Only the constant communication of a person with individuals more developed than himself, possessing valuable knowledge, skills and abilities, provides him with the opportunity to familiarize himself with the corresponding spiritual values. Almost every person has something to learn from other people, and in almost every group he meets different people.

Chapter 2 Behavior in Groups

2.1. Normative behavior and group cohesion

group cohesion - one of the processes of group dynamics, characterizing the degree of commitment to the group of its members.

As specific indicators of group cohesion, as a rule, the following are considered:

1. the level of mutual sympathy in interpersonal relationships - than large quantity group members like each other, the higher its cohesion;
2. the degree of attractiveness (usefulness) of the group for its members - than more number those people who are satisfied with their stay in the group, that is, those for whom the subjective value of the advantages acquired through the group exceeds the significance of the efforts expended, the higher the force of its attraction, and hence the cohesion.

Group norms - these are certain rules developed by the group, adopted by its majority and regulating the relationship between members of the group. To comply with these norms, a system of sanctions is also created by all members of the group. They can be either encouraging or prohibitive. With a rewarding character, the group encourages those members who fulfill the requirements of the group - their status grows, their level of emotional acceptance increases, and other psychological reward measures are applied. With a prohibitive nature, the group is more inclined to punish those members whose behavior does not correspond to the norms. These can be psychological methods of influence, reducing communication with the "guilty", lowering their status within group ties.

At the level of emergence and functioning of the group, individual interests and needs are decisive, the satisfaction of which requires collective efforts, and hence interpersonal interactions.

The variety of group norms and factors makes it possible to single out general methodological principles for the effectiveness of norms in small groups.
1. Social norms of group behavior are the result of social interaction between people united by common interests.
2. The group does not establish the entire range of norms for any particular situation, but only those that are of particular importance to all members of the group.
3. Normative behavior can either be assigned to a group member in the form of a role (for example, a leader), or act as a role-based standard of behavior common to group members.
4. Social, norms can be differentiated according to the degree of acceptance by their members of the group: approved by all, part, etc.
5. Social norms in groups may have different continuums of deviations and, accordingly, ranges of sanctions for deviant behavior.
6. The level of recognition of group norms by all members of the group largely determines the nature group cohesion.
Lott, specialists in group dynamics, the totality of causes and effects of the sympathies of members of a small group.
The reasons include:

1. the frequency of interaction of individuals
2. group nature of their interaction
3. group leadership style (mostly democratic)
4. frustration (oppressive tension) and a threat to the course of the group process (as a result of intergroup relations)
5. status and behavioral (interpersonal) characteristics of group members (by attitudes, age, professions, ethical standards behavior, etc.).

Among the consequences of sympathy, and hence cohesion, there are: aggressive behavior towards a person unsympathetic to the group, a favorable assessment of interpersonal interaction by members of the group, changes in the assessment of other people and in intra-group communication, an increase in comfortable behavior, a possible increase in group productivity, etc.

The result of group interactions is cohesion, which is motivated by a combination of needs and values: the expectations of group members or the subjective likelihood that membership in a group will have favorable (or negative) consequences for a person.

2.2 Interaction of people in unorganized groups

The elementary forms of collective behavior of people are relatively spontaneous, sometimes unpredictable interaction in a situation of uncertainty or threat. The key to understanding is the form of social interaction, which is called a circular reaction: mutual excitement takes on a circular form when people reflect each other's moods, emotions and thus intensify them.

Social anxiety is the internal tension of many people in the absence of ways to relieve it, expressed in the form of chaotic and uncoordinated activity, and the feeling of anxiety is involved in a circular reaction and becomes “infectious”, people are “emotionally infected”. Social unrest is present where people are sensitive to each other, and also where they endure together the destruction of the established way of life. This occurs during revolutionary unrest, in the women's movement, religious unrest, in labor conflicts.

Traits of Social Anxiety:

♦ erratic behavior when people are in a state of tension and feel a strong urge to act, but do not have a clear idea and understanding of their goals;

♦ Excited feelings of anxiety, fear, insecurity, aggressiveness, a tendency to spread rumors and exaggerations;

♦ the presence of increased irritability and suggestibility, psychological instability, susceptibility to the influence of leaders, new incentives and ideas.

There are four types of elementary collective groups (G. Blumer):

1) acting crowd (aggressive);

2) an expressive crowd (for example, dancing in religious sects);

3) mass (participants do not have any social organization; people are separated from each other, for example, in the gold and land rushes);

4) the public (groups of people who are faced with a problem, have different opinions about the approach to solving it, discuss it).

These social groupings arise spontaneously, and their action is not directed or determined by existing cultural models and norms. Society as a whole proceeds from prescribed rules, the crowd - from establishing contact (increased susceptibility of people to each other, unconscious responsiveness to moods, spontaneous readiness for joint action). The mass acts due to the coincidence of individual choices, and the public acquires its own special type of unity and the possibility of realization due to the achievement of some collective decision or the development of a certain public opinion. Being a collective product, the latter represents the whole community in its readiness to act to solve the problem and as such allows for coherence.

