses, medium-sized businesses are considered in terms of turnover and market share they occupy.

Large enterprises

A large enterprise is a company that produces a significant share of the total commodity volume of any industry. It is also characterized by the number of people employed in the work, the size of assets and sales. To classify an enterprise as a large business, it is necessary to take into account the territorial, industry and state specifics. For example, for the field of mechanical engineering, the main factors are the volume of products, the number of workers and the cost of fixed assets. If we take the agro-industrial complex, we can focus only on the number of livestock or the area of land.

In order of occurrence:
primary group- this is a collection of individuals united on the basis of direct contacts, common goals and objectives and characterized by a high level of emotional closeness and spiritual solidarity (family, group of friends, closest neighbors). It is characterized by the following features:
1) small staff;
2) spatial proximity of members;
3) duration of existence;
4) commonality of group values, norms and patterns of behavior;
5) voluntariness of joining the group;
6) informal control over the behavior of members.
secondary group- a relatively large social community, the subjects of which are not connected by intimate, close ties, the social connection and interaction in the group are impersonal, utilitarian and functional. The secondary group is goal-oriented (work team, school class, sports team, etc.);

By social status:
1) formal group - a group created on the basis of official documents (class, school, party, etc.) and having a legally fixed status. A formal group is characterized by clearly defined positions of members, prescribed group norms, strictly distributed roles in accordance with subordination in the power structure in the group. Between the members of such a group, business relations are established, provided for by documents, which can be supplemented by personal likes and dislikes;
2) informal group - a real social community of people who are connected by common sympathies, closeness of views, beliefs, tastes, etc. Statuses and roles in such a group are not prescribed, there is no given system of vertical relationships. Official documents in such a group are irrelevant. The group breaks up when common interests disappear.

By direct relationship:
1) conditional group - a community of people that exists nominally and is distinguished by some sign (sex, age, profession, etc.). People included in such a group do not have direct interpersonal relationships, they may not know anything about each other;
2) real group - a community of people that exists in a common space and time and is united by real relationships (a classroom, a production team).

According to the level of development or formation of interpersonal relationships:
1) low development groups- communities based on asocial factors, lack of common goals and interests, characterized by conformity or nonconformity of its members (for example, an association, a corporation, etc.);
2) high development groups- communities based on common interests, social goals and values (for example, a team).

By importance:
1) reference group- this is a real or imaginary group, the norms of which serve as a model. Reference groups may be real or imagined, positive or negative, may or may not coincide with membership. They perform a normative function and the function of social comparison. In the representations of an individual, a group can be:
"positive" - groups with which the individual identifies himself and, a member of which he would like to become.
"negative" - groups that cause rejection in the individual.
2) membership groups- these are groups where the individual is not opposed to the group, and relates himself to all other members, and they relate themselves to him.

Other types of groups:
1) permanent(exist for a long time (political party, school, institute, etc.)) and temporary (exist for a short period of time (train compartment, people in the cinema, etc.));
2) natural(family) and groups of psychological and other types of similarity (classes, parties);
3) organized and spontaneous, etc.