What were the large social groups called? Types of social groups

Lecture:

Social groups

Social groups are one of the elements of the social structure of society. Social groups are associations of people connected by common characteristics (gender, age, nationality, profession, income, power, education and many others), interests, goals, and activities. There are more social groups on Earth than individuals, because the same individual is included in several groups. Pitirim Sorokin noted that history does not give us a person outside the group. Indeed, from birth a person is in a group - a family, the members of which are connected by blood relations and a common way of life. The circle of groups expands as they grow older; street friends, a school class, a sports team, a work collective, a party, and others appear. A social group is characterized by such characteristics as internal organization, common goal, joint activities, rules and regulations, interaction (active communication).

In sociology, along with the term social group, the term social community is used. Both terms characterize an association of people, but the concept of community is broader. Community is the unification of different groups of people according to some characteristic or life circumstances. The main difference between a community and a group is that between the members of the community there is no stable and repeating connection, which exists in a group. Examples of a social community: men, children, students, Russians, etc.

The transitional position between a social community and a social group is occupied by a quasi-group - this is an unstable short-term community of people, bearing random nature. Examples of quasi-groups are a concert audience, a crowd.

Species social groups

Social groups
Species		Signs	Examples
1.	Primary	Direct personal contacts, emotional involvement, solidarity, sense of “we”, individual qualities are valued	Family, school class, friends
	Secondary	Indirect subject contacts, lack of emotional relationships, abilities to perform certain functions are valued	Professional, territorial, demographic groups, party electorates
2.	Large	Large numbers	Nations, age groups, occupational groups
	Small	Small number	Family, school class, sports team, work team
3.	Formal	Arise at the initiative of the administration, the behavior of group members is determined by job descriptions	Party, labor collective
	Informal	Created spontaneously, the behavior of group members is not regulated
4.	Reference	A real or imagined significant group with which a person identifies and is oriented towards	Political party, denomination
	Non-referential	A real group that has little value for the person who studies or works in it	School class, sports section, work team
5.	Professional	Joint professional activities	Doctors, lawyers, programmers, agronomists, veterinarians
	Ethnic	General history, culture, language, territory	Russians, French, Germans
	Demographic	Gender, age	Men, women, children, old people
	Confessional	General religion	Muslims, Christians, Buddhists
	Territorial	Common area of ​​residence, unity of living conditions	City dwellers, villagers, provincials

Functions of social groups

American sociologist Neil Smelser identified four socially significant functions of social groups:

1. The function of human socialization is the most important. Only in a group does a person become human and acquire a sociocultural essence. In the process of socialization, a person masters knowledge, values, and norms. Socialization is closely related to education and upbringing. A person receives education at school, college or university, and is raised primarily in the family.

2. The instrumental function is to implement joint activities. Collective work in a group is important for the development of an individual and society, because a person cannot do much alone. By participating in a group, a person gains material resources and self-realization.

3. The expressive function of a group is to satisfy a person’s needs for respect, love, care, approval, and trust. Communication with group members brings joy to a person.

4. The supporting function is manifested in the desire of people to unite in difficult and problematic life situations. The feeling of group support helps a person reduce unpleasant feelings.

Social group— a community of people united by common interests and goals, norms of behavior and values; is distinguished by the differentiation of intragroup functions, roles, hierarchy of interpersonal relationships and a certain measure of intragroup cohesion. The common interests of a social group are concretized by a system of group goals, a group image of life activity of group members is formed, specialization of group activity arises with a corresponding structure of jointly divided labor, which determines the size of the group. According to their numerical composition, the social group is divided into, middle and middle.

Large social group- a quantitatively unlimited community of people, distinguished on the basis of various social characteristics - demographic, class, national, party. In large groups, cultural values ​​are formed, traditions are developed, basic values ​​- the ideology of society. Social communication in large social groups is carried out by means of mass communication.

Middle social groups, having some characteristics of large ones, they are distinguished by territorial localization and the possibility of direct communication (team of a large factory, institute, school, military unit).

Small social group- a group of directly contacting individuals united by common interests, goals and group norms of behavior. The small group has a certain quantitative composition, structural organization, socio-psychological mechanisms of life, group dynamics.