The formation of public opinion occurs:

♦ through the opening and acceptance of discussion, when interest groups (concerned with the way to solve the problem) seek to shape and establish the opinion of other, relatively uninterested people;

♦ through propaganda (a deliberately directed campaign to get people to accept given point vision, mood or value).

The appearance of such elementary collective groupings indicates an ongoing process of social change. They play an important role in the development of new collective behavior and emerging forms of social life, in the formation of a different social order, they serve as the basis for the formation of social movements, thanks to which new types of collective behavior are built into fixed social forms. At its beginning, the social movement is amorphous, poorly organized, i.e., collective behavior is at a primitive level. As it develops, it becomes organized, acquires its own set of customs and traditions, its leadership becomes stronger, social rules and values ​​arise, the ability to create a new way of life.

A social movement can grow and organize itself through the ranks. mechanisms. One of the most common is propaganda. It excites people and makes them supporters of the movement. The way to do this is to get people's attention, to excite them, to arouse their emotions, to give those emotions some direction through ideas, criticism, suggestion, and promises.

Other similar mechanisms are:

1) the process of organizing a sense of belonging and solidarity of people with each other, the formation of mutual sympathy between supporters of a given social movement, which contributes to coordinated behavior;

2) development of intra-group / inter-group relations: the belief of members of the movement that their group is just and right, while others are unprincipled and malicious (serves to rally members around their goals and values; the presence of an enemy in this sense is very important for giving the movement integrity and cohesion);

3) the use of ceremonial behavior and rituals: mass rallies, demonstrations, parades, anniversary ceremonies, ritual paraphernalia - slogans, songs, poems, flags, uniforms, etc. (contribute to the development and consolidation of the social movement, and each individual participant in these rituals increases self-esteem , as a result of which he feels himself an important person, and this feeling of personal significance becomes identified with the social movement as such);

4) the formation of group morality, which gives the movement constancy and certainty: conviction in the correctness and righteousness of the goal of the movement, faith in the final achievement of its goal by the movement, in the fact that some sacred mission is entrusted to this movement; the creation of their own "holy books" (for example, "Capital" by Marx for the communist movement);

5) the development of a group ideology (a set of doctrines that formulate the goals and purpose of the movement, contain criticism of the existing system, outline political plans, policies, tactics and practical activities of the movement).

The successful development of a social movement depends on these mechanisms, and the social consequences depend on whether the movement is reformist or revolutionary.

2.3. Informal groups (classification of Litvak M.E)

All of us have been in groups since childhood. Starting with family, kindergarten, then school, college, work. If you look closely, all these and other groups have similar features and characteristics. Groups are formal and informal. The group in which we study is formal and it had a formal headman appointed by the dean's office. The group that notes after the successful passing of the session is informal and has its own leader, informal. The power of a formal leader is determined by official instructions, job responsibilities, etc. The power of the informal leader is unlimited, which follows from the voluntary participation of group members in it. That is why if the leader is not the leader at the same time, the group will always be torn apart by contradictions. A person's behavior strongly depends on the group in which he is, since in each group he plays a role. A role is the behavior that a group expects from an individual in the process of performing social functions. Depending on the roles in any team, three informal groups can be distinguished. Litvak M.E. divided them as follows: the first group: educational and careerist, the second - cultural and entertainment, the third - alcohol-sexual. We give a brief description of each of these groups.

1. Educational and careerist group. It includes people who strive for professional growth and promotion. These are young professionals who, during their student years, attended circles and prepared themselves for professional activities. In a word, this is everyone who is concerned about their personal and professional growth, striving to prove their uniqueness and uniqueness. Such people usually even have entertainment that contributes to his personal growth: playing sports, reading good literature, etc. Careerists never participate in the committees of complainers, they do not like fruitless social work. A career student is easy to recognize: in the student cafeteria he looks through notes, goes to all the labs, sits in the front rows at lectures and writes them down, even if he does not intend to specialize in this area. Such people simply cannot work at half strength. Representatives of such an enthusiastic group may stay late at work, ask for an extraordinary report, or annoy the authorities with rationalistic proposals.

2.Cultural and entertainment group. It includes specialists who have stopped in their professional growth and have main interests on the side. It is either a household or commerce or a family - there are a great many such interests. They are good specialists who have gained a hand in routine work. They perform their duties well, but inside and out. There is no trouble with the members of this group, if you do not force them to perform social work and forcibly learn new methods. Employees in such groups usually do not seek promotion, they will even turn it down! However, one should not consider such a group as some kind of "swamp" from which one cannot get out. These people are prone to submission and are good, albeit uninitiated workers. It’s not a bad opportunity to become the leader of such a team (namely, the leader, and not an informal leader, of course :)

3.Alcohol-sexual group. This group represents the most uncomfortable part of the employees in any team, especially in its alcoholic part. In the institutes, this is the so-called "Kamchatka". At work, such groups are usually well-established; relations in such groups are based on forgiveness, indulgence, and friendship. As the alcohol group degrades, the family and the whole society begin to influence it.

