As human beings are social creatures, it is almost impossible for people to not interact in groups. There are exclusive lifestyles however, anomalies in society, where people behave like hermits and deem themselves to be better off alone. While that is recognized, the majority of the human population(animals for that matter too) form little groups and invest their time and commitment in them. People do so because these groups often provide individuals with the support and care to meet their interpersonal needs. After all, the need for inclusion, control, and affection are vital for emotional survival in this world.
Look around you, we realize that the mechanics of society thrive on group relations to operate. Almost all interactions around the world occur in groups. Whether in the coporate field where a few members of the PR department of a bank come together to do up a business proposal, or in school where students form groups to complete their projects; these are exemplary of group synergy which provides people with more input then the individual themselves. The saying, 'Two heads are better than one' hence contributes to the fact that group dynamics often stilmulates creativity and churns out better ideas than if one were to work alone.
Apart from being task oriented and getting work done, people form groups mainly for interactive purposes. Friendship ties in with group formation amongst people in that order. Socialisation allows for people to gravitate to others with similar interests and personalities. With common ground, people will find comfort and reliability from this particular group of friends and a long term relationship among them may be sustained if mutual understanding, commitment and compromise is established. It is presumably easier to form groups(or cliques even) with people who are similar to you because conversations would often land on common topics, and such groups can carry out similar activities according to their interests too. Ironically, having a slight difference in characters help sort out the differences in the group. Strongheadedness would be tamed with more objective people in the group, to rationalize difficult situations, and passiveness would be a lesser problem with more outgoing people in the group. Because of such differences in character, the group would be more complete as people take turns to fill in the gaps of aspects in which their friends are lacking.
Groups can be associated for the wrong reasons too. This occurs when people join groups to identify themselves with certain people of higher influence perhaps. In triads, gang members tab on their gang leader's 'influential status' to market their own statuses and go about disrupting the peace of others. In such cases, it is not important whether or not a person plays a minor role in the group because people tend to label them as bad influence as a whole.
Within a social group, there are always people who are better listeners, problem-solvers and peace makers. Therefore many a time, people take on different roles to maintain the harmony of the group they belong to. Groups predominantly exist in the world to satisfy the interpersonal needs of the individual, placing him at a higer position of self sufficiency on the emotional ladder.
hi ams!
ReplyDeleteHaving a group of like-minded friends is what most people would hope to have. so whenever you're feeling sad and you need someone to confide in, you know that there will always be a group of friends whom you can rely on.
however sometimes people form groups/cliques just for the sake of company and not because they are really close. in that case, groups may seem superficial as all you talk about are random stuff and nothing deep.
usually we are not able to have the best of both worlds, (close friends in a clique). so if i have a choice, i would rather form a group with people who i feel comfortable with than to form a group and stick with people just for the sake of company.
Hey Dea,
ReplyDeleteYup I agree with the importance of friendship. In this interconnected world, networking has become a tool for survival in the corporate world. Even in University when we have to complete projects, having reliable friends can really help to lighten the load.
However, although having many friends can be good but I feel that everyone will have a special group of friends that one will feel closest to. This group then becomes emotional and mental support, something which everyone needs once in a while.
Having more friends can also help one to improve his or her interpersonal and communication skills, letting one know how to express him or herself clearly and be aware of how to carry oneself.
Hey Amadea!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that group communication is prevalant in our everyday lives.. Even if it is not, it is impossible to avoid it altogether for one's lifetime!
Like you mentioned above, there are pros and cons of group communication. One such example is being able to tap on this larger pool of resources to produce a more desired outcomes, let say in a brainstorming scenario at work. Group communication, in this case, is definitely more efficient as not only does the job get done at a faster pace, but the quality of it increases too due to many brains coming together!
However, one downside of group communication is that groups can come together for the wrong reasons too. Just look at the number of groups loitering around late at night in void decks.. Most of the time, they are either a disturbance to the neighbours or they are out to make trouble for the neighbours! This is an instant where group communication is not advantageous.
