Concept, functions, characteristics, structure and types of small groups in social psychology

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Every day, every person, regardless of age, preferences, interests, social status and standard of living, is in contact with other people at work, school, among relatives, friends, acquaintances, and sometimes strangers. Various relationships, social connections, contacts are formed. People are united in groups according to interests, professional specialization and other characteristics. One way or another, communication with other people directly affects the formation of personality and determining the place of a particular individual in social activity. Knowledge of certain psychological foundations of the formation of teams can help a person decide on the choice of his environment. Professional psychologists need such information to create favorable conditions in the work team, and the manager will help to effectively organize personnel appointments and control the interpersonal activities of employees. Today we will share information about what types of small groups exist and what are their features.

What is a small group in psychology?

In psychology, a small group is usually called an association of a small number of people who havea single link for all participants, there are any common social ties and joint activities. Such aggregates are formed in each collective. Types of small groups in social psychology are distinguished by the method of formation: artificial or natural.

Psychologists and sociologists around the world are discussing the question of how many participants should be in such small associations. Some experts argue that two people are enough to create a small group. Others, meanwhile, believe that the types of relationships in a small group consisting of a dyad (two people) are completely different, they have their own characteristics, different from the signs of a small association of people. Therefore, supporters of this assumption prove the point of view that the minimum number of participants in a small team should be 3 people.

More controversy arises over the maximum number of people in small groups. In the works of various researchers, you can find the number 10, 12, and even 40. In the works of the famous psychiatrist Jacob Levi Moreno, who actively de alt with the problem of social groups, the maximum allowable number of participants in a small group is indicated. In his opinion, it is 50 people. But the formation of an association of 10-12 participants is considered optimal. It is noted that in teams with a large number of people, splits occur more often, thereby forming new types of small groups.

Distinguishing Features

To determine the collection of a small numberpeople as a small group, certain distinctive features must be present:

1. Regular meetings of participants.
2. Formation of a single goal, tasks.
3. General activities.
4. The presence of a structure, the definition of a leader, a manager.
5. Determine the role and scope of each participant.
6. Formation of internal interpersonal relationships in the group.
7. Education of rules, traditions, norms within a small group.

Natural formation of a small group

Almost always in large teams there is an unintentional division of participants into smaller associations. The concept and types of small groups that have formed naturally are determined by analyzing the distinctive features and characteristics. People are divided according to interests, preferences, life position, psychological compatibility and so on. Such associations are called informal.

Each environment has its own characteristics of the division of team members. This should be taken into account by the leaders and organizers of such communities, since the formation of small groups affects the ability to work and the general atmosphere in the team. So, for example, in order to organize effective educational activities in a children's team, it should be taken into account that the composition of informally created small groups changes literally daily, the statuses and roles of participants change. Such associations can exist under the leadership of an adult leader. Among children of different ages, the leader must gain an impeccable reputation.

Professionalinformal collectives for the organization of successful activities must also have a reasonable leader. Uncontrolled associations of workers in various types of small groups can sometimes have a negative impact on the work of the company. The dissatisfaction of participants with management, working conditions and other things can generalize people, which will lead to strikes, mass layoffs. Therefore, in large companies, where time is devoted and funds are allocated for the psychology of personnel, a full-time psychologist works. One of the tasks of such a specialist is to identify associations of workers in a team and determine their focus and activities. With the right approach, such groups can be used to improve the efficiency of the company.

Formal group

They distinguish formal types of small social groups. The peculiarity of such a team is that people are united not so much by desire and preferences, but by necessity, status and professional qualifications. Formal small groups include, for example, the union of the management of the company.

At the same time, formal and informal types of small groups in an organization can form, exist and interact. Managers and psychologists are faced with the task of implementing the activities of such teams for public purposes, for the development of the company.

Small group functions

Small groups perform important functions both in the development and formation of the individual and the team as a whole. Psychologists identify the following functions, which areidentical, regardless of what types of small social groups exist in a particular association of people:

1. Socialization of personality. Starting from a very young age, a person learns to interact with other people, preferences and views, character, place in society are formed.
2. The expressive function is to determine a specific individual in a small group, his place in it. Thus, the level of self-esteem, personal professional qualities are formed, the need for encouragement and approval is realized.
3. Instrumental function allows an individual to perform a selected activity.
4. The function of psychological assistance is to provide support to participants while overcoming life and professional difficulties. Studies have been conducted that show that members of small groups turn to associates for help even more often than to relatives. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the individual does not want to injure and burden loved ones with his problems. While members of a small team can listen, give advice, but do not take information to heart, leaving the individual's personal space intact.