2.4. Features of group decision making

As a result of joint activities, several people can achieve results that, even at the cost of incredible efforts, a person alone could never achieve. Even K. Marx argued that simple social contact gives rise to the stimulation of an instinct that increases the efficiency of each individual worker. Psychologists-practitioners have long noticed that when working together, some problems are solved better than with an individual solution, that in a group an individual makes fewer mistakes and demonstrates a higher speed of solving problems. This fact was explained by increasing sensory stimulation, the very fact of the presence of other people working side by side on the same task activates the individual, positively affects his productivity. This phenomenon is known in psychology as the effect of social facilitation. Its essence boils down to the fact that the presence of other people facilitates the action of the individual, contributes to him. However, these statements are not indisputable for all cases of group activity.

Roles associated with a group task	Group support roles
initiator Offers new ideas, ways to overcome difficulties and solve problems. Changes the point of view on the problems and goals of the group developing Develops and develops ideas and proposals put forward by other members Coordinating Brings together ideas, suggestions and tries to coordinate the actions of group members Orienting Guides the group towards its goals, assessing what is happening and identifying deviations from the agenda	encouraging Encourages and supports the participation of others. Demonstrates understanding of other people's ideas and opinions harmonizing Acts as an intermediary between the participants in case of differences of opinion and the presence of different points of view. Reduces tension during conflicts Compromising Gives up something of his opinion, reconciling it with the opinions of others to establish group harmony Protective and fulfilling Supports, encourages others, facilitating their participation and regulating the course of communication
evaluating- criticizing Critically evaluates participants' proposals by comparing them with existing standards for task performance Motivating to action Pushes and encourages the group to take action and make decisions	Setting standards Applies standards within the group to assess the quality of the group process Passive next Passively follows the group, acts as a listener in group discussions and when making decisions

Creating favorable conditions for the work of the group is facilitated by a positive emotional atmosphere that reduces psychological tension, reflection, as well as mastering the basic rules of behavior during classes. The main rules of the group are:

1) activity, involving the inclusion of all participants in the work of the group, the manifestation of intellectual, emotional, motor activity;

2) communication on the principle of "here and now", involving an appeal to the present, what worries the participants right now, a discussion of what is happening in the group;

3) identifying positive personality traits each participant;

4) sincerity and trust in communication;

5) inadmissibility of direct assessments a person (not the qualities of the participants are evaluated, but only their actions);

6) confidentiality everything that happens in the group.

Let us dwell on the procedural aspects of the training groups. The optimal size of the group, according to the researchers of the training, is 10-12 people who are included in the lesson based on the principle of voluntariness, that is, the free choice of this type of training. The practice of connecting in one group of people of different sex, age, education, degree of acquaintance justifies itself. A group of participants working in the same institution or organization can also be created, but it is more difficult to work with. The cycle of training sessions is usually designed for 30-50 h., average duration of each lesson - 3 h. In some cases, marathon classes are held, the duration of one lesson is 8-12 h.

Training technologies are widely described in the literature. In the very general view Personally oriented trainings are carried out as follows:

The training is conducted by two educational psychologists; at the very beginning of the lesson, they present each other;

An introduction to the issues of training is being carried out, ensuring openness and trust among participants to each other;

Readiness for mutual cooperation, motivation to achieve the objectives of the training is formed;

Psychotechnics of new professional behavior and social and professional development are being mastered important skills, qualities and abilities;

The professional and psychological potential of specialists is being updated;

The correction of the professional and psychological potential of the specialist's personality is being carried out.

When conducting training sessions, leading educational psychologists are required to comply with ethical rules and the code of a practical psychologist.

The leader is given important role in all types of psychotechnologies. He acts more as a facilitator - a person who facilitates the manifestation of initiative and personal interaction of participants, providing psychological support, and not evaluating. The host himself acts as a model of a self-revealing personality, talking frankly about himself, like the rest of the participants. Showing attention and care, he creates an environment of acceptance and empathic understanding in the group.

The implementation of personality-oriented communication determines the use of pedagogical facilitation technologies 1 , which take into account as much as possible psychological features all aspects of interpersonal communication. The main principles for the selection of such technologies are:

Ensuring cooperation of all objects of education;

Building communication on an equal footing;

Recognition of each participant's right to their own position and opinion;

Recognition of each subject of communication as a unique personality;

open manifestation own feelings and emotional experiences;

Facilitative organization of communication space 2 .

Let us present the technological methods of training sessions that are adequate to these principles.

The teacher does not react to the superficial emotional reactions of the trainees, but to their hidden feelings, thereby helping to realize why the trainees experience such feelings and experiences. Pedagogical empathy includes the following levels:

Rational (understanding the emotional state);

Emotional (empathy for the state of the student);

Effective (providing real assistance in overcoming negative emotions);

Leading (prediction of possible emotional states).