In a small social group there is a managerial link - a leader who realizes common interests, sets goals for activities and organizes the joint activities of group members. Formal leaders or recognized leaders, as well as sub-leaders, form the “think tank” of the group; The bulk of the group are performers with different group status. There may also be low-status members of the group who have not found their place in it. Interpersonal relationships and direct interpersonal contacts are essential in a small group. The most cohesive core of the small group forms primary group.

Directly surrounding a person social environment - microenvironment- a collection of various small groups. They are one of the main factors in the formation of human behavior - both socially adapted and deviating from social requirements (deviant).

In the western social psychology groups are divided into societal, social and primary:

• To societal groups include global macro-social communities with their own identity;
• To social groups include the main strata (layers) of a given society, as well as territorial, professional, industrial, religious and similar communities;
• To primary groups include small groups (microgroups that are distinguished by direct contacts of its members - family, work, sports and play groups, interest groups, etc.).

Small groups are divided into formal and informal. Formal groups united by official goals and have a regulated structure necessary to achieve these goals. Informal groups do not have a formally established structure. Here, the interaction of members is spontaneous and determined by their personal relationships, the commonality of the value system. However, there is also an intra-group hierarchy within it. The individual is included in various formal and informal groups - a work team, a public organization, a circle of friends, etc.

The group whose norms are recognized by the individual as the most valuable is referential(from lat. referentis- reporting), or reference group. Thus, a specialist is guided by a certain group of respected colleagues, an athlete - by the norms of famous record holders, etc. Hardened criminals are not upset by the disapproval of most people, but they are sensitive to the positions of their criminal group.

Different groups can be reference in various relationships. A teenager may highly value the standards of behavior of his friends and parents. Many of a person’s actions in the microenvironment are explained by his desire for self-affirmation in the reference group.

Socially positive groups have a powerful impact on the socio-psychological development of the individual. By joining these groups, from birth the child draws from them all the components of social experience he needs, human culture. In a social group, various abilities of the individual are realized. Here he learns his worth, realizes his strengths and weaknesses.

However, a social group can not only strengthen, but also suppress the capabilities of an individual. An antisocial community can have a fatal impact on the fate of an individual who has not gone through the crucible of socialization. Particularly dangerous for a developing personality are random, situationally arising asocial communities in which a person becomes deindividuated and depersonalized. Entering the path of thoughtless obedience to a criminalized leader, a person leaves the path of social development, falls into the trap of primitive dependencies and responsibilities, and begins to be formed according to the standards of ersatz culture.

A social group can take different positions in relation to basic social values. Their activities may be socially oriented(industrial, educational, socio-cultural, etc. associations), antisocial- focused on meeting the needs of only members of a given group (hippies, rockers, breakers, etc.), and antisocial- criminal groups.

A significant part of formal medium and small groups are production groups and labor collectives. These are groups open type- they are open to broad social connections, are constantly replenished with new members, and are integrated into wider professional associations. The activities of these groups are largely regulated: the order of their activities and the criteria for assessing the results of their work are determined. The formation of professional groups is carried out by relevant social organizations.

Rice. 1. Intragroup relations characteristic of a social group.

In a social group, an individual is not only in relation to another individual, he takes a certain position in relation to other members of the group (Fig. 1). Thus, a social group includes at least three people - only then do intragroup relations arise.

Socio-psychological organization of a social group.

The emergence of a social group ( group formation) is associated with social needs. However, the motives for individual members to join a group, the formation of its values ​​and norms, functional role structure, and stereotypes of group behavior are socio-psychological phenomena.

The mechanisms of group functioning include management and leadership, group decision-making, norm formation (formation of group values, rules of behavior, development of group opinion), formation of a functional-role structure of the group, group control and group sanctions. The life of a group is characterized by group integration and differentiation: stabilization of interpersonal relationships, group cohesion, ensuring the stability of the group.

In his actions, a group member is guided by his status and the statuses of other group members. He bases his actions on group expectations. The discrepancy between the behavior of group members and group expectations gives rise to group conflicts. If a person’s behavior contradicts group expectations, he is subject to negative sanctions and coercive influence. A person whose behavior is exemplary evokes a positive sanction - approval, encouragement. Sanctions may be diffuse(direct emotional attitude to a behavioral act - praise, ridicule) and organized, formal (reward, fine, sentence, etc.).