Types and functions of small groups depend on the choice of tasks and goals, the direction of social activities of such associations.

Classification of small groups

On what grounds is a small group classified? Types of small groups, characteristics of their activities are determined using analysiscertain indicators.

There is no exact division of such social cells. Psychologists have developed only recommendations for the classification of such groups. Below is a table that reveals the types of small groups.

Classification signs	Views
According to the method of education	1. Informal 2. Formal
Shape	1. Real 2. Conditional
By type of joint activity	1. Practical 2. Aesthetic 3. Ideological 4. Social 5. Political 6. Hedonic (general leisure) 7. Communication and others
By social value	1. Positive 2. Asocial 3. Antisocial

Structure

Types and structure of a small group are closely related. Depending on the type of small association formed, the internal structure of the community is formed. It represents the internal communication, social, emotional and psychological ties between individual participants. Classify the structure as follows:

1. The sociometric type is based on interpersonal likes and dislikes.
2. The communicative type is determined by the flow of information within the group, the way of communication between the participants.
3. Role structure consists in the distribution of positions and activities among members of the smallgroups. Thus, the group is divided into those who make decisions, and those who carry out and support actions.

Small group relationships

The problem of interpersonal relations in the circle of a small group of people is devoted to a lot of psychological and social works, research, experiments. Summarizing knowledge, we can distinguish the following types of relations in a small group: formal and informal. In the first case, cooperation is clearly regulated by legislative acts: there is a boss and subordinates.

In the second case, everything is much more complicated. Here, thanks to personal qualities, a certain individual becomes the informal leader of the group. Such relations are not regulated by anything, except for the sympathy of other members of a small team. Such a position often turns out to be quite unstable: there may be several leaders at once, the complete absence of one, competition between participants, unwillingness to accept a nominated role and other problems in communication and distribution of social roles.

Don't underestimate the role of informal relationships. Often such alliances lead to changes in the formal circles of leaders.

What is the status of an individual in a small group?

Each person in society, and in the team in particular, has a certain status. In order to determine it, it is necessary to answer the question: who is this person? At birth, for example, race and gender can be assigned. Status can be acquired or achieved, such as Doctor or Philosopher.

It is possible to determine the status of an individual in a group using sociometric methods. Surveys are often conducted in educational institutions, workers' organizations, in which questions are asked about the personal relationships of some group members to others. They are most often carried out in the form of questionnaire cards, or a matrix is filled out, where the scale is an indication of the level of sympathy for another person. For example, they are asked to name a classmate who enjoys the greatest authority in the class. Based on the answers received, informal leaders, performers and other statuses of participants are determined using specially designed keys.

When choosing the means and methods of psychological research of social roles in a team, it is extremely important for specialists to take into account what types of small groups take part in the survey for the reliability of the results obtained.

Small group leadership concept

Actively, psychologists and scientists began to deal with the problem of leadership in the early twentieth century. Why can some people freely lead others? What qualities do you need to have and what do you need to do to achieve this? Unfortunately, to date no one has given exact answers to these questions. One person can become a leader in certain conditions and in a specific group of people, while in another team he will be completely lost and will play an inconspicuous role. So, for example, the leader of a sports team cannot always adequately prove himself in a group of intellectuals. Therefore, a leader is rather a person who has correctly weighed hisopportunities, defined goals and ways of solving problems in specific conditions.

There are psychological works that explore the necessary personal qualities of a leader. The most popular is R. Hogan's "big five" technique, which indicates the 5 most important features of a person who claims to be a leader in a team.

What is the role of a leader in a small group of people? It is easy to conclude that a leader is a person who, under positive conditions, leads the team to achieve the set goals, and under negative conditions, can not only not achieve the results desired by the group, but also completely destroy it as such.

Small group management

In order to streamline, implement tasks and goals, improve, develop and achieve results, a small group must be managed. How can this be done? Regardless of what types of small groups have formed, it is customary in social psychology to distinguish between several leadership styles:

1. Authoritarian style is a pronounced advantage of the leader over other members of the group, who turn out to be only performers.
2. Liberal style involves the collective activity of each and every member of the group.
3. Democratic style is that the leader directs the participants to certain actions, coordinating and discussing the processes with each participant.

Summing up, it can be noted that the types of small groups in psychology are an inaccurate concept that changes under the influence ofexternal factors and conditions. But the leader of any kind of team should be attentive to the formation of both formal and informal internal associations. Since such groups, with the right purposeful approach, can ensure the development of the entire team, lead to improved work and effective implementation of tasks.