An effective facilitation technique is the teacher's self-presentation, self-disclosure by him of his life and pedagogical experience. The use of this technique contributes to the acceptance by the members of the training group of the personality of the teacher and thereby allows you to remove psychological barriers alienation between all subjects of personality-oriented pedagogical communication.

K. Rogers identified three levels of humanization of any interpersonal relationships, providing constructive personal changes: 1) non-judgmental positive acceptance of another person; 2) active empathic listening; 3) congruent (adequate, genuine, sincere) self-expression in communication. The followers of K. Rogers emphasize that learning should become a means of personal growth of students and teachers.

The results of personality-oriented professional trainings and the criteria for their effectiveness are:

Increasing autopsychological, psychological and professional competence;

The transition of specialists to a new level of professionalism;

Development of readiness for self-change, self-development and self-realization in the field of professional activity;

Creating an optimistic professional perspective and mastering the techniques (technologies) of professional self-preservation;

Overcoming destructive professional changes and preventing the loss of meaning in professional life.

Conducting a personality-oriented professional training requires compliance with a number of ethical rules, and the participants need a vigilant and careful attitude to the training with a clear understanding of what kind of impact they will have, what consequences this may lead to. From this point of view, it is important that during the conduct of professional training its goals and objectives are precisely specified, i.e. it is determined which specific professional qualities of a specialist it is aimed at improving.

Consider the main ethical contradictions,

1 arising during trainings, which can become sources of value and moral problems:

Between the interests of society, organization, enterprise and specialist, which cannot always

coincide;

Between the right of a specialist to professional growth, career and the inability to realize this need based on the results of the training;

Between the high goals and objectives of the training and the pragmatism of the participants, seeking to receive specific recommendations and clear instructions.

Every organization is made up of groups of people. Such groups are not just a random collection of people, but, as a rule, a team carefully selected, trained and prepared to perform certain actions. Therefore, organizational behavior can be viewed from the point of view of group behavior, understood as a set of actions of groups and individual individuals that make them up. If individuals make up groups and determine their goals, plans for achieving goals and the means necessary for this, then the groups as a whole, in turn, influence individuals, changing, modifying their behavior, interests and needs. The manager must know the psychological patterns of behavior of people in groups and use this knowledge to ensure the highest performance of the group.

Definition and classification of organizations and groups

Before starting consideration of group behavior, it is necessary to define the concepts of "organization" and "group", as well as to classify them.

Organization - it is a group of two or more people who interact and depend on each other, united to achieve common goals. There are formal and informal organizations.

formal organization is a group of people, structured in a certain way, and having special documents (for example, a charter, a certificate of registration), which indicate its goals and its legal status. Such an organization is "registered" in accordance with the current legislation. In a formal organization, the behavior of each member must be directed towards the achievement of common goals.

informal organization - it is a group that, unlike a formal organization, has neither a definite structure nor a document certifying its existence. Most of these groups are usually formed in the service environment, they appear to satisfy any social needs, for example, communication or demonstration of personal professional achievements. So, three employees from different departments who always have lunch together and discuss various topics at the same time is an example of an informal organization.

We can propose the following classification of groups: managed; target; by interest; friendly.

Managed and target groups are formal organizations, but interest groups and friendship groups are more examples of informal organizations.

Consider the characteristics of these groups.

Managed group consists of a manager and those subordinates who report directly to him for the work done. So, for example, the director of a school and the 12 teachers who teach there are a manageable group. The group of the senior auditor of pa railway and his assistant.

Target group also organizationally framed, it is an association of people who work together to achieve some common work goal. However, the target group does not only unite the immediate hierarchical environment, it can also affect other relationships. So, for example, a specialist in the analytical department of a corporation, when a problem arises, can turn not only to colleagues or the head of the department, but also to a familiar lawyer working in the corporation, an experienced procurement officer, a secretary to the head of the department, and other persons who, in his opinion, can provide help. In turn, he himself is ready to help and assist these people. The combination of all these people will constitute the target group. It should be noted that all steering groups are also target groups; their members work to achieve specific goals.

Interest Group is created if there are two or more people whose work interests coincide. So, for example, employees who want to change their vacation schedule are an interest group. Such a group will be, for example, people who want to support a dismissed colleague. Workers advocating better working conditions are again an association that has a common interest.

Friends groups are formed on the basis of the fact that people have one or more similar character traits. These associations often go beyond the boundaries of the organization, they can be formed on the basis of the same ethical principles that have developed among people, they can unite workers of the same age or, for example, football club fans. Such groups can also be formed from those whose political views coincide, or they can unite people whose characters are somewhat similar.

