WHAT IS PYSHCOLOGY ?

Psychology is a broad discipline which seeks to analyze the human mind. Different disciplines
within this field study why people behave, think, and feel the way they do. There are many
different ways to approach psychology, from examining biology's role in mental health to the
role of the environment on behavior. Some psychologists focus only on how the mind develops,
while others counsel patients to help improve their daily lives.

Psychology is the science of mind and behavior . Its immediate goal is to understand humanity by both
discovering general principles and exploring specific cases, and its ultimate aim is to benefit society. In
this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and can be classified as a
social scientist, behavioral scientist, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of
mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the physiological and
neurobiological processes that underlie certain functions and behaviors.

The word "psychology" is the combination of two terms - study (ology) and soul (psyche), or
mind. The derivation of the word from Latin gives it this clear and obvious meaning:

"The study of the soul or mind.”

Social psychology – Definition

Social psychology is the study of the nature and causes of human social behavior. As the mind is the
axis around which social behavior pivots, social psychologists tend to study the relationship between
mind(s) and social behaviors.

Psychological theories emphasized instincts, drives, motives, temperament, intelligence, and

human sociability in social behaviour and societal evolution. Social psychology modifies these
concepts to explain the broader phenomena of social interaction or small group behaviour.
Although American sociology even today retains an individualistic (and therefore psychological)
bias, by the 1930s sociologists had concluded that psychological factors alone could not explain
the behaviour of larger groups and societies.

THE FACTORS :

 Focuses on individual behaviour

 Tries to undertsnad causes of social behaviour and thought in terms of folloeing factors

 Actoon and characteristic of others

 Cognitive process ( memory and resoning)

 Ecological variable

 Cultural context
  Biological/genetic factor

List of Branches of Psychology

There are 10 main branches of psychology:

Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal psychology is the study of certain behavioral abnormalities in a person's psyche. Like,
neuroses, psychoses and mental retardation. Hypnosis and mesmerism are often used for treatment in
this branch of psychology. Abnormal psychology is one of the most basic forms of psychology study, and is
taught in Law and Human Resource Management studies as well.

Example - "Jenna was a normal girl. She had a twin brother, and the two of them were the best of friends.
At the age of 13 Jenna's brother, Albert, died due to a car crash. Post the accident, Jenna, who was once
a vivacious and popular girl, became very shy. She barely had any friends, and gave up hope in life. Her
grades started to fall and she started avoiding people and clung to her family all the time. Further
psychoanalysis showed that Jenna was showing early signs of fear of abandonment".

Behavioral Psychology
Behavioral psychology is the more popular term used for behavioral neuroscience, or biopsychology, or
psychobiology. It studies the mental processes and the behavioral patterns of humans as well as non-
human subjects. Behavioral psychology basically studies the behavior of an individual (human or
otherwise) to gage the psychological state of that individual. Treatment is this branch of psychology is
more physical, like electrolytic lesions and chemical lesions. This branch of psychology is more
concerned with the physical functioning of the brain and its cells.

Example - "David was a normal 18 year old. He loved partying and loved spending time with his
boyfriend. Yes, David was gay. For this fact David faced a lot of opposition from his parents. They
insulted him and the family had arguments on a daily basis. Due to this fact, David found solace in
smoking marijuana. Soon he was addicted to it, and could not function without it. Sadly, David died at the
age of 20, of a drug overdose." Read more on addiction.

Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology that is the scientific study of the prevention,
understanding and the relieving of psychologically based issues. Psychological assessment and
psychotherapy are the means of treatment used in this field of psychology. Nonetheless, clinical
psychology also stresses a great deal on research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and
program development and administration. It is also referred to as counseling psychology. So, one can say
that clinical psychologists are the general practitioners of the psychology field.

Example - "Hannah was a working mom. She and her husband had a very long, but extremely
dysfunctional marriage. When he divorced her, Hannah was left with the responsibility of two children.
Which meant, longer hours at office, exams, dance recitals, PTA meeting, basketball games and the odds
and evens. This left Hannah with no time to meet anyone, chill out and de-stress. Soon, Hannah was
found losing her temper at her kids and slacking off at work. One of her colleagues suggested that she
see a clinical psychologist. A month into psychotherapy, Hannah has started to get her peace of mind
back!"

Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that deals with the internal mental processes of thought
such as visual processing, memory, problem solving, and language. It basically looks over the information
processing functioning of the brain. So, it looks into concepts like perception, aging, memory, emotions,
decision-making, etc. It is the one of the most recent branches of psychology.

Example - (I will not be able to give a very generic example of cognitive psychology as it is mostly used in
accompaniment with behavioral or any other branch of psychology.)

Community Psychology
Community psychology studies the psychology of individuals and the dynamics in a community. It studies
the concepts of diplomacy, etc, that are characteristic to community oriented behavior. It studies
adaptation, cycling, succession and interdependence. It helps a community understand empowerment,
social justice, citizen participation, etc. It is also referred to as critical psychology.

Example - "Jason, Joshua and Janet were members of a social service group that facilitated mindset
altering in conservative regions. They were community psychologists, and took up the challenge of
reducing occurrences of female infanticide in a small village in India. After a year of educating the men as
well as the women in the village, they started a project on woman empowerment, and later took the step
into stopping female infanticide. After 5 long years of working, thanks to their understanding of the
community psychology, they succeeded at bringing about massive change in the mindset of the people in
the village."

Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology is the study of the systematic changes that occur in a human being and his
psyche over the course of life. It is also concerned with early child development and care. Each individual
goes through certain changes during their life. Developmental psychology is the branch of psychology
that studies this progression and helps understand these changes, their causes and effects, better.

Example - "Marianne and Thomas had a child. They were elated the day their son Matthew was born.
However, Matthew was not like other children. He was always happy, but showed reluctance to learn. He
did not start speaking till he was a year old, that too in incomprehensible terms. Marianne then figured
that she rather consult a developmental psychologist, who identified the problem as advanced dyslexia
and started treatment on the child. By the time Matthew was 5 years old, he was just as capable as any
other child out there."

Educational Psychology
Educational psychology is the branch of psychology that is used in educational institutions. It deals with
learning disorders, "gifted" students, peer pressure, adolescence, sex education in children, etc.
Educational psychologists are mostly the school counselors. Educational psychology is also referred to as
school psychology. It comes in handy in colleges as well. It basically concentrates on student life.

Example - "Henry was a typical school bully. He spent most of his week after school in detention. Henry
was also a straight-A student. He was good at basketball but never went for the try outs. Henry was a
senior and never had a girlfriend. He had a "gang" of "peeps" however, he never called them friends.
After a year of weekly sessions with the educational psychologist at school, it was discovered that Henry
was suffering from extremely low self esteem, which is masked off as a superiority complex." .

 School Psychology – the combined principles of educational

psychology and clinical psychology in understanding and treating students with learning
difficulties and disabilities. As well as to encourage intellectual growth to every gifted students.

 Comparative Psychology – the focal point of this studies are the

behavior and mental process of animal compare to human beings.

 Counseling Psychology – it performs personal and interpersonal

operations in a person’s being wherein the main concern are the emotional, social, vocational,
educational, health-related, developmental and organizational areas.

 Industrial/ Organization Psychology – it is more related to

optimizing human’s potentiality in the work place.

 Developmental Psychology – concentrating on the growth and

development of the human mind in its entire existence. It also tries to find reasons and to
comprehend why people perceive, understand and act and how these stages alter as they
grow.

 Forensic Psychology – deal with a lot of practices basically

including clinical evaluations of defendants, statements to judges and attorneys and courtroom
testimony at provided issues.

 Health Psychology – the method of applying psychological theory

and studies to health, disease and health care. It is concerned with health-related behavior
 involving healthy diet, the doctor-patient relationship the patient’s comprehension regarding
health information and viewpoint about illness.

 Child Psychology – studies about the child’s growth and

development involving the stages of the social, emotional, mental and physical progress.

 Psychology of Creativity – it mainly involves new discoveries and

usually resulted from different way of thinking.

 Psychology of Beauty – how an individual perceive and

appreciates the beauty of other people and the things around him.

 Animal Psychology – how the animal respond to a stimuli in a trial

and error process. Their responds to this method determines their behavior.

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY ?