Well, everyone has working styles and qualities obviously so I feel that the ideal group would consist of people who possess different skills and qualities. This way, everyone complements one another and the group is "whole". However, this rarely happens in reality as there would be some degree of conflict most of the time in any group communication.. That is why, we should all learn to work with all sorts of people!! Good luck in your future group comms!(:
Yes, I agree that human beings are by nature sociable. Like how the saying goes, no man is an island. I guess it will just have to depend on the individual's judgement on the type of social groups that they engage in. It is ultimately their choice. no?
ReplyDeleteThe points you made about group communication in this post are so true!
ReplyDeleteI believe that everything needs a certain balance in order to avoid being lop-sided and thus, create problems. Groups are no exception. Like you said, different personalities help even out the group and also allow group members to take on different roles according to their personalities. For example, a more assertive and action-driven person could be the leader and take on roles like the initiator and opinion giver. A more passive and procedure-following person could take on roles like the information seeker/giver and the follower.
However, I think that should you come across a group that is too lop-sided one day, it would be best to take initiative to help even out the group by maybe taking a backseat so that the many strongheaded people would not have conflicts. This does not mean that you should completely follow whatever the strongheaded ones tell you to do but to give input and play devil's advocate when necessary.
To add to your paragraph about joining groups for the wrong reasons, groupthink could be an example of joining a negative group! Having the false sense of invincibility like they do in gangs can have adverse effects on not only themsekves but on people they come into contact with as well.
I think groupthink destroys individuality.
ReplyDeleteMany people think they have their individual ideals, but they break them so easily when they feel the need to conform to a group's expectations of them. For example, I think a person should have their own opinion about things and should not be afraid of voicing it out.
Besides the points on the various advantages and/or disadvantages of being in a group, I think there's much to be said of why the assembly of such groups in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI think that the existence of groups stem from the very base of human instinct. People are not only social beings, but power hungry beings as well (regardless of its degree)- it all dates back to the basis of survival from the early ages of Man, and how we've managed to inherit this desrie to develop a stronger sense of power, identity and ego through numbers.
Although we no longer form groups to outnumber and hunt down the nearest wooly mammoth in today's day and age, the formation of groups in today's context arguably pertains much to the accentuation of personal ego and identity. Not only do we find a form of security and comfort zone within groups against so called dangers in the social jungle we live in, we also create a greater sense of self worth belonging in groups which possess values of camaraderie and solidarity; ego for the win.
And by no means is the ego neccessarily a bad thing. When not in excess, the ego justifies the very dignity we have as a human being. So in that sense, groups prove to be tool to facilitate this development of ego and self worth.
So the bottom line- we need groups to foster identity, the ego and our primal urge of survival and power.
"No man is an island." I think that is a saying that we cannot fault. Humans are social creatures and we often require people around us.
ReplyDeleteGood company can certainly be beneficial to us. People to share our joy, our troubles, our experiences, or just to hear little vignettes from our daily lives. They can provide much comfort to us each day. These "people" in question, can come in the form of friends, families, acquaintances, etc.
Teamwork and camaraderie do play vital roles in our work or play. Group relations hence take on important roles in our everyday lives. Different people with different strengths and weaknesses can come together to form quite a formidable group. That's the underlying idea behind teamwork. So I do agree with you that group relations are an ever-green concept that will always be of relevance to any society. =)
Hi Pyrena,
ReplyDeleteYes, it is always most comfortable to form a group with people who have similar views/goals as us. However, that is not always possible due to the timings in which people enter and exit our lives and vice versa. Forming cliques with like-minded people allow for easy access to topics and activities. People can hence work more cohesively together in such groups as opposed to those who have varying views. However this is also a double edged sword as like minded people who are not opnionated can be seen as overtly passive people. Things are always diplomatically solved instead of taking risks which stimulates creativity and makes getting along with one another more interesting.