Functional and interpersonal relationships form a system of formal and informal relationships in the group.

In every social group there is a pattern of interaction between its members depending on their position in the group. The hierarchy of relationships between members of a social group is called group differentiation. Vary formal group differentiation(plant director - heads of workshops, sections - foremen - workers) and informal, which is determined by the position of individuals in the group depending on the attitude of various group members towards them. (Informal differentiation of the group is revealed by the method of sociometry.)

Each member of the group occupies a certain position in it - has a certain group status determined by its social role.

Social role— socially sanctioned methods of implementation social function(role of teacher, doctor, investigator, etc.).

There are three types of social roles:

1. institutional- fixed legal acts, clearly regulated (the role of a member of parliament, director of an enterprise);
2. conventional- roles are informal, but performed according to generally accepted rules (the role of a teacher, student, officer, soldier, father, mother, etc.);
3. interpersonal- the role of a person in various informal interpersonal relationships (the role of a friend, good man, rival, authoritative or unauthorized person, etc.).

Mastery of role requirements and methods of their implementation is the basis for the socialization of the individual. Personal qualities necessary to fulfill various social roles are the social abilities of the individual. Role behavior is determined by the understanding and acceptance of a role by a particular individual, that is, the individual’s attitude to his social-role responsibilities, and his psychophysiological capabilities.

A social role is associated with the social status of its performer. However, between the social role and social status there is no complete coincidence. The social significance of a person is determined by how he fulfills his role, social duty. Each social role is set by socially developed requirements, while the fulfillment of the role is individualized. In the hierarchy of various social roles performed by a person every day, certain roles are of primary importance to him. These leading roles largely determine the behavior style of an individual.

Social adaptation of an individual in a small group can be based on its various positions:

• complete uncritical acceptance of group norms under the influence of suggestion;
• subordination to the norms of the group while maintaining their positions that do not correspond to these norms ( conformity);
• tolerant relationships between group and individual based on mutual concessions ( accommodation);
• subordination to group norms based on the fusion of personal and group positions ( assimilation).

The regulatory basis for the group’s life is group norms And group values, that is, what is most significant and priority in a given group. Group norms are divided into regulatory, evaluative, authorizing And stabilizing. Regulatory norms - standards, patterns of intra-group and inter-group interaction, group requirements for the behavior of its members.

Group norms are also divided according to the degree of their obligatory nature. Violation of the highest level norms is unacceptable and is punishable by the most severe group sanctions. The norms of the average level of mandatory allow for minor deviations. Norms of the lower level of obligation are norms that determine the style of group behavior. It is also possible to regulate the behavior of a group member beyond the norm—the person taking on especially increased demands, which is usually characteristic of a group leader.

The most highly developed group, whose values ​​coincide with general social values, is called team. The more socially developed the group, the more beneficial its influence on the development of the individual. Reducing the group to the level of a corporation (see “ Social community") leads to social destabilization of its members and conflictual relationships between them.

The behavior of group members is influenced by its size and composition, that is, the uniqueness of its individual composition. Groups with approximately homogeneous personal composition are called homogeneous; with a heterogeneous composition - heterogeneous.

Rice. 2. Types of groups with different communication organization.

According to the variety of methods of group communication, groups are distinguished: centralized and decentralized (hierarchical), chain, circular, etc. (Fig. 2).

Groups with centralized communication channels differ in that only one member (manager, leader) organizes group communication and single-handedly influences its life activities. However, with the frontal version of a centralized group, its members enter into interpersonal contacts (student group, combat detachment), with the radial version such contacts are excluded, and with the hierarchical version, that is, with several levels of subordination, only a part of the group members enter into direct contacts.

At decentralized group type communication, all participants in group relations are in conditions of communicative equality and enter into open, unrestricted relationships. However, with its chain version, communication between its extreme members is limited (for example, in conditions of conveyor work). In the circular version, group members are in contact with only two adjacent partners. And only when full version they enter into diverse interpersonal relationships and are guided by each other’s behavioral reactions.