Sociology is the “study of human society.” For the examination, you need to know a number of
concepts and terms used in the subject. There are three main areas you need to consider;

Sociology is both topically and methodologically a very broad discipline. Its traditional focuses
have included social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, law, and deviance. As
all spheres of human activity are sculpted by social structure and individual agency, sociology
has gradually expanded its focus to further subjects, such as health, military and penal
institutions, the Internet, and even the role of social activity in the development of scientific
knowledge.

The range of social scientific methods has also broadly expanded. Social researchers draw upon
a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The linguistic and cultural turns of the mid-
twentieth century led to increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic, and philosophic approaches to
the analysis of society. Conversely, recent decades have seen the rise of new analytically,
mathematically and computationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and
social network analysis.

 Social structures (e.g. the family, education, social stratification, etc.)

 Social systems (e.g. culture and identity, agents of social control, etc.)
 Social issues (e.g. the causes of crime, the impact of unemployment, etc.)

DIFFERENCE BWTWEEN SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL PYSCHOLOGY:

 Studies of Psychology and Sociology, both are meant to benefit individuals and
individuals/communities within society which inevitably would benefit the society as a whole. Personal
perception of the Difference between Psychology and Sociology is that Psychology is optomistic
(believing in a "cure") in that the individual may be helped so that the inidividual may function
independently in personal relationships and within the communtiy appropriately. It seems as though
Sociology, much needed, intervenes and assists individuals and families through the hardships and crises
they face through continuous support as needed or deemed necessary. Simply, Psychology may be
perceived as a goal toward independence, while Sociology might be perceived as the support necessary
to sustain families and society. This is not to say the Sociology does not provide programs of support
toward independence. It does. One example being parenting classes. Etiology is of importance to both,
Psychology and Sociology. Sociology is a part of group behaviour and social pyshchology is individual.
Both of then study close relationships . Solcial studies about the general trend in a relationship and
social pyschology studies about how people get attracted towards eachother.Social psychology analysis
on the studies of how social attitude develops and sociology studies about the social attitude in people.

The three concepts of pyschology are :

Social Thinking :
 How we percieve ourself and others
 What we believe
 Judgement we make
 Our attitude

Social Influence

 Culture and biology

 Pressure to conform
 Persuaasionession
 Groups of people

Social Relations
 Emotions
 Prejudice
 Agression
 Attraction and intimacy
 Helping

EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL PYSCHOLOGY:

 The evolution is divided into three parts.
The first part starts from 1900- 1930
The second part starts from 1940-1960
The rest was from 1970- 1990
The first part was about the gaines momentum- they thought only instincts cannot
be a base for finding out stuff .by ALPORT , CURT LEWIN – he escaped from
the nasi .
The second part was all about underlying the human behaviour in various ways .

Which mainly lead to the development of the theory of cognitive dissonance.This included some
members like Festinger.

The third and final part was about the ATTRIBUTIIN THERORY ( social perception).

It is a process through which we speak to understand the causes of others behaviour .

Perceptual error is an hallo effect and sterotype effect are part if the theory .

COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE APPROACH : This involves efforts to apply basic knowledege

about cognitive process such as memory and reasoning to the task of understanding apsects of
social thought and beahviour .cognitive factors – attitudes, beliefs and inferences in social
behaviour .

COGNITIVE APPROACH :

 Cognitive psychology differs from the older, behaviorist approach to human behavior.
Behaviorists believe that all people are essentially the same at birth, but their personality
is affected and formed by environmental factors and outside stimuli. They also believe
that behavior can be permanently altered by changing the environment and stimuli.
Behaviorism views people as blank slates passively reacting to their surroundings.
 The cognitive approach, on the other hand, considers thought processes as the primary
determinant of behavior. These thought processes include reasoning, intelligence,
memory, attention, and sensory perception. Language and how it is used in mental
processing is also considered. This approach builds on behaviorism by assuming that
people’s behavior is a result of external stimuli, but that the way our minds actively
process our environment is what determines behavior and personality.

Key Assumptions

 Human behaviour can be explained as a set of scientific processes.

