Types of Social Groups A Social Group is formed when 2 or more people are in the same physical location and aware of one another’s presence.

A Transitory Group is when several people happen to be in the same place at the same time but who may never be again. Their interaction is minimal. Examples: people crossing the street at the same time at the same intersection; people getting onto the same elevator; people waiting in line at the checkout at CVS

A Recurrent Group is one that meets regularly A Recurrent Group is one that meets regularly. Examples: the field hockey team; an annual family gathering; a monthly AA meeting

A Formal Group is one that has rules and regulations, scheduled meeting times, official roles assigned to members (such as treasurer, coach, etc.), official membership list, etc. Examples: Spanish club; Congress; Sociology class

An Informal Group lacks the formality of the formal group An Informal Group lacks the formality of the formal group. There may be unwritten rules, etc. Examples: a group of friends; a family; commuters sharing a bus

An In-Group is simply any group someone belongs to and feels emotional attachment to the members. An Out-Group is one that someone doesn’t belong to and feels competition and/or hatred towards. These two are different for each individual. Examples of the above: rival gangs, rival teams or their fans; cliques at school

Group members differ in the ways they interact with one another as well. This determines whether a group is Primary or Secondary. These differ in the following ways.

Emotional Intensity: Primary: Strong emotional attachment among members, love Secondary: Little emotion felt among members toward one another

Scope Primary: An individual’s entire personality is important to the group. Secondary: Only a small piece of an individual’s personality is important to the group. Can they do the job assigned?

Particularism/ Universalism Primary: Each individual is important to the group. The group is particular about who can be a member Secondary: Membership is open to all

Interaction Primary: very informal Interaction Primary: very informal. Members feel relaxed around one another Secondary: formal. Rules exist to explain how and when interaction takes place

Aims Primary: goal is simply to enjoy one another’s company Secondary: the group meets for a specific reason. Members may have little in common beyond the reason for the group’s existence

Rules & Regulations Primary: Rules may be understood rather than written down and are very flexible. Punishments for breaking them are also flexible. Secondary: Rules are formalized and each member must follow the same rules. Punishments also are applied in a standard way for all members.

Discuss how these characteristics apply to a family (a Primary Group relationship) and a group of co-workers at Wendy’s (a Secondary Group Relationship)

Membership in these groups overlap Membership in these groups overlap. A group could be recurrent, formal and secondary (student council). It might also be recurrent, informal and primary (a dating couple). Members might belong to a formal group (co- workers on the job) but form informal groups (co-workers who become friends or even begin dating each other). They might interact in a primary and secondary way with differing members of the same group.

Work in groups and develop a unique example of each of the following combinations: Recurrent, informal, secondary Recurrent, formal, secondary Recurrent, informal primary Recurrent, formal, primary Transitory, informal, secondary In-group Out-group Do not repeat the examples already given in class.