Table 4 Reasons why people join groups

Cause	Explanation of the reason
Safety	Becoming a member of the group, each person reduces the likelihood of the opportunity to "be left alone", he feels stronger, less self-doubt. When people unite in groups, they are more successful in confronting emerging problems.
	A person who is a member of a group is respected and recognized
self esteem	The group will give each of its members a sense of self-respect. That is, a person is revered not only by those around him, but he himself is proud of his belonging to this group.
	Explanation of the reason
Satisfying needs	Any group is created in order to satisfy certain social needs. People tend to communicate with each other, so most groups satisfy the natural human need for interaction.
	Often, what cannot be done by an individual is easily accomplished by the efforts of the whole group. In this case, the strength lies in the amount
Achievements of goals	Sometimes it is necessary to concentrate the efforts of several people to achieve a particular goal. There may be a need to combine skills, talent, strength to successfully complete a job task. In this case, management should focus on the creation of formal groups

informal groups arise to meet the social needs of workers. People tend to communicate with each other, which is why employees often play golf together or drive home from work, have lunch together and drink tea together during breaks. It is important to remember that such groups, although not formal, have a great influence on the behavior of employees in the organization.

It is difficult to identify a single reason that would explain why people unite in such informal groups. Obviously, different groups bring different benefits to their members, which is why one person can often be part of several different informal associations. Typical reasons for the entry of people into groups are shown in Table. 4.

It is not only the sum of values, attitudes and beliefs inherent in each member of the group, the principle of addition does not apply here. Group psychology is characterized, rather, by the principle of multiplication, raising individual psychological categories to a power, which gives group psychology, Firstly, intensity, imperiousness, far exceeding the influence of individual psychological influence, and, secondly, an objective, i.e., character that does not depend on the will of individual members of the group. Group norms appear to the individual as an objective factor in the form of pre-established assessment criteria, stereotypes, and patterns of behavior.

A number of studies have noted that the formation of general norms for the group on which the individual depends, and the effect of these norms as factors in the self-regulation of group behavior, should be singled out as an important feature. In other words, psychological dependence individual from the group is the motive for the adoption of norms common to the whole group. This is a key moment in the process of socialization, i.e., the process of assimilation and active reproduction by an individual of social experience, values, beliefs, and socially significant forms of behavior.

Main characteristics social environment one way or another, they are embodied in people. Socio-psychological structures of such social groups as a family, a production group, groups of joint leisure activities, an educational group, a military unit, groups connected by a community of living together, and other forms of direct interaction of people, in the case of a real inclusion of an individual in the system of interpersonal relations in such groups cause the emergence of a serious influence on the person concerned, an influence aimed at ensuring the desired (from the point of view of this social group) behavior.

The psychological structure of the group and the informal leader

Psychological structure group is a complex network of psychological relationships and interdependencies. Separate elements of such a structure are the individual positions occupied by each individual in the process of his self-affirmation in the group. This structure also includes separate small groups that unite individuals according to psychological characteristics.

The psychological structure is also expressed in certain types of relationships that arise between individuals in everyday communication. The psychological structure is derivative, its formation is due to a number of objective and subjective factors. On the other hand, it is itself a factor that has a huge impact on the personality. Because of this, it requires consideration, study and intervention.

The psychological structure of informal groups is characterized by a number of important features. In the course of constant interaction of individuals, their relations begin to be ranked according to their degree of importance for members of the group, intra-group relations acquire a structure based on the degree of preference given to each other by members of such a group. In each group, TCs are inevitably distinguished from their environment, to whom the members of the group give the greatest preference.

The one from among the members of the group, in relation to whom it manifests itself largest number preferences, becomes the leader of a social group. At the other pole of the group structure are those (or that) in relation to whom the smallest number preferences (outcasts). This structure develops spontaneously, but once formed, it begins to largely determine the behavior of its members. The role of the leader of a social group acquires fundamental importance.

The main sign of leadership is the ability to influence the beliefs and activities of group members. The leader of a social group is the one who initiates actions, gives orders, resolves disputes between its members and makes binding decisions on them. The leader approves or disapproves of the actions of group members, encourages or suppresses such actions. Members of a social group act, and often even think and feel, as the leader wishes, succumbing to his influence to a much greater extent than to the influence of any other member of the group.

The activities of formal groups become more effective if the informal groups that inevitably develop within them are focused on achieving the goals of their formal group, and the informal leader either supports the activities of the formal leader of the group, or becomes the official leader himself. Anti-social, criminal groups are informal groups that form spontaneously, and under these conditions, the behavior, significance, and role of their leader (“authority”) is of particular importance.

The psychological structure of the group serves as a powerful catalyst individual behavior, however, depending on the content of the relevant group norms - a catalyst for socially useful or socially harmful forms of behavior. A social group can be characterized by disadvantages of two kinds. So, defects in its external structure are possible. A typical example of such a weakened social group is a family where one of the parents is absent. At the same time, cases are possible when serious defects in the relationships between its members are hidden behind the apparently normal structure of a social norm. Such shortcomings often do not correspond to those socially useful goals that determine the activity of a given social group, deprive relations in this group of their real content, and come into conflict with them.