 Our behaviour can be explained as a series of responses to external stimuli.
 Behaviour is controlled by our own thought processes, as opposed to genetic factors.
Evaluation of the Cognitive Approach
A viable approach which has been used to create the multi-store model of memory processes,
supported by many other experiments.
Easily combined with other approaches. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is a popular and successful
form of treatment for issues such as obsessive compulsive disorder.
Takes into account the internal, invisible thought processes that affect our behaviour, unlike the
behavioural approach.
Depends largely on controlled experiments to observe human behaviour, which may lack ecological
validity (being compared to real-life behaviour).
Does not take into account genetic factors; for example hereditary correlations of mental disorders.

Reductionist to an extent, although case studies are taken into account, the behavioural approach
attempts to apply the scientific view to human behaviour, which may be argued to be unique to each
individual.

Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of unpleasant arousal caused by noticing an inconsistency
among one's cognitions. These contradictory cognitions may be attitudes, beliefs, or ones
awareness of his or her behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people
have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Cognitive
dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social
psychology.

Cognitive dissonance theory was originally developed as a theory of attitude change, but it
is now considered to be a theory of the self-concept by many social psychologists.
Dissonance is strongest when a discrepancy has been noticed between one's self-concept
and one's behavior, e.g. doing something that makes one ashamed. This can result in self-
justification as the individual attempts to deal with the threat. Cognitive dissonance typically
leads to a change in attitude, a change in behavior, a self-affirmation, or a rationalization of
the behavior.

An example of cognitive dissonance is smoking. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of

cancer, which is threatening to the self-concept of the individual who smokes. Most of us
believe ourselves to be intelligent and rational, and the idea of doing something foolish and
self-destructive causes dissonance. To reduce this uncomfortable tension, smokers tend to
make excuses for themselves, such as "I'm going to die anyway, so it doesn't matter." In
philosophy, the question of how an agent is affected by reason over impulse is known as the
problem of akrasia. By comparison, some philosophers of practical reason postulate "higher
order desires" (which was coined by Harry Frankfurt) to analyze the disagreement with self
that is also identified as cognitive dissonance.

Attitude
The posture, action, or disposition of a figure or a statue.
The posture or position of a person or an animal, or the manner in which the parts of his
body are disposed; position assumed or studied to serve a purpose; as, a threatening
attitude; an attitude of entreaty.

Fig.: Position as indicating action, feeling, or mood; as, in times of trouble let a
nation preserve a firm attitude; one's mental attitude in respect to religion.
There are three components of attitude.

1: Cognitive component:

It refers that's part of attitude which is related in general know how of a person, for example, he
says smoking is injurious to health. Such type of idea of a person is called cognitive component
of attitude.

2: Effective component:

This part of attitude is related to the statement which affects another person. For example, in an
organization a personal report is given to the general manager. In report he point out that the
sale staff is not performing their due responsibilities. The general manager forwards a written
notice to the marketing manager to negotiate with the sale staff.

3: Behavioral Component:

The behavioral component refers to that part of attitude which reflects the intension of a person
in short run or in long run.
For example, before the production and launching process the product. Report is prepared by
the production department which consists of there intention in near future and long run and
this report is handed over to top management for the decision.
Some of us may believe that the attitude can be masked to befool others but the cover-ups do
not last long. There is a constant struggle as attitude tries to wriggle its way out.

A hardened attitude is like a dreadful disease. It causes a closed mind and a dark future. It is
the positive attitude that is conductive to growth and leads us towards progress. Our attitude
is the primary force, which will determine our success or failure in life.

For some of us there may be a difficulty in very opportunity and for others there may be an
opportunity in every difficulty. The difference is because of our attitude. Hence we need to
explore its importance.

The best way to test our attitude is to answer this question: “ Do we feel that the world treats
us well?” If we have a positive attitude towards the world, we will receive an excellent
response from ourself. If our attitude is negative then it means that we have built a wall of
discontent all around us with our own hands. The world doesn’t care whether we break this
wall or not. It marches on. Adopting a positive attitude towards life does not affect the society
nearly so much as it affects us. The change cannot come from others. It has to come from us.
It is impossible to tailor make the situations according to our environment but it is possible to
 tailor make our attitude to fit ourselves in the situation.

Why are attitudes important?

 Attitudes serve as one way to organize our relationship with our world. They make
our interactions more predictable affording us a degree of control.
For example, the attitude “I like working for this company” is very useful in guiding
our behavior towards the company’s work.
 
