Group forming

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Social psychology: Altruism · Attribution · Attitudes · Conformity · Discrimination · Groups · Interpersonal relations · Obedience · Prejudice · Norms · Perception · Index · Outline

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Groups

Group dynamics

Choice shift Conformity Group cohesion Group emotion Group characteristics Group development Group decision making Group discussion Group participation Group performance Group polarization Group problem solving Group process consultation Group size Group structure Groupthink Ingroup outgroup Intergroup dynamics Peer pressure

Types of group therapy

Brainstorming Consciousness raising groups Encounter group Family Focus groups Functional groups Group counseling Group instruction Group psychotherapy Marathon group therapy Reference groups Social groups Support groups Teams T-groups

Other aspects

Group homes Social loafing

Group forming, the formation of groups is the initial step in group development

It is observable that most organisms form groups in order to enhance their chances of survival. Groups can be of simply two or of huge numbers. Group-forming is complex, and involves territorialism; notions of identity; culture. Group-forming is what leads us as humans to form families, clans, tribes, and nations.

This group-forming in humans is the result of biology: due to the size of our brains, children are dependent on their parents for much longer than most animals; the result of this is that the biological couplings necessary for reproduction linger so that the parents can ensure the survival of the offspring.

This necessary parental investment and larger brain-size, coupled with our ability to communicate precipitates the evolution of social constructions such as the family. After several generations, many more families exist with varied connections to each other; a common ancestry, evidenced by their phenotype, unites these clans.

More generations later with multiple clans, tribes form; then the non-biological group-forming can take place where tribes can split due to geography and demand for resources. As an aside, this is also the stage where different dialects of language forming.

As tribes enlarge, the benefits of being part of a larger group become evident and systems of managing these larger populations are required, this is the stage at which civilisation begins to emerge. In primitive societies, religion fills this role: first animistic; later theistic. The earliest civilisations were these religious centres with influence emanating from an urbanised centre. Such as at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, or in ancient Egypt.

This religious system perpetuated the essentially tribal systems of oligarchy and monarchy. Competition for resources and territory led to investment in knowledge-seeking; education precipitates the gradual evolution of economic systems and of democratic systems and of the nation.

The next logical step is the formation of an organised species-wide group, as population pressure compels the species to seek new resources and territory, and technology enables us to look beyond our current territory as a species to find new resources and territory beyond the Earth.

Living organisms enhance their survivability by acquiring information about their environment. Humans are not alone in their ability to acquire and exchange information and learn new skills. Termites build huge structures; bees dance; mating rituals are exchanges of information; otters, parrots and chimpanzees use tools and pass on this knowledge. Humans form religions as a way of managing a growing tribal group.

The principles of Biological Imperatives have been used to formulate political ideas such as Nativism.