For a long time I have been interested in how people view what reality is, why they think the way they do, why they act the way they do, and having a natural, shall we say, skill, when it comes to people, led me to start a minor in Social Psychology along with my other two majors. I guess it has only since being at University, and experiencing a whole new array of people and groups, it has opened up a whole new level of interest in social psychology.
Perceiving objects or actions around us is one thing, but what of our perceptions of each other? How accurate are we in judging people's intentions, motivations, personalities and attitudes? The question is an important one because it relates to our communication behaviour in most social situations, including interviews, meetings and even casual conversations. Do we tend to see good qualities in people we perceive to be like ourselves and critical of those we perceive to be different? By stereotyping others into certain 'Groups', are we missing in seeing the unique qualities of these individuals?
People are not consistent in their behaviour from one situation to another. We may be friendly at work, sociable at parties are reserved at home? In judging others we tend to use our own 'personality theories'. Do you think, for example, that an intelligent person will be polite? A moments reflection will reveal that the two do not necessarily go together. If we meet one person with a positive quality, say friendliness, we may see other features of the person as equally positive and vice versa.
Some symbolic and communication theorists say that the meaning is not personal at all, but is created and sustained by interactions in social groups. This approach is a sociological one not a psychological one. Symbolic interactionists define society as a group having common culture, that is a similar way of communicating. Within the group we engage in 'role-taking'. This is a process in which we identify with someone else's feelings or opinions.
Most of us live our lives in the midst of groups. Of the billions of people populating the world, all but an occasional hermit? outcast? or recluse? belong to a group. I question these terms as I do not want to put these terms across in any stereotypical way. Every way we turn we run into groups, families, committees, clubs, support groups, teams etc. The world is literally teaming with groups.
Groups are a fundamental component of our social lives. We live our lives mostly surrounded by groups, groups we try to get in to and groups we try to get our of, we can become so accustomed to them that their influence on our behaviour goes unnoticed. We take our groups for granted, so much that we must learn to look at them from a new perspective.
So, what precisely is a 'group'? What would you include if you were to name all the groups in which you were a member? Would you list your family? Your neighbours? Your University? Your organisation? Your political party? A bunch of co-workers you go out with for a beverage after work? Are all these collections of people groups? What kind of social collectives qualify as groups? I find this really hard to answer but I think that we need to look at these interactions with people and develop a deeper understanding of the people who inhabit the world. A better understanding would lead to a better way of communicating and a better way of understanding human behaviour, as human behaviour is often group behaviour. These 'groups' are a fundamental component of society.
If we wish to understand ourselves, others or our society better, we must understand groups.
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