ABSTRACT
Why study groups? The answer is simple-it isimpossible to understand human behavior without considering the role that groups play in people’s lives. Most people belong to an array of informal and formal groups that influence them in both obvious and subtle ways. These groups include families, friendship cliques, work crews, sports teams, bridge clubs, bible study circles, therapy groups, and so on. Many (perhaps most) daily activities are carried out in such groups, which are not only important in their own right, but also connect people to larger social institutions, such as business organizations and religious denominations. In many cases, group influence is easy to recognize, as when an air crew responds to an in-flight emergency or a gang attacks someone from a rival gang. These examples involve coordinated responses by people with common goals, so it seems obvious that they cannot be adequately understood by analyzing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of isolated individuals. But in other cases, observers may be fooled into thinking they have been seeing a strictly individual phenomenon, when in fact that phenomenon was heavily influenced by past or present group experience. Examples include such diverse behaviors as using a slang expression, choosing a hair style, smoking a cigarette, and working hard in school.