 Attitudes also enable us to reduce the vast amount of information that we possess
into manageable units. All the beliefs we have about our company could be
summarized as “I like my company”, and thus our attitude represents the
combination of many bits of information for us.
 
 We can use others attitudes to make judgments about them.
 
 It has been found consistently that the more similar our attitudes are to those of
others, the more we like them.
 
 Finally, people’s attitudes can sometimes be useful in predicting behavior, such as
how they will vote in an election or which brand of car they will buy.

How are attitudes formed?

Attitudes may be learned from the experiences we have. These include mostly mundane
events such as being praised by our parents for expounding “liberal” attitudes, but also
major life and world events. 

The basic processes through which we learn attitudes remain the same throughout life,
though as we grow older the attitudes we learn may be more complex, and the ones we
already hold may become more resistant to change.

The processes through which our experiences create attitudes are all related to “learning”
which is a basic human process. We will learn more about learning processes in the chapter
6 of this module. 

As for now just keep in mind that all our attitudes are learned from our experience of the
social context around us.
The influence of the family, schooling, and peer groups waxes and wanes as we grow into
adolescence and adulthood. 

Thus, the primary sources of our attitudes change as we mature. A final source of attitudes
is the culture in which a child grows up. Culturally prevalent prejudices are generally
reflected in prejudiced attitudes.

 
Structure of Attitudes

Attitudes structure can be described in terms of three components.

o Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object.
For example: “I am scared of spiders”.

o Behavioural (or conative) component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or
behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.

o Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For
example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.

This model is known as the ABC model of attitudes. The three components are usually linked.
However, there is evidence that the cognitive and affective components of behaviour do not
always match with behaviour. This is shown in a study by LaPiere (1934).

The Function of Attitudes

Attitudes can serve functions for the individual. Daniel Katz (1960) outlines four functional areas:

• Knowledge. Attitudes provide meaning (knowledge) for life. The knowledge function refers to
our need for a world which is consistent and relatively stable. This allows us to predict what is
likely to happen, and so gives us a sense of control. Attitudes can hep us organise and structure
our experience. Knowing a person’s attitude helps us predict their behaviour. For example,
knowing that a person is religious we can predict they will go to Church.

• Self / Ego-expressive. The attitudes we express (1) help communicate who we are and (2)
may make us feel good because we have asserted our identity. Self-expression of attitudes can be
non-verbal too: think bumper sticker, cap, or T-shirt slogan. Therefore, our attitudes are part of
our identify, and help us to be aware through expression of our feelings, beliefs and values.

• Adaptive. If a person holds and/or expresses socially acceptable attitudes, other people will
reward them with approval and social acceptance. For example, when people flatter their bosses
or instructors (and believe it) or keep silent if they think an attitude is unpopular. Again,
expression can be nonverbal [think politician kissing baby]. Attitudes then, are to do with being
apart of a social group and the adaptive functions helps us fit in with a social group. People seek
out others who share their attitudes, and develop similar attitudes to those they like.

• The ego-defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-esteem or that
justify actions that make us feel guilty. For example, one way children might defend themselves
against the feelings of humiliation they have experienced in P.E. lessons is to adopt a strongly
negative attitude to all sport. People whose pride has suffered following a defeat in sport might
similarly adopt a defensive attitude: “I’m not bothered, I’m sick of rugby anyway…”. This
function has psychiatric overtones. Positive attitudes towards ourselves, for example, have a
protective function (i.e. an ego-defensive role) in helping us reserve our self-image.

The basic idea behind the functional approach is that attitudes help a person to mediate between
their own inner needs (expression, defence) and the outside world (adaptive and knowledge).

Functions of Attitudes Example

Imagine you are very patriotic about being British. This might cause you to have an ethnocentric
attitude towards everything not British. Imagine further that you are with a group of like-minded
friends. You say:

“Of course there’s no other country as good as Britain to live in. Other places are alright in their
own way but they can’t compare with your mother county.”

