Social Groups in our own lives

Social groups are aggregates of individuals sharing beliefs and values and having a shared sense of unity. They meet basic, personal needs for each of us, and affect our personalities, which is why we take them so seriously, and why we get so emotional about them.

We are part of a huge number of social groups, interacting with multiple groups at a time and entering and leaving one or another group constantly.

We are born into our families, we learn from them, we learn to adapt to each other, and adjust to each other, our families play a very significant role in making us 'us'. And just like our families, we have our friends. From learning from the mistakes that were made together to standing up for each other, we are affected by them just as much as they are affected by us. 

Religion also plays a big part here, whether someone is religious or not, it still affects a person's life, one's beliefs, and values. Religious groups bestow people with hope and a sense of belonging which, as human beings is pretty much a need.

Our sexuality also puts us into a social group. Movements like feminism have led to increased fraternity among people. One's age is also a factor in contributing to the formation of social groups. We hang out with people our age, and we believe there is an understanding between us as all of us might be going through the same things in our lives.

The country we reside in also gives us an identity and puts us into a social group, as patriotism brings us together. Different states also give rise to different groups, as they have different cultures, traditions, trends, governments, and many other reasons contributing to such differences that bring us together into social groups.

Social classes also put us at different places on the social ladder. A socio-economic gap exists between all of us whether we support it or not. Education is also a factor in putting us in certain social groups. 

 

There is a multitude of social groups that exist in society and all of us are a part of it. They develop because of us and we are also affected by it insanely. Constantly trying to fit in one social group or another, trying to find validation from them, and keeping social groups in mind while making decisions, we are tied to them with an invisible bond. Ingroup bias and outgroup prejudice will always be there and are innate human responses, but the specific groups we prefer, and the ones that mean the most to us, result from experience and social context.