What is group? – Social Psychology

Aiming to better define the notion of group, Martin Baró uses the criterion of the perception of members as members belonging to that gathering of individuals, the group, to characterize it.

The author cites several moments in which individuals in society relate to or approach their peers.

Therefore, the author establishes this criterion of perception as a member, insofar as, by logical opposition, we would have that in situations in which the individual relates but does not perceive himself as a member, one cannot speak in a group.

In cases where people are close together in an environment, but do not feel that they belong to a specific group, we have to speak of grouping and not of a group. Grouping examples: bank queues, office waiting rooms, etc.

From the moment this perception of the existence of participating in a group exists, there is a group (which is more than grouping), and also the typical phenomena of a group arise.

Another criterion, according to Martin Baro, to define the existence or not of the group is to have a common goal. Before defining this, a distinction is necessary: ​​between the objective and the motivation.

Motivation is not a criterion for defining the group as it is individual, and eventually there may be as many motivations as there are members of the group. The objective is not, being common, it denotes a single objective, shared by all the members of that group.

It is usually confused with the purpose towards which the group tends. For example, the common goal of psychology students – at an undergraduate college – is to become a psychologist.

Also check out the Group Dynamics Course

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