Group membership polarization

At the dawn of human history, within the framework of the first communities of people, there appeared an awareness of mutual belonging to each other, unity, i.e., the idea of ​​“we” (we are a tribe, we are a clan, we are a family, etc.). It is significant, however, that the notion of "we" arose only when a given community collided with another community and it became necessary to separate itself from any "they". Self-awareness by a group of people as a certain community is accomplished only through opposition given "one's own" community "another", "foreign" community or group. The very concept of "we" is possible only in connection with and in relation to the category "they". “We” is not “they” in the first place. Already after this, there is an awareness and selection of meaningful characteristics inherent in this “we”.

The idea of ​​the difference between “we” and “they” can either reflect an insignificant degree of substantiality, content, or increase up to attributing a qualitative, essential property to such a difference, up to a complete, cardinal (polar) opposition of “us” - “them”, up to to the belief in the existence of a complete difference, an absolute incompatibility of "we" and "them". This difference can be characterized by a certain degree of negativism towards "them" - from relatively neutral to negative and hostile. In the latter case, the categories of good and evil are polarized, and, as is clear, good is “we”, “ours”, and evil is “they”, “not ours”, “alien”. At the same time, “they” can be attributed the role of the source of those troubles and deprivations, the causes of which are unknown or unclear, or (which is very difficult to admit) the source of our troubles is “we” ourselves. In such a situation, the possibility arises, very often realized, of the emergence in the public consciousness of fictional, unreal, imaginary, but sinister “they”, on which the responsibility for all troubles is thrown. Imaginary "they", gaining their place in the public consciousness, gain strength, become a reality in the actions and aspirations of people, fulfilling their social function. This function consists in substituting fictitious "they" where there is a lack of real "they" to form certain social communities and groups.

It is fundamentally important that the community "we" is formed by imitation of the members of this group to each other, as a result of the desire to be similar to one another. The representation of "they" is built by emphasizing the traits attributed to "them", and such traits are accordingly used to unite "us" by forbidding us to imitate "them". The category of "they" is needed to shape and strengthen "us" so that "we" do not act like "they". Being different from those who are "not us" stimulates the semblance of being "among us"; denial, negative attitude towards "them" reinforces the similarity among "us".

Disorganization of social communities and groups

The dynamics of social processes (demographic, migration, urbanization, industrialization) as an undesirable result can have a destructive effect on social groups and communities, lead to their partial disorganization.

The phenomena of disorganization are reflected both in the external (formal) structure of social communities, and in their internal, meaningful, functional characteristics. So, from the outside, the social processes of migration, the development of cities, industry, etc., lead to the disintegration of large families, to the impossibility of preserving the joint family residence of two or three generations, to the replacement of the traditional family by the nuclear family (husband, wife, child); in production groups - to the weakening of professional solidarity (disintegration of guilds); in territorial ones - to the loss of social, ethnic homogeneity, a sense of territorial belonging, an increase in the number of migrants as part of the indigenous population, a violation of the natural balanced age and sex structure.

The disorganization of the functions of such communities is expressed in the loosening of group values, the inconsistency of standards and patterns of behavior, the weakening of the normative structure of the group, which, in turn, leads to an increase in deviations in the behavior of members of communities and social groups. Thus, for 20 regions of Russia with the highest rate of migrant arrivals, there are 18 regions with the highest crime rate.

Disorganization leads to deviations in the behavior of its members in the following cases:

• participation of the individual in various social groups that impose on him conflicting systems of social values ​​and patterns of behavior;
• participation of the individual in disorganized groups, which are characterized by the uncertainty of social roles, social requirements for the individual, the absence public control, unclear criteria for evaluating behavior.

Such phenomena are associated with a weakening of the socio-psychological effect of community, which serves as a means of ensuring intra-group cohesion and mutual understanding, directed against tendencies leading to a violation of community.

Under these conditions, normal social groups are not always able to fulfill a number of their essential functions, i.e., to provide the individual with a consistent, internally consistent system of standards of behavior, a sense of solidarity and belonging to a community, to provide an ordered system of steps of social recognition and prestige. The degree of cohesion of people in social groups, the unity of their position is a value inversely proportional to the number of social deviations. If the degree of unity (integration) of a social group (class, society) grows, then the number of deviations in the behavior of members of this group decreases, and, conversely, an increase in the number of deviations in behavior is an indicator of the weakening of the integration of social groups.

Under these conditions, the ineffectiveness of the influence on the individual of the primary social group, the weakness of the process of his socialization (the inclusion of a person in the system of values ​​and norms of behavior characteristic of society as a whole) leads to an increase in the impact on him of spontaneously emerging groups that oppose themselves to socially recognized values ​​and norms that give to the individual a sense of belonging and group solidarity, however, at the expense of including him in antisocial, criminal activity. These are various criminal gangs, drug user groups, etc.

Personality traits and behavior are especially pronounced in “group” life. And first of all, this is the closest environment of those people with whom a person communicates in Everyday life, family, team, etc.

