The Foundations of Group Behavior

Reference groups are actual or imaginary individual or group that significantly influences an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behavior. Reference group influences us in three ways: informational, utilitarian, and value-expressive. The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an American non-profit organization, which backs for gun rights. NRA has been acknowledging its members about gun-related bills. NRA has also been directly promoted against legislation.

The author of this piece is Dr. Gordon Allport. He is the former head of Harvard’s Department of Psychology as well as the founding father of social psychology. Allport published many books including The Nature of Prejudice (1954). The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that in-groups are everywhere and identity is based on our in-groups. This essay is an excerpt from the book The Nature of Prejudice in 1954 and is a credible source because the principles Allport discussed are still studied by psychologists and researchers today. In the essay, Allport speaks of reference groups and how it relates to in-groups. According to Allport reference groups are the group that an individual wishes to be apart of, but an in-group is

Whether groups are formed for social or task oriented purposes, the ability to produce and maintain a sense of affiliation, peer support and collaboration is important for overall group functioning. The cohesion of a social group is produced through the establishment of a set of group norms, which are later defined as a guide for conduct accepted within a group of individuals. However, in order for a group to perform and produce results, the team leader should guide his/her team through the proper stages of group development, which includes the following steps: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Although teams should follow all these stages of group development, the forming and the norming stages are the most important,

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2015). Organizational behavior (16th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. (Note: Refer to Chapter 3)

Company X is committed to providing education for each employee to report unethical behavior and resolve conflicts without fear of retaliation. One such example would be the need to report employee theft. Employee theft is not only unethical but could also be criminal in nature. Regardless of employee status (entry level or upper management), each employee should feel it their responsibility to report any unethical behavior they observe. Employee theft can range from theft of money, time, office supplies or merchandise to providing proprietary information to unauthorized entities. These activities can result in a negative public image of Company X and should be reported as quickly as possible. Prior to reporting such offenses, each employee should ensure the accuracy of the evidence they will be reporting. There are various methods to report such abuses including but not limited to an anonymous toll free hot line number, verbal or electronic reporting to the local Human Resources office and the open door policy which encourages employees to approach members of management without the fear of

As stated in "You May Ask Yourself" by Dalton Conley a reference group is defined as "a group that helps us understand or make sense of our position in society relative to other groups"(Conley 161). There are many reference groups that we all encounter and compare ourselves to everyday without even noticing that we are doing so. This groups can include classmates, clubs, teammates(if you play or played a sport), and many other groups that we could encounter on a daily basis. I found that I would often use the goalies on the opposing teams as a reference group to judge my performance as a lacrosse goalie. In doing this I either left a game feeling great, or

The contents of this assignment will include multiple psychological theories to explain what ways an individual’s behaviour changes when he/she is part of a group. These theories will define social influence, conformity procedures within groups and social cognition, including the self-categorisation theory. Social groups are used in everyday living to represent beliefs, to work, play and to socialise. Groups can have a negative effect on an individual. Not been part of a group due to exclusion or stereotyping can create a negative effect.

A reference group is any person or group that serves as a point of comparison (or reference) for an individual in forming either general or specific values, attitudes, or a specific guide for behavior. They help us understand the impact of other people on an individual’s consumption beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. It helps marketers choose their methodology to affect desired changes in consumer behavior. From a marketing perspective, reference groups are groups that serve as frames of reference for individuals in their purchase or consumption decisions. Reference groups that influence general or broadly defined values or behavior are called normative reference groups. Reference groups that serve as benchmarks for specific or narrowly

Hersey, P., & Blachard, K. (1982). Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Reference groups sometimes have the same meaning as in-groups. This is mostly when the reference group accepts the individual. An example of this is when a black wants to be part of the white majority, and isnt able to because of his color and affiliation with the black in-group. This is brought on by the demand for people color to adapt to white culture. In doing so, people of color are forced to rid themselves of taking pride in their ethnicity and culture. By doing this, a person of color may develop self-hate for themselves as individual or for their group. The minority group member is forced to make the dominant majority his reference group in respect to language, manners, morals, and law. He may be entirely loyal to his minority in-group, but he is at the same time always under the necessity of relating himself to the standards and expectations of the majority (Allport 95). The dominant majority is for him a reference group. It exerts a strong pull upon him, forcing attitudinal conformity. Thus, both in-groups and reference groups are important in the formation of attitudes (Allport 97).

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th Edition). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.

We as humans tend to relate to those that are similar to us, and tend to alienate those that we deem as different than us. Whether it is by race, gender, culture, or religion, it is something that is almost always present in human interactions, and often times can be completely subconscious. In our textbook Interpersonal Communication by Kory Floyd, an ingroup is defined as “A group of people with whom one identifies.” An outgroup is conversely defined as “A group of people whom one does not identify.” Henri Tajfel first coined this terminology while he was working to devise his social identity theory. These ideas of classifying people into ingroups and outgroups can lead to many

Baldwin, T. T., Bommer, W. H., & Rubin, R. S. (2012). Managing organizational behavior: What great managers know and do.

According to Cartwright & Zander (1968), a group may be defined as a “collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree”. Other definitions state that a group is “two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person (Shaw, 1981). Turner (1987) goes further to say that “a psychological group is one that is psychologically significant for the members, to which they relate themselves subjectively for social comparison and the acquisitions of norms and values…that they privately accept membership in and which influence their attitudes and behaviour”. Clark & Pataki reserve the term “group”

In order to find a definition that is able to capture what a reference group is in a comprehensive sentence, has been difficult and thus the following terms are the most relevant. The term reference group is defined as ‘A group of people that influences the decisions and opinions of a person or group’ (Cambridge, 2016). This term however, is very simplistic and more detail is required to fully understand what reference groups are. Hyman (1942) originally characterised the term in a social status study and this characterisation has been developed and refined numerous amounts of times since, (comb, 1943, Campbell, et al, 1960 and Shibutani, 1955). Park & Lessig (1977) provided their version