The communicative structure of a group is determined by its goals and objectives.

Organization of life activities of a formal group carried out by the group leader. Regulation of informal interpersonal relationships in the group is carried out leader. The leader has highly valued mental qualities, the manager has the official powers of management and subordination.

A worthy leader, as a rule, is also a leader, but a leader is not always an official leader. A leader is a person who demonstrates necessary qualities in certain situations. In different situations, different situational leaders may emerge. However, people tend to generalize leadership qualities individual, to believe that if a person acted as a leader in one situation, then he can be one in other situations.

Often a leader becomes a leader who doesn't even like him. business qualities, but by the ability to influence others. The leader, unlike the manager, does not ensure all the life of the group and is not responsible for achieving its goals. But in certain moments of the group’s life, the leader can surpass the manager.

The following stand out: situationally determined types of leaders: leader-inspirator, leader - generator of ideas, leader - organizer of certain types of activities, emotional leader, etc.

Unlike a situational leader the leader is called solve complex social objectives, identify the initial conditions in which the group operates, determine the directions of its activities: anticipate both the final result of the work and the intermediate results of individual actions of the group, coordinate and adjust its actions. The group develops a strategy for its activities, and the leader makes tactical decisions (for more details, see “ Head of social group«.)

Main features of the team

1. the values ​​and goals of the team and the individual coincide, the life of the team is full of socially useful, improving activities;
2. comradely equality of its members, each member of the team participates in the organization of certain aspects of the life of the team;
3. each member of the team sees the prospects for its movement and shows personal interest in its development;
4. positive experience social interaction constantly accumulates and turns into traditions;
5. the individual is protected by the collective and is responsible to it.

Social groups go through several stages in their development:

• at the first stage, when the group’s asset begins to operate, the leader acts together with the asset, encouraging its independence and initiative;
• at the second stage, all members of the group become its asset, value the honor of the team and its achievements; demands on individual members of the group are no longer made by the leader, but by the entire team;
• At the highest stage of group development, the individual makes demands on himself, and condemnation of the group becomes the highest measure of influence.

The personality is invariably included in the system of socio-psychological connections (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Personality in the system of socio-psychological connections.

Various relationships arise between different social groups, psychology is realized intergroup relations. In this case, a phenomenon arises intergroup perception, intergroup mutual assessments. The characteristics of the group are transferred to all its members. If the merits of one's own group are exaggerated in every possible way, the effect occurs in-group favoritism, and if the dignity of the out-group is belittled, the effect intergroup discrimination.

Intergroup perception becomes more adequate as the joint activities of groups expand. It has been established that in the case of stable failures in relations with other groups in this group, interpersonal relationships worsen and intra-group conflict increases. Intergroup connections can be horizontal and vertical, hierarchically subordinate. (In the latter case we're talking about about a special socio-psychological education - social organization.)

The regulatory mechanism of the life of a social group is group consciousness. However, the group consciousness of socially undeveloped groups is characterized by unsystematization, routine, everyday empiricism, selective attitude towards certain aspects of life. Group consciousness can develop both as a result of the systematic, purposeful influence of political institutions, means mass media, and spontaneously, based on practical life experience, customs and traditions.

A person comprehends the world in order to be in agreement with it. Each of us has our own “common sense”, our own system of reference for the appropriateness of behavioral acts. People with weak positions easily fall under the spell of dubious doctrines and are hypnotized by utopian myths. They definitely need an indicator of the azimuth of their path. Animals, thanks to instincts, do not know these problems. A person is capable of going to different directions, therefore, many people value the “correct” beacons, the “correct” teachings above all else.

Society reproduces itself as an economically stable entity mainly through professional groups. However, society's needs go far beyond professional activity. Along with professional and other formal groups, amateur social groups are constantly formed in it, focused on the implementation of newly emerging social needs.

Man is part of society. Therefore, throughout his life he contacts or is a member of many groups. But despite their huge number, sociologists identify several main types of social groups, which will be discussed in this article.

