Groups and Organizations

A group is classified as two or more individuals who interact and may refer to themselves as 'we'. Like most of sociology, a group is more complex then you may originally suspect. Are two people who talk to each other while waiting in line a group? Or what about people that work in the same building and have the same goals and interact indirectly but not directly- say a person at the front desk and someone in housekeeping, are they a group?  I guess it depends who you ask and in what situation you ask it.  For instance, they may just be a social category  or 'team members' in the case of one person at the front desk and another person in housekeeping who work to achieve the same goal.  Even groups of two or three can be a little obscure.

Social category or group?

What interests me most about groups is what people do in group settings that they wouldn't normally do alone and how drastic things can get in a large group.  The power of social influence has always amazed me; that's why mom and dad say choose your friends wisely, right?

Hippies vs. Preps: are they the same?
In a way they are; both groups are trying to set themselves apart from the idea of conforming but still end up conforming to one group.
Often the way you dress, act and think influences what group you belong to and in turn what group you belong to influences the way you dress, act and think. Think of your different groups of friends or family groups vs. work groups vs. church groups; are you the same person in every group situation?
No. You conform and to the norm in the given situation. Scary isn't it?

The Elevator Experiment is a pretty funny video that shows people's need to conform to the norms around them.  This experiment has been done many times with the same sort of result.

One of the more drastic experiments conducted included a short of ' Shock therapy.' This experiment shows the effect of group pressure even if this group pressure meant harming another individual.  Obviously, no one was harmed in the experiment but it does go to show what people will do when they feel pressure in a group setting.  Stanley Milgram- Group Pressure and Conformity is an exert out of a sociology book that goes into further detail about this experiment.  It will also show you another experiment in which an individual alters perception to fit the group norm.

Which line is the longest?  Seems pretty obvious right?  Now what would you do if five other people said the top line is the longest?  Would you still say the middle line is the longest or would you alter your own perception and agree with the group? It's hard to know for sure what you would really do in that situation.  Sure, you might think that you would stick with your answer of 'the middle one' and stand out from the group but you may also, believe it or not even say the bottom one is the longest.


The definition of a group can be blurry but group pressure is a sure thing.  Many different group influences are pulling on us everyday without our knowledge and the pressure to preform can be so great that we change the way we act, thing, dress or talk.  Group pressure is a powerful thing.