Small groups include a relatively small number of directly contacting individuals united by common goals and objectives: a family, a work team, a study group, a group of friends, a sports team, etc. A person can simultaneously be a member of several small social groups.

Small group sizes range from 2–3 people to 30–40. The number of 7 ± 2 people is indicated as optimal for the functioning of the group.

Classification of small groups. Small groups are divided into formal arising on the basis of an official decision ( classroom, workforce), and informal arising spontaneously on the basis of personal interests (company of friends).

Allocate groups membership And reference groups. Membership group is a group of which a person considers himself a member. A person does not always share the norms of behavior of the group of which he is a member. Reference group - a group whose norms and values ​​are shared and act according to these norms by the person in question. The reference group may exist in reality, or it may be conditional. A person focuses in his behavior on the reference group, uses it as a standard for comparison with it, evaluation and regulation of his own behavior.

According to the duration of existence, small groups are divided into temporary And stationary.

According to the level of development, the groups are divided into:

Team- a voluntary association of people, characterized by a high level of mediation of interpersonal relations by joint activities and the presence of socially approved goals (for example, a labor collective that has reached socio-psychological maturity).

corporations i- a group that has reached a high level of socio-psychological maturity, but pursuing socially disapproved goals (a highly organized criminal group).

Prosocial association is characterized by a low degree of mediation of interpersonal relations by joint activities and the public nature of goals (for example, a newly created study group).

Asocial association characterized by the antisocial nature of the activity, a low degree of mediation of interpersonal relations by this activity.

diffuse group- a cluster of people who are united only by place and time, there is practically no joint activity (bus passengers).

Dynamic processes in a small group. These include various group processes and phenomena.

group dynamics - the whole set of processes that take place in the life of the group and characterize the movement of the group in time, its development.

Characteristics of group dynamics:

goals and objectives of the group;

group norms;

group structure, group roles, leadership;

group cohesion;

group decision making;

stages and mechanisms of group development.

Goals groups are determined by the system of practical activity the group is included in.

Group norms - standards of behavior shared by members of the group. Compliance with group norms is supported by positive and negative sanctions. Group norms can be documented and exist in an implicit form, they can be conscious and unconscious.

Group norms fulfill functions regulation of the behavior of group members, support of group unity and development of the group.

Conformity- Voluntary change of views or behavior in a situation of imaginary or real pressure. Conformity can be external when the opinion of the group is accepted only externally with internal disagreement (imaginary conformity), and internal when a person truly accepts the opinion of the group. Negativism, that is, action contrary to the opinion and norms of behavior in the group, is not true independence, but conformity with a minus sign.

Conformity is the result regulatory(a person strives to be accepted in a group, and therefore to comply with group norms in order to avoid negative sanctions) and informational(opinion and behavior of others is used as a “hint”) group influence.

The regulatory change process initiates a group minority. This is the part of the group that has less power to influence. A minority in a group can act as a conductor of external social influences.

Structure groups . Each member of the group occupies a certain position in it and, in accordance with this position, has a certain status. Other members of the group expect certain behavior from him. Role there is a normative pattern of behavior due to the position occupied by a person within the group. In the group, you can find such roles as coordinator, idea generator, enthusiast, controller-analyst, profit seeker, performer, hard worker, grinder.

Each group has its own status-role-playing structure. An element of the socio-psychological structure of the group is the leader.

Leadership - a dynamic process in a small group, which is based on the influence of a person's personal authority on other members of the group.

There are a number of different theories of leadership:

Theory crap, from the point of view of which a person with certain personal characteristics (responsibility, activity, education, etc.) becomes a leader.

situational theory, from the point of view of which the leader is a product of the situation. Each situation makes certain demands on the leader. A leader becomes a person who meets these requirements.

Synthetic theory, from the point of view of which the leader is a product of both situations and personality traits.

The leader in the group performs functions coordination of individual actions of its members, stimulation and direction of the activity of the group to solve the problems facing it, maintaining group cohesion. Leadership is often described as an activity identical to leadership. Supervisor is appointed officially, performs management functions, has an official system of sanctions. The leader and the head can coincide in one person.

Cohesion groups - the totality of all forces acting in a group, forcing a person to maintain his membership in the group and experience positive emotions from membership in it. Cohesion characterizes the degree of attractiveness of the group for its members. A close-knit group is characterized by unity of goals, values, cooperation, friendly atmosphere, genuine interest of group members in each other and a desire to help. The presence in the group of a common goal, the coincidence of individual and group goals, interpersonal sympathy, the presence of an external danger in relation to the group, threats and a number of other factors contribute to the growth of group cohesion.

Cohesion is a factor in the effectiveness of the group.

Phenomenology acceptance group solutions includes manifestations such as social facilitation, social inhibition, group risk shift, group polarization, group thinking, social loafing, group discussion, etc.