Definition of social group

First of all, you need to have a clear understanding of the meaning of this term. A social group is a collection of people who have one or more unifying characteristics that have social significance. Another factor of unification is participation in any activity. You need to understand that society is not viewed as an indivisible whole, but as an association of social groups that constantly interact and influence each other. Any person is a member of at least several of them: family, work team, etc.

The reasons for creating such groups may be similarity of interests or goals, as well as the understanding that when creating such a group, you can achieve more results in less time than individually.

One of the important concepts when considering the main types of social groups is the reference group. This is a really existing or imaginary association of people, which is an ideal for a person. The American sociologist Hyman first used this term. The reference group is so important because it influences the individual:

1. Regulatory. The reference group is an example of an individual's behavioral norms, social attitudes and values.
2. Comparative. Helps a person determine what place he occupies in society, evaluate his own and others’ activities.

Social groups and quasi-groups

Quasi-groups are communities that arise by chance and exist for a short time. Another name is mass communities. Accordingly, several differences can be identified:

• Social groups have regular interactions that lead to their stability.
• High percentage of people's cohesion.
• Group members have at least one common characteristic.
• Small social groups can be a structural unit of wider groups.

Types of social groups in society

Man as a social being interacts with a large number social groups. Moreover, they are completely diverse in composition, organization and goals pursued. Therefore, it became necessary to identify which types of social groups are the main ones:

• Primary and secondary - allocation depends on how a person interacts with group members emotionally.
• Formal and informal - the allocation depends on how the group is organized and how relationships are regulated.
• Ingroup and outgroup - the definition of which depends on the degree to which a person belongs to them.
• Small and large - allocation depending on the number of participants.
• Real and nominal - the selection depends on the features that are significant in the social aspect.

All these types of social groups of people will be considered in detail separately.

Primary and secondary groups

The primary group is one in which communication between people is of a high emotional nature. Usually it does not consist large number participants. It is the link that connects the individual directly with society. For example, family, friends.

A secondary group is one in which there are many more participants compared to the previous one, and where interactions between people are needed to achieve a specific task. Relationships here, as a rule, are impersonal in nature, since the main emphasis is on the ability to perform necessary actions, not character traits and emotional connections. For example, political party, work team.

Formal and informal groups

A formal group is one that has a certain legal status. Relations between people are regulated by a certain system of norms and rules. There is a clearly defined goal and a hierarchical structure. Any actions are carried out in accordance with the established procedure. For example, the scientific community, sports group.

An informal group usually arises spontaneously. The reason may be a commonality of interests or views. Compared to the formal group, there is no official rules And legal status in society. There is also no formal leader among the participants. For example, a friendly company, lovers of classical music.

Ingroup and outgroup

Ingroup - a person feels direct belonging to this group and perceives it as his own. For example, “my family”, “my friends”.

An outgroup is a group to which a person has no relation; accordingly, there is identification as “stranger”, “different”. Absolutely every person has his own system for assessing outgroups: starting from neutral attitude, ending with aggressive-hostile. Most sociologists prefer to use a rating system - the social distance scale, created by the American sociologist Emory Bogardus. Examples: “someone else’s family”, “not my friends”.

Small and large groups

A small group is a small group of people united to achieve some result. For example, a student group, a school class.

The fundamental forms of this group are the forms “dyad” and “triad”. They can be called bricks of this group. A dyad is an association in which two people participate, and a triad consists of three people. The latter is considered more stable than the dyad.

Traits characteristic of a small group:

1. A small number of participants (up to 30 people) and their permanent composition.
2. Close relationships between people.
3. Similar ideas about values, norms and patterns of behavior in society.
4. Identify the group as “mine”.
5. Control is not regulated by administrative rules.

A large group is one that has a large number of participants. The purpose of uniting and interaction of people, as a rule, is clearly fixed and clear to each member of the group. It is not limited by the number of people included in it. Also, there is no constant personal contact and mutual influence between individuals. For example, the peasant class, the working class.

Real and nominal

Real groups are groups that are distinguished according to some socially important criteria. For example:

• age;
• income;
• nationality;
• marital status;
• profession;
• place of residence.

Nominal groups are identified one by one common feature to conduct various sociological studies or statistical records of a certain category of the population. For example, find out the number of mothers raising children alone.

