Week One

Group

The term group takes several meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In the general context, a group is a gathering of two or more individuals. This is different when it comes to social realms. The social perspective reveals a group as a class of social beings who share some similarities and identities and are interdependent to some degree (Cadinu et al., 2020). Interdependence demonstrated by group members shows that they have a degree of psychological connectedness. Groups exist by virtue of people sharing a history, undergoing similar situations in their present life, or sharing a common ambition. The similarities inspire group members to interact and demonstrate a sense of unity.

The social recognition of a group is founded on several conditions. First, a collection of individuals must have common motives and goals to qualify as a group (Cadinu et al., 2020). The motives bring people together while the goals hold the group together and steer it into the future. Further, individuals must show established status relationships, division of responsibilities, and shared norms and values to qualify as a group. The norms and values form the foundation of group membership and are the minimal considerations that individuals must meet before being admitted to a group. Further, shared responsibilities ensure that all group members work towards maintaining the group and achieving the goals.

Humans Have a Fundamental Need to Belong to Groups

The human quest for belonging to groups emanates from an emotional need for the association. The concept of belongingness means that humans constantly need to gain acceptance, support, and attention from other people and reciprocate the effort, forming groups (Kendra, 2021). The sense of belonging can only be explained from a psychological perspective, where the need to belong is intrinsic motivation. However, the fundamental need to belong to groups can extend to meet additional individual interests. For instance, individuals can seek out groups to enjoy popular culture interests, share religious beliefs, or share socioeconomic status (Kendra, 2021). Therefore, the need to belong focuses on nourishing the social interests of every individual.

The fundamental need to belong to groups reveals that humans are social beings. Belongingness helps individuals establish stable and lasting relationships with others, motivating them to participate in social activities, such as sports and religion (Kendra, 2021). In the absence of groups, individuals would live in solitary and would not enjoy social privileges, such as clubbing. The sense of belonging is often constant, meaning that individuals will continuously seek to join groups following changes in their environment, work, or economic status. However, meeting this fundamental need requires people to make an effort to establish relationships, practice acceptance, and be patient.

Individualism and Collectivism

Social belonging is the most important part of human culture. Although humans are social, the emphasis on collective responsibilities differs from one community to another, resulting in two concepts: individualism and collectivism. According to Fatehi et al. (2020), individualists emphasize the worth of an individual, while collectivists view an individual as subordinate to the shared worth of a group. Consequently, individualism and collectivism share some similarities and differences. The two social philosophies influence how individuals interact and the priority given to personal development. Values, personal or group, guide social interactions, creating congruence between individualism and collectivism.

Individualism and socialism differ significantly. Individualists focus more on social relations guided by personal values, while collectivists embrace shared values (Triandis, 1988). The social behavior of individualists relies on personal values and attitudes, while that of collectivists reflects group norms and values. Further, individualists prioritize social responsibilities influenced by their attitudes, while collectivists partake in social obligations that are determined by their group. In light of shared goals, individualists prioritize self-interest over shared goals, while collectivists view shared goals as more important than personal goals (Triandis, 1988). Individualists hold social self in high regard as opposed to collectivists, who view the social self as subordinate to social collectivity. The differences depict how individuals under each social category behave in the personal and social spheres.

Basic Assumptions of Social Identity Theory

The social identity theory elaborates on the concept of groups and social identity in groups. The basic assumption of the theory is that people try to achieve some level of identity in groups, which differentiates them from other group members (Harwood, 2020). The theorists observed that people were willing to sacrifice the rewards of group membership to ascribe to higher positions within the group. The theory assumes that group members pose the question of identity “who am I” in a quest to form intergroup interactions. Therefore, self-awareness is a fundamental tenet under the social identity theory.

The theory further assumes that social comparison contributes to social categorization in groups. Upon asking the primary question, “who am I,” individuals compare their self-identity to others. This allows them to determine the level they occupy in the group. For instance, those who find themselves more worthy than others often struggle to gain levels of superiority (Harwood, 2020). This assumption explains the cause for marginalization and discrimination in social groups.

Why Some People are More Likely to Join Groups than Others

Humans have different personalities—intrinsic characteristics that influence the character of an individual. The five-factor model explains five domains of personalities that shape human character in the social realm (Widiger & Crego, 2019). From the five personalities, some people are more likely to form groups to fulfill their adventurous nature, especially those under the openness category. Besides, some people are more likely to join groups because they are sociable, talkative, and assertive and need a platform to exercise these characters. Extraverts score high in this sphere as they are outgoing (Widiger & Crego, 2019). Other people are more trusting, kind, and affectionate, prosocial behaviors that prompt them to form groups.

However, some people have traits that prompt them not to socialize. According to Widiger and Crego (2019), these traits are found under each category. For instance, introverted persons have less energy to expand social settings, while those high in neuroticism demonstrate traits, such as anxiety and irritability, that make it difficult to establish social relations (Widiger & Crego, 2019). Therefore, people who are more likely to join groups demonstrate higher levels of prosocial traits, such as openness, trust, talkativeness, than others who demonstrate anti-social traits, such as shyness, social anxiety, and irritability.