Groups: How They Form and How They Change Us

Nature of a group

A group is two or more people who:

• interact: talk to and affect each other;
• share a goal or motive;
• follow norms (shared rules);
• have roles and status (who does what, who is respected);
• see themselves as a unit (a 'we' feeling).

Group vs crowd: people waiting at a bus stop are a crowd. They are together by chance, with no shared goal or rules. Group vs team: a team is a special group where members have matching skills and are jointly responsible for one result. In a team, everyone wins or loses together.

Try it: list three groups you belong to. For each, write its goal and one unwritten rule.

Why do people join groups?

• Security: we feel safer and less lonely.
• Status: being in a respected group (school team, top college) makes us feel important.
• Self-esteem: a good group makes us feel good about ourselves.
• Meeting needs: to belong, to be liked, to get information.
• Reaching goals: some goals need many hands.
• Knowledge: we learn from others in the group.

What brings people together (formation)

• Nearness (proximity): we meet the people who live, sit or work near us again and again.
• Similarity: people with similar likes, age or views get along easily.
• Common goals: people who want the same thing join hands.

Stages of group formation

A well-known model (Tuckman) describes five stages:

1. Forming: people meet, feel unsure and polite, find out about each other.
2. Storming: conflict over who leads and how to work.
3. Norming: rules and roles get settled; the 'we' feeling grows.
4. Performing: the group works together on its goal.
5. Adjourning: the job is done and the group breaks up (like a school fest committee).

Groups do not always move in a straight line. A group can slip back to storming when a new member joins.

Group structure

• Roles: the behaviour expected from someone in a position (captain, secretary, goalkeeper).
• Norms: unwritten rules everyone is expected to follow (be on time, share notes).
• Status: the rank or respect a member gets. Higher status members usually have more say.
• Cohesiveness: how strongly members feel tied to the group and want to stay. High cohesiveness brings loyalty, but too much can lead to groupthink (everyone agrees to keep peace, and poor decisions go unchallenged).

Types of groups

• Primary vs secondary: primary groups (family, close friends) are small, face to face, close and long-lasting; we are often born into them. Secondary groups (a club, a political party, an office) are bigger, looser and formed for a purpose; we choose to join them.
• Formal vs informal: formal groups have written rules and fixed posts (a school, a company). Informal groups form on their own with loose rules (your lunch gang).
• In-group vs out-group: the in-group is 'us', the group I belong to. The out-group is 'them'. We tend to see in-group members as varied and likeable, and out-group members as 'all the same'. This can lead to bias.

Group influence: social loafing

Social loafing means a person puts in less effort when working in a group on a shared task than when working alone. In tug of war, each extra person pulls a bit less.

Why it happens

• Each member feels less responsible; others can do it.
• My effort cannot be seen or measured, so no praise and no blame.
• I think others are loafing, so why should I work hard (the 'sucker' feeling)?
• Low interest in the task or weak ties with the group.

How to reduce it

• Make each person's work identifiable (name on each part).
• Make the task important and interesting.
• Build commitment and cohesiveness; small groups help.
• Compare the group's result with other groups or past records.

Close cousin: social facilitation, where people do easy, well-practised tasks better when others watch. The difference is that in facilitation your own work is seen.

Group influence: group polarisation

Group polarisation is the tendency of a group, after discussion, to take a more extreme stand in the same direction it already leaned. If members were slightly in favour, the group ends up strongly in favour. If they were slightly cautious, the group turns very cautious. (An early form was called the 'risky shift'.)

Why it happens

1. New supporting arguments: in a like-minded group you hear more reasons for your side, so you feel surer.
2. Bandwagon / social comparison: you want to be seen as a good member, so you go a little further than others.
3. In-group identity: 'we' vs 'them' pushes the group away from the out-group view.

Real harm: echo chambers on social media, mobs, and extreme decisions by juries or committees. Cure: invite people with other views, and let someone play 'devil's advocate'.

Key formulas and definitions

• Group: 2+ people, interaction, shared goal, norms, roles/status, 'we' feeling
• Formation factors: proximity, similarity, common goals
• Tuckman stages: Forming → Storming → Norming → Performing → Adjourning
• Structure: roles, norms, status, cohesiveness
• Types: primary/secondary, formal/informal, in-group/out-group
• Social loafing: less effort per person in a shared, unidentifiable task
• Group polarisation: discussion makes the group's view more extreme in the same direction

Worked examples

Common mistakes

• Calling any collection of people a group. A crowd or audience has no shared goal, norms or 'we' feeling.
• Thinking polarisation means the group splits into two sides. It means the whole group moves further in the direction it already leaned.
• Mixing up social loafing and social facilitation. Loafing: less effort when your work is hidden in the group. Facilitation: better performance on easy tasks when others watch you.
• Believing high cohesiveness is always good. Too much can lead to groupthink and poor decisions.