Based on these examples of types of social groups, we can clearly see that absolutely every person has a connection with them or interacts in them.

Social groups and their classification

The most important elements of the social structure of society are social groups and social communities. Being forms of social interaction, they are such associations of people whose joint, solidary actions are aimed at satisfying their needs.

Social group- ϶ᴛᴏ a collection of people who have common social signs, performing a socially necessary function in the structure of the social division of labor and activity. Social groups are characterized by:

- stable interaction that contributes to the strength and stability of their existence;

- a relatively high degree of unity and cohesion;

- clearly expressed homogeneity of composition, suggesting the presence of characteristics inherent in all members of the group;

The possibility of joining broader social communities as structural units.

Since every person in the course 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 extremely important to classify them according to certain criteria.

The following types of social groups are distinguished:

1. Taking into account the dependence on the nature of the interaction - primary and secondary.

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

Secondary group- this is a larger group in which interaction is subordinated to the achievement of a specific goal and is of a formal, impersonal nature.
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In these groups, the main attention is paid not to the personal, unique qualities of group members, but to their ability to perform certain functions. Examples of such groups are organizations (industrial, political, religious, etc.).

2. Taking into account the dependence on the method of organizing and regulating interaction - formal and informal.

Formal group- a group with legal status, interaction in which is regulated by a system of formalized norms, rules, and laws. These groups have a consciously set goal, a normatively established hierarchical structure and act according to an administratively established order (organizations, enterprises, etc.).

Informal group arises spontaneously, on the basis of common views, interests and interpersonal interactions. It is deprived of official regulation and legal status. Such groups are usually headed by informal leaders. Examples include friendly companies, associations of informal groups among young people, fans of rock music, etc.

3. Taking into account the dependence on the belonging of individuals to them - ingroups and outgroups.

Ingroup- a group to which an individual feels immediate belonging and identifies it as “my”, “our” (for example, “my family”, “my class”, “my company”, etc.).

Outgroup- ϶ᴛᴏ a group to which a given individual does not belong and, therefore, evaluates it as ʼʼalienʼʼ, not one’s own (other families, another religious group, another ethnic group, etc.). Each individual in an ingroup has their own scale for assessing outgroups: from indifferent to aggressive-hostile. For this reason, sociologists propose measuring the degree of acceptance or closedness towards other groups using the so-called “Bogardus social distance scale”.

Reference group- 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 proposed 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 an individual, allows him to determine his place in the social structure of society, evaluate himself and others.

4. Taking into account the dependence on the quantitative composition and form of implementation of connections - small and large.

Small group- a directly contacting small group of people united to carry out joint activities.

A small group can take many forms, but the initial ones are “dyad” and “triad”, they are called the simplest molecules of a small group. A dyad consists of two people and is considered an extremely fragile association; in a triad, three people actively interact, it is more stable.

The characteristic features of a small group are:

- small and stable composition (usually from 2 to 15 people);

- spatial proximity of group members;

- stability and duration of existence:

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

- intensity of interpersonal relationships;

- developed sense of belonging to a group;

- informal control and information saturation in the group.

Large group- a group that is large in composition, which is created for a specific purpose and the interaction in which is mainly indirect (work collectives, enterprises, etc.). This also includes numerous groups of people who have common interests and occupy the same position in the social structure of society. For example, social-class, professional, political and other organizations.

Team(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;

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

- substantive - the solution to the problem for which it is created;

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

5. Taking into account the dependence on socially significant features - real and nominal.

Real groups- these are groups identified according to socially significant criteria:

- gender - men and women;

- age - children, youth, adults, elderly;

- income - rich, poor, wealthy;

- nationality - Russians, French, Americans;

- marital status - married, single, divorced;

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

- place of residence - city dwellers, rural residents.

Nominal (conditional) groups, sometimes called social categories, are distinguished for the purpose of sociological research or statistical population accounting (for example, to find out the number of passengers on benefits, single mothers, students receiving personal scholarships, etc.).

Along with social groups, sociology distinguishes the concept of ʼʼ quasigroupʼʼ.

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

The main types of quasigroups are:

Audience is a social community united by interaction with a communicator and receiving information from him. Heterogeneity of this social education, due to differences in personal qualities, as well as cultural values and the norms of the people included in it, determines and varying degrees perception and evaluation of the information received.