Social facilitation- improving performance in the presence of other people. Social inhibition- deterioration in performance of the task in the presence of other people. Zajonc has shown that facilitation occurs during lung exercise and inhibition during difficult tasks, which is the dominant response to intrinsic arousal in the presence of other people.

Shift group risk- the adoption by group members during a group discussion of a more risky decision than alone. Group risk shift is a special case group polarization- an increase in the extremeness of opinions in the decision-making process in a group.

grouping thinking(group-think) - the unanimity of the group, in which the members of the group cannot give a realistic assessment of alternative options for action or decision. Group thinking often hinders the adoption of the right decision, reduces the quality of group decisions.

Social laziness(social loafing) - a decrease in the individual contributions of individual members of the group to its activities as the size of the group increases. This is observed if the contribution of each individual to the activities of the group is not evaluated. If a person evaluates his contribution as very small and does not affect the success of the final result of the group's activity, a phenomenon similar in content (free riding) is observed.

Efficiency activities groups . The components of the effectiveness of the group are group productivity and satisfaction from membership in the group. Productivity depends on the potential productivity of the group, its size, the structure of communication in the group, the type of task performed, the style of management, the cohesion of the group, etc. Agreement with the distribution of statuses in the group, approaching the goal, the ability to realize one's potential, sympathy in interpersonal relationships and other factors increase satisfaction an individual by a group.

Main stages development groups :

verification and dependency phase. At this stage, the members of the group are oriented in the nature of each other's actions and the search for mutually acceptable behavior;

"internal conflict". At this stage, there is a violation of interaction, there is a lack of group unity. Each participant in the interaction seeks to impose his opinion, a model of behavior on the group;

development of group cohesion. There are group norms, a commonality of views, etc.;

"functional-role correlation". There is a formation of the status-role structure of the group, the distribution of tasks.

Mechanisms group speakers

Permission intragroup contradictions. Contradictions constantly arise in the group between the capabilities of the group and its actual activities, between the desire of group members for self-affirmation and the tendencies to integrate the individual with the group, between individual needs and group goals, etc. The aggravation of these contradictions is a source of intragroup conflicts, the resolution of which leads to development groups.

Idiosyncratic credit is a socio-psychological phenomenon when members of a group allow individuals with high status to deviate from group norms if such a deviation contributes to the solution of the tasks facing the group and, accordingly, the development of the group.

Psychological exchange, a variation of which is value exchange. Personal characteristics of a person, knowledge, skills, skills that are significant for group activity can act as values.

socially-psychological climate is an integral characteristic of the group. socially- psychologicalclimategroups- a stable mental state of the group, reflecting the characteristics of its life. This is a set of conditions that promote or hinder productive group activity and the comprehensive development of the individual in the group. This is a qualitative characteristic of interpersonal relations in a group, a system of relations between group members to the conditions, nature, content of joint activities, to the leader and other members of the group.

Favorable the socio-psychological climate is characterized by trust, goodwill in relationships, mutual understanding, free expression by group members of their opinions and respect for the opinions of others, constructive criticism, a sense of security, optimism, confidence, satisfaction from group membership. Adverse the socio-psychological climate is characterized by tension in relations between members of the group, conflict, the prevalence of depressed mood, dissatisfaction with membership in the group. A favorable psychological climate is a condition for the effectiveness of the group.

Factors affecting the socio-psychological climate: the nature of interpersonal relationships, the personality of the leader and the style and methods of management he implements, psychological compatibility, the presence of microgroups, the nature of the interaction between them, the influence of the external social environment, as well as the physical microclimate, etc.

Psychological compatibility- the ability of group members to perform joint activities. The basis of psychological compatibility is the optimal combination of the psychological characteristics of the participants in the interaction according to the principle of their similarities or complementarity. There are four levels of compatibility: physical, psycho-physiological, psychological, socio-psychological.

Psychophysiological the level of compatibility is based on the optimal combination of the features of the analyzer system and the properties of temperament. Psychological level implies compatibility of characters, motives, types of behavior. socially-psychological the level of compatibility is based on the consistency of social roles, social attitudes, value orientations, interests. Psychological compatibility is facilitated by self-criticism, tolerance and trust in relation to the interaction partner.

sociometric structure groups characterizes the subordination of the positions of individuals in the system of intragroup interpersonal preferences. We are talking about the informal structure of the group, the structure of interpersonal emotional contacts: likes, dislikes, preferences in the group. The concept of the sociometric structure of a group is associated with the name of J. Moreno, the author of the widely known sociometric methodology. The methodology is intended for research in a group of interpersonal relationships of an informal type. It allows you to establish the position of the individual in the group, the presence of microgroups in the structure of the group under study, the presence of conflict, tension in relations, the degree of group cohesion, the motivational structure of relations. Procedurally, sociometric research is carried out by posing indirect questions, answering which the participants make a consistent choice of the members of the group preferred in the situation described by the question. The sociometric status of a person is determined by the number of choices received by him in the group. The most popular and sympathetic are “ stars". There are also categories preferred, ignored, isolated And rejected group members.