Conceiving of a group as a dynamic whole should include a definition of group that is based on
interdependence of the members (or better, the subparts of the group). Kurt Lewin (1951: 146)

Co-operation means :

Co-operation in group:
Co-operation has an impact on individuals working together in several key areas.
Not only it does it create more fluid leadership but it allows everyone to participate
actively without fear of censure.
Co-operative individuals are better adjusted psychologically and physically
healthier than their more competitive counter-parts.

PERSUASION:
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding oneself or another toward
the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always
logical) means. Relationship based persuasion.

Step 1: Survey your situation

This step includes an analysis of the persuader's situation, goals, and challenges that he faces in
his organization.
Step 2: Confront the five barriers
Five obstacles pose the greatest risks to a successful influence encounter: relationships,
credibility, communication mismatches, belief systems, interest and needs.

Step 3: Make your pitch

People need a solid reason to justify a decision, yet at the same time many decisions are made on
the basis of intuition. This step also deals with presentation skills.

Step 4: Secure your commitments

In order to safeguard the longtime success of a persuasive decision, it is vital to deal with politics
at both the individual and organizational level.

The topic of persuasion has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Persuasion is an
active method of influence that attempts to guide people toward the adoption of an attitude, idea,
or behavior by rational or emotive means. Persuasion relies on "appeals" rather than strong
pressure or coercion. Numerous variables have been found to influence the persuasion process,
and these are normally presented in four major categories: Who said what to whom and how.

1. The Communicator, including credibility, expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness

2. The Message, including varying degrees of reason, emotion (such as fear), one-sided or two
sided arguments, and other types of informational content
3. The Audience, including a variety of demographics, personality traits, and preferences
4. The Channel, including the printed word, radio, television, the internet, or face-to-face
interactions

Dual process theories of persuasion (such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model) maintain that
the persuasive process is mediated by two separate "routes." Persuasion can be accomplished by
either superficial aspects of the communication or the internal logic of the message. Whether
someone is persuaded by a popular celebrity or factual arguments are largely determined by the
ability and motivation of the audience. However, decades of research have demonstrated that
deeply held attitudes are remarkably resistant to persuasion under normal circumstances.

THE ADVERTISEMNT WHICH PERUSADED THE MOST:

THE advertisement which persuaded me was the keloogs diet challenge for two weeks which
the ad attracted me to loose weight in two weeks by just eating kellogs twice a day in morning
and night . I got that and have used it . I have lost weight too ..

Propaganda

Propaganda is also closely related to Persuasion. It's a concerted set of messages aimed at
influencing the opinions or behavior of large numbers of people. Instead of impartially providing
information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its
audience. The most effective propaganda is often completely truthful, but some propaganda
presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order
to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired
result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience. The term
'propaganda' first appeared in 1622 when Pope Gregory XV established the Sacred Congregation
for Propagating the Faith. Propaganda was then as now about convincing large numbers of
people about the veracity of a given set of ideas. Propaganda is as old as people, politics and
religion.

GROUP BEHAVIOUR:

THE DEFINITION:

According to Dr. Paul B. Paulus (1989): A group consists of two or more interacting people
who share a common goals, have a stable relationship, are somehow inter –dependent, and
perceive.

Generally there can be three types of groups:

a) When a number of people are sitting together or walking together.

b) When a group of people are spoken about as mere classification. E.g. tax evaders or black
marketers.

c) Finally, when we speak of a number of people who are members of an organization who
have a definite common purpose or goal and who also have a sense of belonging with one
another.

But as far as psychology is concerned only groups one and three are dealt with as only these
groups involve any form of social interaction.

But even then people who just sit together or walk together do not develop a sense of social
belonging to one another unless they actually interact with one another.

NATURE OF GROUP :

Members of a group interact with each other.

Members of a group are inter – dependent on each other either directly or indirectly.

Members of a group share a stable relationship with one another.

Members of a same group share common goals.

Members of a group share a structured interaction.

All Members must feel a part of the group

Properties of Groups
 There are two attributes of a group:

A group includes only people who share some norms and values about something.

A group also consists of people with inter – related social roles.

Why do people join groups?

To satisfy important psychological and sociological needs (the need to give and receive
attention, the feeling of being needed, etc.).

To achieve common goals.

Groups provide us with knowledge and information.

Groups meet the need for social security.