Crowd- a temporary, relatively unorganized, structureless accumulation of people united in a closed physical space by a commonality of interests, but at the same time devoid of a clearly recognized goal and connected by similarities emotional state. Highlight general characteristics crowds:

- suggestibility - people in a crowd are usually more suggestible than those outside of it;

- anonymity - an individual, being in a crowd, seems to merge with it, becoming unrecognizable, considering that it is difficult to “figure out” him;

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

- unconsciousness - the individual feels invulnerable in the crowd, outside social control, in connection with this, his actions are “impregnated” with collective unconscious instincts and become unpredictable.

Taking into account the dependence on the method of crowd formation and the behavior of people in it, the following varieties are distinguished:

- random crowd - an indefinite collection of individuals formed spontaneously without any purpose (to watch a celebrity suddenly appear or a traffic accident);

- conventional crowd - a relatively structured collection of people under the influence of planned, predetermined norms (spectators in a theater, fans in a stadium, etc.);

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

- an active (active) crowd - a group performing some actions, which can act in the form of: a gathering - an emotionally excited crowd gravitating towards violent actions, and the rebellious crowd - a group characterized by particular aggressiveness and destructive actions.

Social groups and their classification - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Social groups and their classification" 2017, 2018.

To answer the question of what a social group is, we need to go back to ancient times and remember that humanity has always survived in society. In primitive society, groups were created that united into society. Therefore, a union of people who have common goal, which is the connection between an individual and society, is called a social group.

What types of groups are there?

The main aspects of social life are laid down in social groups. They have their own norms and rules, ceremonies and rituals. As a result of group activities, self-discipline, morality, and abstract thinking appear.

Social groups are divided into small and large. If two people unite with one task and goal, it will already be a small social group. A small group can have from two to ten people. These people have their own activities, communication, and goals. An example of a small social group could be a family, a group of friends, or relatives.

Large social groups are formed a little differently. These people may not directly contact each other. But they are united by the awareness that they belong to a group, they general psychology and customs, way of life. An example of large social groups would be ethnic community, nation.

The size of groups depends on the individuality of its members, and cohesion also depends on the size of the group: the smaller it is, the more cohesive it becomes. If a group expands, it means that respect, tolerance, and consciousness must develop within it.

Social groups, their types

Let's consider the types of social groups. They are primary and secondary. The first type refers to a group of people who have great value for an individual, people who occupy a significant place in his life. Secondary groups are groups where the individual has some practical purpose in joining it. An individual can move from the primary group to the secondary group and vice versa.

The next type of social groups are internal and external groups. If we belong to a group, then for us it will be internal, and if we do not belong, then it will be external. Here an individual can also move from group to group, and accordingly, its status will change.

Reference groups are groups in which people have the opportunity to compare themselves with other people; these are the objects to which we pay attention when forming our views. Such a group can become a standard for evaluating their views. We ourselves may or may not belong to the reference group.

And the last type of groups is formal and informal. They are based on the structure of the group. In a formal group, its members interact with each other according to prescribed rules and regulations. IN informal groups these rules are not followed.

Characteristics and characteristics of groups

The signs of a social group are always clearly expressed. If we analyze them, we can highlight several main ones:

• the presence of a common goal that is important for members of the entire group;
• the presence of norms and rules that operate within the group itself;
• There is a system of solidarity between group members.

If all these rules apply in groups, then, accordingly, the group is highly integrated. Depending on the characteristics and type, the structure of the social group is formed.

Characteristics of social groups. This includes the structure and size of groups, methods of group leadership. Based on the size of the group, we can tell about the relationship between its members. The closest and strong relationships arise between two members of a group, it could be husband and wife, friends. Emotions play a big role here. If more people are added, then new relationships are restored in the group, not always good ones.

Often one person is separated from the group to become its leader or leader. If the group is small, then it can do without a leader, and if it is large, then his absence will create chaos in the group. If a person finds himself in a group, then he develops the ability to make sacrifices, and control over his body and thoughts weakens. This is an indicator that social groups play a significant role in the life of humanity.