Groups help in establishment of social identity

Types of Groups:
Transitory Group

Recurrent Group

Formal Group

Informal Group

In Group

Out Group

Command Group

Task Group

Functional Group

Interest Group

Friendship Group

Reference Group

Primary Group:
 Families, for example. They commonly last for years. They are small and display face-to-
face interaction.

A primary group is a typically small social group whose members share a close, personal,
enduring relationship. These groups are marked by members’ concern for one another
and shared activities and culture. One does not choose to be a part of such groups. This
group plays an important role in the development of personal identity. A primary group is
a group in which one exchanges implicit items, such as love, caring, concern, animosity,
support, and such. Examples, of these would be family groups, love relationships, crisis
support groups, church groups and such. Relationships formed in primary groups are
often long-lasting and goals in themselves. They also are often psychologically
comforting to the individuals involved and provide a source of support and
encouragement.

Secondary Groups:
They may last for years or may disband after a short time. The formation of primary groups
happens within secondary groups.

Primary groups can be present in secondary settings. For example, attending a university
exemplifies membership of a secondary group, while the friendships that are made there would
be considered a primary group that you belong to. Likewise, some businesses care deeply about
the well being of one another, while some immediate families have hostile relations within it.

Secondary Groups:

They may last for years or may disband after a short time. The formation of primary groups
happens within secondary groups.

Primary groups can be present in secondary settings. For example, attending a university
exemplifies membership of a secondary group, while the friendships that are made there would
be considered a primary group that you belong to. Likewise, some businesses care deeply about
the well being of one another, while some immediate families have hostile relations within it.

Transitory Group:

When several people happen to be in same place at the same time, but who may never be again.
Their interaction is minimal.

Recurrent Group

When the members of a group meet regularly from time to time.

Formal Group:

A formal group has rules and regulations, scheduled meeting time, roles assigned to members,
and has membership.

Informal Group:

An informal group lacks the formality of formal group. It has no rules and regulations.

Command Group:

Command groups are specified by the organizational chart and often consist of a supervisor and
the subordinates that report to that supervisor.

Task Group

Task groups consist of people who work together to achieve a common task. Members are
brought together to accomplish a narrow range of goals within a specified time period.

Functional Group:

A functional group is created by the organization to accomplish specific goals within an

unspecified time frame. Functional groups remain in existence after achievement of current goals
and objectives.

Interest Group:

Interest groups usually continue over time and may last longer than general informal
groups. Members of interest groups may not be part of the same organizational
department but they are bound together by some other common interest.

GROUP MORALE

It is one of the most important characteristics of a group.

Group Morale refers to the level of group functioning, unity and solidarity of the
group.

There can be two types of Morale : “High Morale” or “Low Morale”.

Group Cohesiveness

 Cohesiveness – the extent that group members are attracted to each other and to the
group values and accept group goals

 It is the pressure on the individual member to remain active in the group and resist
leaving it
  As the cohesiveness of a work group increases, the level of conformity to group
norms also increases

Group Cohesiveness: Sources of Attraction to a Group(1 of 2)

1. The goals of the group and the members are compatible and clearly specified

2. The group has a charismatic leader

3. The reputation of the group indicates that the group successfully accomplishes its tasks

4. The group is small enough to permit members to have their opinions heard and evaluated
by others

5. The members support one another and help one another overcome obstacles and barriers
to personal growth and development

6. GROUP MORALEMorale is the state of mind or attitude of an individual or group

towards the work and environment i.e. towards the superior, fellow members of the
group and goals of the organization as well as the task assigned.  A favorable
attitude is an indication of high morale, while an unfavorable attitude indicates low
morale.

FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP MORALE

Advancement and promotional opportunity:  An organization in which capable employees

have opportunities of advancement in their career through promotion is highly preferred by
ambitious people.  The scope of promotion to position of higher responsibility and
remuneration is a positive factor that determines the morale of employees.Living Conditions
and health: The living conditions of employees which contribute to the physical and mental
health also affect morale indirectly.  People who live under satisfactory conditions naturally
have a better attitude in relation to their work.Working Environment: Conditions in the
work place have of course a direct impact on morale.  Provision for safety, health care, and
welfare of employees help a great deal in building up their morale.
HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT 2: GLOSSARY
RICHITA NICHANI
0908132